I'm going to have to agree with the people who say this is about abuse. Heap wouldn't use a line like, "We smell rats in the kitchen" if it was just about family members making an excuse not to talk to a kid. It's too sinister for that. No, the line refers to the narrator of the song knowing about abuse, as her determination to help grows. Also, there's a reference to a cleaned j-cloth. A j-cloth is something you use to clean fluids off of furniture - I think it refers to the family hiding blood that was literally spilled onto a table or chair. There's no explanation for the line if the song is about Imogen's parents divorcing when she was a child.
I'm going to have to agree with the people who say this is about abuse. Heap wouldn't use a line like, "We smell rats in the kitchen" if it was just about family members making an excuse not to talk to a kid. It's too sinister for that. No, the line refers to the narrator of the song knowing about abuse, as her determination to help grows. Also, there's a reference to a cleaned j-cloth. A j-cloth is something you use to clean fluids off of furniture - I think it refers to the family hiding blood that was literally spilled onto a table or chair. There's no explanation for the line if the song is about Imogen's parents divorcing when she was a child.