really feels.
"But I will stand down in the hallway with no thought to leave the set
Of a movie I will sure as hell not end just yet
If evenings are for romance, then this morning is for us
It will never end and our last dream will leave this house"
Love him likening their "talk" to something like a movie set... it sets an even more dramatic tone. He stands up and says he will not leave, even after the romance is gone. His love for her will never end.
And now the chorus makes a bit more sense. She keeps saying this is not the "summer dream" love that she wanted, and she wants to leave him to dry "out there". But in the last verse, HE says it's not the "summer dream" love either... it actually IS real love... and that yes, she is frightened, because she wants to leave the both of them out to dry (not just him, thus the use of "leave us here").">
The Drying of the Lawns Meanings & Lyrics Discussion by iamtehmadhat | SongMeanings
really feels.
"But I will stand down in the hallway with no thought to leave the set
Of a movie I will sure as hell not end just yet
If evenings are for romance, then this morning is for us
It will never end and our last dream will leave this house"
Love him likening their "talk" to something like a movie set... it sets an even more dramatic tone. He stands up and says he will not leave, even after the romance is gone. His love for her will never end.
And now the chorus makes a bit more sense. She keeps saying this is not the "summer dream" love that she wanted, and she wants to leave him to dry "out there". But in the last verse, HE says it's not the "summer dream" love either... it actually IS real love... and that yes, she is frightened, because she wants to leave the both of them out to dry (not just him, thus the use of "leave us here")." />
I think this is about a guy who is completely starstruck in love with a girl, but she doesn't feel quite the same way. Let's look at the verses...
"She said I cannot tell you why, she said I'm in a rush
There are softer dreams for you to think about now, love
Things that you have seen this night runs by this river's flow
I can use you if you're in the flame, I'm a-growin' old"
She cannot tell him why she doesn't feel the same way, she doesn't really want to dissect it because she is in a rush. She hopes to let him down easy, so he will move on and have softer (more attainable) dreams. "Things that you have seen this night runs by the river's flow" makes me think they shared an intimate moment, but like a river, she's explaining that it passes quickly and is gone - it just happened. She used him in the heat of the moment.
"Well I said I've sailed the frozen corners of the dark Atlantic Sea
And I drifted on the waves and the mirage beneath
And never have I felt such numb and pointless searchin' true
As when I set my eyes on torched up lands of the mark of you"
He responds back saying he's completely in love, he's finally found the one, etc.
"She said you follow me like sheep that think this king could do some harm
But I tell you boy, I'm frightened still with a sister's heart
I set my eyes upon the shore whenever you wake up
I'm leaving because you don't feel what you're dreamin' of"
She points out how attached he is to her already, how protective he is ("follow me like sheep"). Not sure what to think of the sister's heart bit. The line "I set my eyes upon the shore" makes me think when he "wakes up" or is around her, she's always looking away from him, toward the shoreline, for an escape. She doesn't want to be with him ("I'm leaving"), and she finally says the reason why: because she thinks his love is too much, too full of dreams in his head, and not how he <i>really</i> feels.
"But I will stand down in the hallway with no thought to leave the set
Of a movie I will sure as hell not end just yet
If evenings are for romance, then this morning is for us
It will never end and our last dream will leave this house"
Love him likening their "talk" to something like a movie set... it sets an even more dramatic tone. He stands up and says he will not leave, even after the romance is gone. His love for her will never end.
And now the chorus makes a bit more sense. She keeps saying this is not the "summer dream" love that she wanted, and she wants to leave him to dry "out there". But in the last verse, HE says it's not the "summer dream" love either... it actually IS real love... and that yes, she is frightened, because she wants to leave the both of them out to dry (not just him, thus the use of "leave us here").
I think you nailed that pretty well. "Drying of the lawns" was always such a cryptic phrase I was never able to get past it, much as I love the song, and I think you explain it well.
I think you nailed that pretty well. "Drying of the lawns" was always such a cryptic phrase I was never able to get past it, much as I love the song, and I think you explain it well.
One thing, though: "But I tell you boy, I'm frightened still with a sister's heart". You said you weren't sure about that. I'd like to suggest that it's like saying "I love you like a sister". It's a way of putting distance between their relationship, and further enforces her narrative that this isn't "real love"....
One thing, though: "But I tell you boy, I'm frightened still with a sister's heart". You said you weren't sure about that. I'd like to suggest that it's like saying "I love you like a sister". It's a way of putting distance between their relationship, and further enforces her narrative that this isn't "real love". She's frightened by his passion, by his possessiveness, by his pure (and naive, in her thinking) love, so like that of a child.
