In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Well, she followed him from Phoenix out to California
And then she passed out on the bed
And all the little things he never even asked her for
She simply smiled and shook her head
Why can't we smile just like we used to?
Why don't you figure anymore?
Why has my sympathy now turned to malice?
It doesn't matter anymore
And now I realize I'm livin' like a trucker does
Although I haven't got the belly
And though she followed me to California all the way
I only wanna watch the telly
Why can't we smile just like we used to?
Why don't you figure anymore?
Why has my sympathy now turned to malice?
It doesn't matter anymore
He asked her please stop quotin' Rod McKuen in your postcards, can't understand it anymore
And if your gonna read your poetry aloud to me
I'll have to show you to the door
Why can't we smile just like we used to?
Why don't you figure anymore?
Why has my sympathy now turned to malice?
It doesn't matter anymore
And then she passed out on the bed
And all the little things he never even asked her for
She simply smiled and shook her head
Why can't we smile just like we used to?
Why don't you figure anymore?
Why has my sympathy now turned to malice?
It doesn't matter anymore
And now I realize I'm livin' like a trucker does
Although I haven't got the belly
And though she followed me to California all the way
I only wanna watch the telly
Why can't we smile just like we used to?
Why don't you figure anymore?
Why has my sympathy now turned to malice?
It doesn't matter anymore
He asked her please stop quotin' Rod McKuen in your postcards, can't understand it anymore
And if your gonna read your poetry aloud to me
I'll have to show you to the door
Why can't we smile just like we used to?
Why don't you figure anymore?
Why has my sympathy now turned to malice?
It doesn't matter anymore
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While reading through Nathaniel West's 1939 novel "The Day of the Locust," I came across the following line: "He wondered why all his sympathy had turned to malice." When i read it, it resonated with a musical lilt. Immediately I knew that I had heard this very same sentence in a song before. I stopped reading and hummed the sentence in my head, trying to recall the tune it belonged to. I knew it was a band i liked and whose CD i owned, but it wasn't until I googled the keywords "lyrics," "sympathy," and "malice" that I learned it was this Luna song. I first heard this song 7 years ago, after buying a used copy of "Bewitched" (Luna's best album, alongside "Chinatown") for 6.95 at a Blockbuster music. I purchased the album because I recognized the band from an Uncut Magazine compilation CD where their song "Super Freaky Memories," in a small way, blew my mind. I am a southern Californian, Nathaniel West's novel takes place in Hollywood and this song is, to this day, one of my all time favorite Luna songs. Both the book and the album were purchased second-hand and I think I have hit on an interesting connection between the two, although aside from this linguistic similarity the song and the novel have little in common. And, in case you're wondering, the novel is excellent. It is considered the premiere novel about Hollywood, specifically pre-WWII Hollywood, and I strongly recommend it to anyone who likes to read fiction.