This song is basically Jenny Lewis' statement of being drug free now and the wistful/awful aspects of her road to recovery. I'll go into depth in a minute. If you didn't get that that's what this song was about, don't feel bad. I didn't either. It took me about 20 listens. What is it with these indy artists? They make you work so hard with their poetry and their symbolism for things only they know well enough to decifer.
So the first part is a Shakespeare reference as noted by other commenters. This could mean multiple things, really. But in general she was offered assistance (From God? Her friends? A little voice in her head? We don't know.) and she says she's not looking for a cure (from her addiction?). But here's the cool part: Seen enough of my friends / In the depths of the godsick blues.
She doesn't want to be cured like them. She doesn't want to be cured like her friends were "cured", because even that cure left them sick. Godsick. So was the cobbler she was referring to some sort of Christian missionary, volunteering to help her to allow Jesus into her heart or some such? If so, then the passage makes sense as her way of saying that finding the church didn't seem to help her friends all that much with their existential angst. They're still "In the depths of the godsick blues."
I don't get the liar chorus. Maybe she's pronuncing that she's hopeless and doesn't deserve help which fits in with the drug addiction/recovery theme.
She goes into detailing her first drug experience mingled with her rock bottom. But then--and this is why it was hard to figure this song out at first--we're suddenly moving from drugs to romance. And on the initial listen it's like "What is with you, woman? With your drugs, your lies, your love life, and your godsick cobblers? The hell?" But I'm sure, now, that recollecting your big drug journey might also cause your mind to wander to other things that have shaped you, particularly romance. Especially if you were in one at the time of your addiction.
"To be lonely is a habit
Like smoking or taking drugs
And I've quit them both
But man, was it rough"
And then she ties it all together. Hot damn. This girl is good.
"Now I am tired
It just made me tired
Let's build ourselves a fire
Let's build ourselves a fire"
__
P.S: Although it's also entirely possible that she wrote this entire song about something trivial, like her shoes. Damn indy artists.
This song is basically Jenny Lewis' statement of being drug free now and the wistful/awful aspects of her road to recovery. I'll go into depth in a minute. If you didn't get that that's what this song was about, don't feel bad. I didn't either. It took me about 20 listens. What is it with these indy artists? They make you work so hard with their poetry and their symbolism for things only they know well enough to decifer.
So the first part is a Shakespeare reference as noted by other commenters. This could mean multiple things, really. But in general she was offered assistance (From God? Her friends? A little voice in her head? We don't know.) and she says she's not looking for a cure (from her addiction?). But here's the cool part: Seen enough of my friends / In the depths of the godsick blues.
She doesn't want to be cured like them. She doesn't want to be cured like her friends were "cured", because even that cure left them sick. Godsick. So was the cobbler she was referring to some sort of Christian missionary, volunteering to help her to allow Jesus into her heart or some such? If so, then the passage makes sense as her way of saying that finding the church didn't seem to help her friends all that much with their existential angst. They're still "In the depths of the godsick blues."
I don't get the liar chorus. Maybe she's pronuncing that she's hopeless and doesn't deserve help which fits in with the drug addiction/recovery theme.
She goes into detailing her first drug experience mingled with her rock bottom. But then--and this is why it was hard to figure this song out at first--we're suddenly moving from drugs to romance. And on the initial listen it's like "What is with you, woman? With your drugs, your lies, your love life, and your godsick cobblers? The hell?" But I'm sure, now, that recollecting your big drug journey might also cause your mind to wander to other things that have shaped you, particularly romance. Especially if you were in one at the time of your addiction.
"To be lonely is a habit Like smoking or taking drugs And I've quit them both But man, was it rough"
And then she ties it all together. Hot damn. This girl is good.
"Now I am tired It just made me tired Let's build ourselves a fire Let's build ourselves a fire"
__ P.S: Although it's also entirely possible that she wrote this entire song about something trivial, like her shoes. Damn indy artists.
@MetaGal drugs are a form of love and romance once you are in deep. Great observation
@MetaGal drugs are a form of love and romance once you are in deep. Great observation