Clearly, the songwriter is frustrated and sad. How often have we thought to ourselves or heard the expression "make it stop!" ??
What does she want to make stop? (I say "she" because the lyrics are a duet sung by 2 women.)
Part of it is the struggle of life; she talks about the rope fraying. You try as hard as you can....like you try to fight against all of the challenges of life, but life pulls back so the rope has so much tension that the rope frays!
What I think is very telling is that she sings,
"You say I'm something I'm not
But I'm not what I seem
Get my back off the wall
If I could just make it stop"
What can be as heart crushing as a relationship gone wrong? She sings of a partner who has expectations that she can't meet. When we disappoint someone we love, that hurts. For this woman, she hurts even more over the misunderstanding her lover has, because she sings, "I'm not what I seem."
The chorus reflects the frustrations of life. Poor bosses, low pay, NOT making ends meet and people close to us making too many demands.
Then in the last verse she sings of hope:
"Now I'm looking up
From a ten foot hole
Seeing nothing but blue sky
Shining on my soul
As I untie the chord
And untwist the knot
We could get where we're going
If I could just make it stop"
Her setbacks have put her into a hole whether it has hurt and weakened her from a bad relationship or even if it's as bad as going into debt. She sings that maybe the misunderstanding and the unrealistic expectations will STOP, and they can climb out of the hole and up towards the blue sky AND untying that which RESTRAINS HER and her partner if only she could make her problem(s) stop!
Clearly, the songwriter is frustrated and sad. How often have we thought to ourselves or heard the expression "make it stop!" ?? What does she want to make stop? (I say "she" because the lyrics are a duet sung by 2 women.) Part of it is the struggle of life; she talks about the rope fraying. You try as hard as you can....like you try to fight against all of the challenges of life, but life pulls back so the rope has so much tension that the rope frays! What I think is very telling is that she sings, "You say I'm something I'm not But I'm not what I seem Get my back off the wall If I could just make it stop"
What can be as heart crushing as a relationship gone wrong? She sings of a partner who has expectations that she can't meet. When we disappoint someone we love, that hurts. For this woman, she hurts even more over the misunderstanding her lover has, because she sings, "I'm not what I seem." The chorus reflects the frustrations of life. Poor bosses, low pay, NOT making ends meet and people close to us making too many demands. Then in the last verse she sings of hope: "Now I'm looking up From a ten foot hole Seeing nothing but blue sky Shining on my soul As I untie the chord And untwist the knot We could get where we're going If I could just make it stop" Her setbacks have put her into a hole whether it has hurt and weakened her from a bad relationship or even if it's as bad as going into debt. She sings that maybe the misunderstanding and the unrealistic expectations will STOP, and they can climb out of the hole and up towards the blue sky AND untying that which RESTRAINS HER and her partner if only she could make her problem(s) stop!