I also agree that "I can use you if you're in the flame, I'm-a growin' old" is a way of saying that she can use him (for sex) if he's "in the flame", in the moment, full of desire and less full of questions and expectations for the future. But because she's growing old (pretty sure this is about an older woman/younger man relationship, or at least the woman /feels like/ she's older and more mature) she needs to think about realistic things, not this starry-eyed boy who covets her and views her as the answer to all of life's questions.
She's not ready for that, and in a way the boy's pure love makes him seem wiser than she. He suggests at the end that her attempts to look past the "real thing" for something that doesn't feel too good to be true are going to forever keep them where they are right now: irreconcilable.
I think this is about a guy who is completely starstruck in love with a girl, but she doesn't feel quite the same way. Let's look at the verses...
"She said I cannot tell you why, she said I'm in a rush There are softer dreams for you to think about now, love Things that you have seen this night runs by this river's flow I can use you if you're in the flame, I'm a-growin' old"
She cannot tell him why she doesn't feel the same way, she doesn't really want to dissect it because she is in a rush. She hopes to let him down easy, so he will move on and have softer (more attainable) dreams. "Things that you have seen this night runs by the river's flow" makes me think they shared an intimate moment, but like a river, she's explaining that it passes quickly and is gone - it just happened. She used him in the heat of the moment.
"Well I said I've sailed the frozen corners of the dark Atlantic Sea And I drifted on the waves and the mirage beneath And never have I felt such numb and pointless searchin' true As when I set my eyes on torched up lands of the mark of you"
He responds back saying he's completely in love, he's finally found the one, etc.
"She said you follow me like sheep that think this king could do some harm But I tell you boy, I'm frightened still with a sister's heart I set my eyes upon the shore whenever you wake up I'm leaving because you don't feel what you're dreamin' of"
She points out how attached he is to her already, how protective he is ("follow me like sheep"). Not sure what to think of the sister's heart bit. The line "I set my eyes upon the shore" makes me think when he "wakes up" or is around her, she's always looking away from him, toward the shoreline, for an escape. She doesn't want to be with him ("I'm leaving"), and she finally says the reason why: because she thinks his love is too much, too full of dreams in his head, and not how he <i>really</i> feels.
"But I will stand down in the hallway with no thought to leave the set Of a movie I will sure as hell not end just yet If evenings are for romance, then this morning is for us It will never end and our last dream will leave this house"
Love him likening their "talk" to something like a movie set... it sets an even more dramatic tone. He stands up and says he will not leave, even after the romance is gone. His love for her will never end.
And now the chorus makes a bit more sense. She keeps saying this is not the "summer dream" love that she wanted, and she wants to leave him to dry "out there". But in the last verse, HE says it's not the "summer dream" love either... it actually IS real love... and that yes, she is frightened, because she wants to leave the both of them out to dry (not just him, thus the use of "leave us here").
I think you nailed that pretty well. "Drying of the lawns" was always such a cryptic phrase I was never able to get past it, much as I love the song, and I think you explain it well.
I think you nailed that pretty well. "Drying of the lawns" was always such a cryptic phrase I was never able to get past it, much as I love the song, and I think you explain it well.
One thing, though: "But I tell you boy, I'm frightened still with a sister's heart". You said you weren't sure about that. I'd like to suggest that it's like saying "I love you like a sister". It's a way of putting distance between their relationship, and further enforces her narrative that this isn't "real love"....
One thing, though: "But I tell you boy, I'm frightened still with a sister's heart". You said you weren't sure about that. I'd like to suggest that it's like saying "I love you like a sister". It's a way of putting distance between their relationship, and further enforces her narrative that this isn't "real love". She's frightened by his passion, by his possessiveness, by his pure (and naive, in her thinking) love, so like that of a child.
I also agree that "I can use you if you're in the flame, I'm-a growin' old" is a way of saying that she can use him (for sex) if he's "in the flame", in the moment, full of desire and less full of questions and expectations for the future. But because she's growing old (pretty sure this is about an older woman/younger man relationship, or at least the woman /feels like/ she's older and more mature) she needs to think about realistic things, not this starry-eyed boy who covets her and views her as the answer to all of life's questions.
She's not ready for that, and in a way the boy's pure love makes him seem wiser than she. He suggests at the end that her attempts to look past the "real thing" for something that doesn't feel too good to be true are going to forever keep them where they are right now: irreconcilable.