The woman could have anything and anyone she wants, except the narrator, so she probably has money and a good social standing. She could even be a classy prostitute. Perhaps in order to be with her, the narrator would have to fit in with her peers and pretend to be something he's not.
{"She held the world upon a string, but she didn't ever hold me. She spun the stars on her fingernails, but it never made her happy, because she couldn't ever have me. She said she’d won the world at a carnival, but she couldn't ever win me, because she couldn't ever catch me."}
---> The woman is perpetually unhappy. She may be selfish and unappreciative from having everything and/or everyone; or she may hop from thing to thing in a childlike way, being just as easily bored as she is easily excited; or she's romantic and the only thing in the world she cares about is the narrator.
"Fingernails" could imply her intimately stroking people with her fingertips. Maybe her fingernails are manicured, so they literally reflect the stars. Maybe the number of celebrities (stars) she's been with can be counted on both hands (meaning between 6 and 10).
{"She held the world upon a string... She spun the stars on her fingernails... She said she’d won the world at a carnival... she couldn't ever catch me... Throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream."}
---> For the woman, love is a game and life is a carnival. People hang on her every word, like marionettes dangling from her finger tips. She won a beach ball designed to look like a globe, because things come to her easily. She's trying to catch the narrator the same way you catch objects with a fishing pole in certain kinds of carnival games. Maybe 'scoring' (having sex) is what is most important to her. Maybe she's too heartless or too innocent to know what a relationship entails beyond stealing hearts and ensnaring men in her trap.
{"I… I know why, because when I look in her eyes, I just see the sky."}
---> The hesitation means that the narrator is not really convinced that turning the woman down is what he wants to do. He's stammering and seems to be making up excuses. He appears to have low self-esteem, feeling like he doesn't deserve someone who loves him. He has at least some feelings for the woman (if not love, then platonic feelings), so she DOES have him, he just won't accept her into his world.
{"The sun was always in her eyes. She didn't even see me. But that girl had so much love, she’d want to kiss you all the time."}
---> The narrator feels that the woman doesn't know who he is on the inside. He feels there's something major about him that she wouldn't like. The woman is interested in the narrator physically and he may be concerned that she doesn't like him at the emotional level.
{"I don’t love you; I’m just passing the time. You could love me if I knew how to lie. But who could love me? I am out of my mind. Throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream."}
---> It doesn't sound like the narrator's actually turned the woman down yet, seeing as he keeps saying "could." He cast a line in the sea (meaning that he's willing to date other women), but he isn't happy about it. Therefore, I think you'd have to turn to other songs on the album to determine whether or not he turned the woman down.
{"She said she’d won the world at a carnival, but I'm sure I didn't ruin her. Just made her more interesting."}
---> Being around the narrator didn't spoil or heart-break the woman. Instead, it gives her stories to tell about the places they went to. She might be more interested in new life experiences and/or material things than she is interested in the narrator.
{"...when I look in her eyes, I just see the sky."}
---> People say 'Eyes are the windows of the soul,' yet the narrator just sees the reflection of the sky in the woman's eyes. That implies that he is either not looking hard enough because he's afraid of being in a relationship, or that all he can see in her eyes and soul is vast emptiness. The woman is dreamy and distant, like a goddess that can never be physically touched.">
She Had The World Meanings & Lyrics Discussion by TR_Jessie | SongMeanings
The woman could have anything and anyone she wants, except the narrator, so she probably has money and a good social standing. She could even be a classy prostitute. Perhaps in order to be with her, the narrator would have to fit in with her peers and pretend to be something he's not.
{"She held the world upon a string, but she didn't ever hold me. She spun the stars on her fingernails, but it never made her happy, because she couldn't ever have me. She said she’d won the world at a carnival, but she couldn't ever win me, because she couldn't ever catch me."}
---> The woman is perpetually unhappy. She may be selfish and unappreciative from having everything and/or everyone; or she may hop from thing to thing in a childlike way, being just as easily bored as she is easily excited; or she's romantic and the only thing in the world she cares about is the narrator.
