Well... I think wetch is pretty close. When I hear this song and think about what I know about Brandi Carlile, I think something slightly different. Brandi is a gay woman and she was raised in an minister's household. You can hear references to her background in "That Year" on Give Up The Ghost. To me this song could just as well be about her taking a risk and telling her parents who she really is, and wondering what their reaction will be (You can't be something you are not - Life is not a looking glass - Don't get tangled in your past - Like I am learning not to). Coming out to your religious family can be so difficult and you risk them feeling differently about you... or worse yet... having nothing to do with you. (Where are you now - Do you let me down - Do you make me grieve for you - Do I make you proud - Do you get me now - Am I your pride and joy) So that's what I've always thought the song was about. :-)
I actually can't quite find corroboration on her growing up in a minister's household... I know I've read that somewhere in the past but now I can't find it. In any event... I did find her quoted as saying she grew up "Baptist. Real baptist."
I actually can't quite find corroboration on her growing up in a minister's household... I know I've read that somewhere in the past but now I can't find it. In any event... I did find her quoted as saying she grew up "Baptist. Real baptist."
I agree I think it's about coming out to a parent who is unsupportive due to their religious beliefs. I see where you got confused about her father being a minister from "that year" but in the song she is talking about her late friend's father.
I agree I think it's about coming out to a parent who is unsupportive due to their religious beliefs. I see where you got confused about her father being a minister from "that year" but in the song she is talking about her late friend's father.
Well... I think wetch is pretty close. When I hear this song and think about what I know about Brandi Carlile, I think something slightly different. Brandi is a gay woman and she was raised in an minister's household. You can hear references to her background in "That Year" on Give Up The Ghost. To me this song could just as well be about her taking a risk and telling her parents who she really is, and wondering what their reaction will be (You can't be something you are not - Life is not a looking glass - Don't get tangled in your past - Like I am learning not to). Coming out to your religious family can be so difficult and you risk them feeling differently about you... or worse yet... having nothing to do with you. (Where are you now - Do you let me down - Do you make me grieve for you - Do I make you proud - Do you get me now - Am I your pride and joy) So that's what I've always thought the song was about. :-)
I actually can't quite find corroboration on her growing up in a minister's household... I know I've read that somewhere in the past but now I can't find it. In any event... I did find her quoted as saying she grew up "Baptist. Real baptist."
I actually can't quite find corroboration on her growing up in a minister's household... I know I've read that somewhere in the past but now I can't find it. In any event... I did find her quoted as saying she grew up "Baptist. Real baptist."
I agree I think it's about coming out to a parent who is unsupportive due to their religious beliefs. I see where you got confused about her father being a minister from "that year" but in the song she is talking about her late friend's father.
I agree I think it's about coming out to a parent who is unsupportive due to their religious beliefs. I see where you got confused about her father being a minister from "that year" but in the song she is talking about her late friend's father.