Me And The Bean

General CommentIt could be a song about someone's daughter. I don't think that Britt Daniel has a child, but he admits that not all of his songs are autobiographical.

The relationship described by the song, with her offering idealism and him offering strength, seems to mirror that between a father and daughter.

Plus the last line takes on a literal AND figurative meaning.

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General CommentTo me this song is entirely indicative of the human condition.

The title is, after all, "Me and the Bean," which ultimately suggests that the self is defined from something much more than just the brain.

A few lyrics highlight this idea, but as previously stated, "I have your blood inside my heart" is incredibly poignant. The singer is crying out to his rational mind [brain, bean, whatever], "can't you understand my heart's blood [my emotion, my 'soul'] is the very same blood that flows through you?" With this central theme in mind, some more of the verse becomes clear.

An amazingly angsty song about the battle between reasons and emotions. Beautiful.

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General Commentit's funny about the interpretations of the word "bean," I always think of the bean in chicago. maybe that's just a regional bias ;)

I agree though, it seems this is about a man and his daughter. the writers above have done a good job elaborating.

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Song FactThis song was written by John Clayton, not the jazz musician but an amateur musician, and was first recorded in 1994 by his local band from Texas called The Sidehackers. Britt Daniel was a friend of him and loved the song, and consequently Spoon covered it. The original recording is not available anywhere except on SoundCloud. You can hear the original song at the end of this Britt Daniel interview: soundcloud.com/iturnmypodcaston/…. I personally think this is the best song ever recorded by Spoon.

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General CommentThis song makes me want to dig a hole in the ground and sit in it... I like the underground sound and the simplicity of the lyrics. It makes me happy that Britt Daniels doesn't get too carried away with the whoa-oh-oh thing. The very best line is the last one. Another good song on Girls Can Tell is Lines in the Suit. Or listen to Spent On Rainy Days from the Bright Eyes/Britt split.

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General Commentthat is a great interpretation, molesworth

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General CommentBritt didn't write this song. I can't remember who did but if you look in the liner notes to Kill the Moonlight, you can find out for yourself.

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General Commentjohn clayton wrote it. i believe it's the john clayton who's a jazz bassist but i'm most likely wrong i just looked up the name on wikipedia and that's what came up

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General Commentthis song is chillingly beautiful, no matter the interpretation.

here's mine: a naive girl swept up in the grandeur of gothicism, living it all through a veil of naïveté. he takes advantage of her childish infatuation, and forgives her for her meaningless playtoys (ex: tarot cards) that he knows are silliness. he doesn't mind that she buys into such foolishness, she is beautiful to him in spite of all that because he is a vampire, and she, his source of life. "you'll bring me youth when i grow old" & "i am your shadow in the dark" & lastly,

"i have your blood inside my heart."

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General Commenti love this song dearly. although it's probably about a relationship or something similar, i've always hoped it was about Mr. Bean.

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