"Fingernails" could imply her intimately stroking people with her fingertips. Maybe her fingernails are manicured, so they literally reflect the stars. Maybe the number of celebrities (stars) she's been with can be counted on both hands (meaning between 6 and 10).
{"She held the world upon a string... She spun the stars on her fingernails... She said she’d won the world at a carnival... she couldn't ever catch me... Throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream."}
---> For the woman, love is a game and life is a carnival. People hang on her every word, like marionettes dangling from her finger tips. She won a beach ball designed to look like a globe, because things come to her easily. She's trying to catch the narrator the same way you catch objects with a fishing pole in certain kinds of carnival games. Maybe 'scoring' (having sex) is what is most important to her. Maybe she's too heartless or too innocent to know what a relationship entails beyond stealing hearts and ensnaring men in her trap.
{"I… I know why, because when I look in her eyes, I just see the sky."}
---> The hesitation means that the narrator is not really convinced that turning the woman down is what he wants to do. He's stammering and seems to be making up excuses. He appears to have low self-esteem, feeling like he doesn't deserve someone who loves him. He has at least some feelings for the woman (if not love, then platonic feelings), so she DOES have him, he just won't accept her into his world.
{"The sun was always in her eyes. She didn't even see me. But that girl had so much love, she’d want to kiss you all the time."}
---> The narrator feels that the woman doesn't know who he is on the inside. He feels there's something major about him that she wouldn't like. The woman is interested in the narrator physically and he may be concerned that she doesn't like him at the emotional level.
{"I don’t love you; I’m just passing the time. You could love me if I knew how to lie. But who could love me? I am out of my mind. Throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream."}
---> It doesn't sound like the narrator's actually turned the woman down yet, seeing as he keeps saying "could." He cast a line in the sea (meaning that he's willing to date other women), but he isn't happy about it. Therefore, I think you'd have to turn to other songs on the album to determine whether or not he turned the woman down.
{"She said she’d won the world at a carnival, but I'm sure I didn't ruin her. Just made her more interesting."}
---> Being around the narrator didn't spoil or heart-break the woman. Instead, it gives her stories to tell about the places they went to. She might be more interested in new life experiences and/or material things than she is interested in the narrator.
{"...when I look in her eyes, I just see the sky."}
---> People say 'Eyes are the windows of the soul,' yet the narrator just sees the reflection of the sky in the woman's eyes. That implies that he is either not looking hard enough because he's afraid of being in a relationship, or that all he can see in her eyes and soul is vast emptiness. The woman is dreamy and distant, like a goddess that can never be physically touched." />
I think the song has two singers just to represent this having happened to more than one guy in her presence. I feel this is one continuous narrative, even though it applies to both men addressed.
The song most likely references "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred Tennyson, because of the medieval sound of the song ("The Lady of Shalott" is set in medieval times, and is a very well-known story.).
The Lady of Shalott can't see the outside world in the conventional sense, but she can weave images of it subconsciously, and she can see her town in a mirror. In the land around her, farmers mainly cut down wheat with scythes (Recall that grim reapers are characterized as holding scythes.). Shalott acknowledges that she can't see the broader picture, and says her world is half in shadow. Lancelot wins Guinevere a diamond, but Shalott heals him. Shalott tells Lancelot that she loves him and he says that he's in love with Guinevere, but that he can give Shalott anything else. From my understanding, Shalott didn't ask for anything. Evidently Guinevere only wanted love as well, because she threw the diamond in a lake, due to Lancelot having spent time with Shalott. Shalott dies on a boat in said lake en route to deliver her love letter to Lancelot. Lancelot he finds the note posthumously, when looking for the diamond.
{"She held the world upon a string... She spun the stars on her fingernails... She said she’d won the world at a carnival..."}
---> The woman could have anything and anyone she wants, except the narrator, so she probably has money and a good social standing. She could even be a classy prostitute. Perhaps in order to be with her, the narrator would have to fit in with her peers and pretend to be something he's not.
{"She held the world upon a string, but she didn't ever hold me. She spun the stars on her fingernails, but it never made her happy, because she couldn't ever have me. She said she’d won the world at a carnival, but she couldn't ever win me, because she couldn't ever catch me."}
---> The woman is perpetually unhappy. She may be selfish and unappreciative from having everything and/or everyone; or she may hop from thing to thing in a childlike way, being just as easily bored as she is easily excited; or she's romantic and the only thing in the world she cares about is the narrator.
"Fingernails" could imply her intimately stroking people with her fingertips. Maybe her fingernails are manicured, so they literally reflect the stars. Maybe the number of celebrities (stars) she's been with can be counted on both hands (meaning between 6 and 10).
{"She held the world upon a string... She spun the stars on her fingernails... She said she’d won the world at a carnival... she couldn't ever catch me... Throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream."}
---> For the woman, love is a game and life is a carnival. People hang on her every word, like marionettes dangling from her finger tips. She won a beach ball designed to look like a globe, because things come to her easily. She's trying to catch the narrator the same way you catch objects with a fishing pole in certain kinds of carnival games. Maybe 'scoring' (having sex) is what is most important to her. Maybe she's too heartless or too innocent to know what a relationship entails beyond stealing hearts and ensnaring men in her trap.
{"I… I know why, because when I look in her eyes, I just see the sky."}
---> The hesitation means that the narrator is not really convinced that turning the woman down is what he wants to do. He's stammering and seems to be making up excuses. He appears to have low self-esteem, feeling like he doesn't deserve someone who loves him. He has at least some feelings for the woman (if not love, then platonic feelings), so she DOES have him, he just won't accept her into his world.
{"The sun was always in her eyes. She didn't even see me. But that girl had so much love, she’d want to kiss you all the time."}
---> The narrator feels that the woman doesn't know who he is on the inside. He feels there's something major about him that she wouldn't like. The woman is interested in the narrator physically and he may be concerned that she doesn't like him at the emotional level.
{"I don’t love you; I’m just passing the time. You could love me if I knew how to lie. But who could love me? I am out of my mind. Throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream."}
---> It doesn't sound like the narrator's actually turned the woman down yet, seeing as he keeps saying "could." He cast a line in the sea (meaning that he's willing to date other women), but he isn't happy about it. Therefore, I think you'd have to turn to other songs on the album to determine whether or not he turned the woman down.
{"She said she’d won the world at a carnival, but I'm sure I didn't ruin her. Just made her more interesting."}
---> Being around the narrator didn't spoil or heart-break the woman. Instead, it gives her stories to tell about the places they went to. She might be more interested in new life experiences and/or material things than she is interested in the narrator.
{"...when I look in her eyes, I just see the sky."}
---> People say 'Eyes are the windows of the soul,' yet the narrator just sees the reflection of the sky in the woman's eyes. That implies that he is either not looking hard enough because he's afraid of being in a relationship, or that all he can see in her eyes and soul is vast emptiness. The woman is dreamy and distant, like a goddess that can never be physically touched.
I think the song has two singers just to represent this having happened to more than one guy in her presence. I feel this is one continuous narrative, even though it applies to both men addressed.
The song most likely references "The Lady of Shalott" by Alfred Tennyson, because of the medieval sound of the song ("The Lady of Shalott" is set in medieval times, and is a very well-known story.). The Lady of Shalott can't see the outside world in the conventional sense, but she can weave images of it subconsciously, and she can see her town in a mirror. In the land around her, farmers mainly cut down wheat with scythes (Recall that grim reapers are characterized as holding scythes.). Shalott acknowledges that she can't see the broader picture, and says her world is half in shadow. Lancelot wins Guinevere a diamond, but Shalott heals him. Shalott tells Lancelot that she loves him and he says that he's in love with Guinevere, but that he can give Shalott anything else. From my understanding, Shalott didn't ask for anything. Evidently Guinevere only wanted love as well, because she threw the diamond in a lake, due to Lancelot having spent time with Shalott. Shalott dies on a boat in said lake en route to deliver her love letter to Lancelot. Lancelot he finds the note posthumously, when looking for the diamond.
{"She held the world upon a string... She spun the stars on her fingernails... She said she’d won the world at a carnival..."} ---> The woman could have anything and anyone she wants, except the narrator, so she probably has money and a good social standing. She could even be a classy prostitute. Perhaps in order to be with her, the narrator would have to fit in with her peers and pretend to be something he's not.
{"She held the world upon a string, but she didn't ever hold me. She spun the stars on her fingernails, but it never made her happy, because she couldn't ever have me. She said she’d won the world at a carnival, but she couldn't ever win me, because she couldn't ever catch me."} ---> The woman is perpetually unhappy. She may be selfish and unappreciative from having everything and/or everyone; or she may hop from thing to thing in a childlike way, being just as easily bored as she is easily excited; or she's romantic and the only thing in the world she cares about is the narrator. "Fingernails" could imply her intimately stroking people with her fingertips. Maybe her fingernails are manicured, so they literally reflect the stars. Maybe the number of celebrities (stars) she's been with can be counted on both hands (meaning between 6 and 10).
{"She held the world upon a string... She spun the stars on her fingernails... She said she’d won the world at a carnival... she couldn't ever catch me... Throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream."} ---> For the woman, love is a game and life is a carnival. People hang on her every word, like marionettes dangling from her finger tips. She won a beach ball designed to look like a globe, because things come to her easily. She's trying to catch the narrator the same way you catch objects with a fishing pole in certain kinds of carnival games. Maybe 'scoring' (having sex) is what is most important to her. Maybe she's too heartless or too innocent to know what a relationship entails beyond stealing hearts and ensnaring men in her trap.
{"I… I know why, because when I look in her eyes, I just see the sky."} ---> The hesitation means that the narrator is not really convinced that turning the woman down is what he wants to do. He's stammering and seems to be making up excuses. He appears to have low self-esteem, feeling like he doesn't deserve someone who loves him. He has at least some feelings for the woman (if not love, then platonic feelings), so she DOES have him, he just won't accept her into his world.
{"The sun was always in her eyes. She didn't even see me. But that girl had so much love, she’d want to kiss you all the time."} ---> The narrator feels that the woman doesn't know who he is on the inside. He feels there's something major about him that she wouldn't like. The woman is interested in the narrator physically and he may be concerned that she doesn't like him at the emotional level.
{"I don’t love you; I’m just passing the time. You could love me if I knew how to lie. But who could love me? I am out of my mind. Throwing a line out to sea to see if I can catch a dream."} ---> It doesn't sound like the narrator's actually turned the woman down yet, seeing as he keeps saying "could." He cast a line in the sea (meaning that he's willing to date other women), but he isn't happy about it. Therefore, I think you'd have to turn to other songs on the album to determine whether or not he turned the woman down.
{"She said she’d won the world at a carnival, but I'm sure I didn't ruin her. Just made her more interesting."} ---> Being around the narrator didn't spoil or heart-break the woman. Instead, it gives her stories to tell about the places they went to. She might be more interested in new life experiences and/or material things than she is interested in the narrator.
{"...when I look in her eyes, I just see the sky."} ---> People say 'Eyes are the windows of the soul,' yet the narrator just sees the reflection of the sky in the woman's eyes. That implies that he is either not looking hard enough because he's afraid of being in a relationship, or that all he can see in her eyes and soul is vast emptiness. The woman is dreamy and distant, like a goddess that can never be physically touched.