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Lucy was 7 and wore a head of blue barettes
City born, into this world with no knowledge and no regrets
Had a piece of yellow chalk with which she'd draw upon the street
The many faces of the various locals that she would meet
There was joshua, age 10
Bully of the block
Who always took her milk money at the morning bus stop
There was Mrs. Crabtree, and her poodle
She always gave a wave and holler on her weekly trip down to the bingo
parlor
And she drew
Men, women, kids, sunsets, clouds
And she drew
Skyscrapers, fruit stands, cities, towns
Always said hello to passers-by
They'd ask her why she passed her time
Attachin lines to concrete
But she would only smile
Now all the other children living in or near her building
Ran around like tyrants, soaking up the open fire hydrants
They would say
"Hey little Lucy, want to come jump double dutch?"
Lucy would pause, look, grin and say
"I'm busy, thank you much"
Well, well, one year passed
And believe it or not
She covered every last inch of the entire sidewalk,
And she stopped-
"Lucy, after all this, you're just giving in today??"
She said:
"I'm not giving in, I'm finished," and walked away
(Chorus: x2)
1 2 3
That's the speed of the seed
A be see
That's the speed of the need
You can dream a little dream
Or you can live a little dream
I'd rather live it
'cause dreamers always chase
But never get it
Now Lucy was 37, and introverted somewhat
Basement apartment in the same building she grew up in
She traded in her blue barettes for long locks held up with a clip
Traded in her yellow chalk for charcoal sticks
And she drew
Little bobby who would come to sweep the porch
And she drew
The mailman, delivered everyday at 4
Lucy had very little contact with the folks outside her cubicle day
But she found it suitable, and she liked it that way
She had a man now: Rico, similar, hermit
They would only see each other once or twice a week on purpose
They appreciated space and Rico was an artist too
So they'd connect on saturdays to share the pictures that they drew
(Look!)
Now every month or so, she'd get a knock upon the front door
Just one of the neighbors,
Actin nice, although she was a strange girl, really
Say, "Lucy, want to join me for some lunch??"
Lucy would smile and say "I'm busy, thank you much"
And they would make a weird face the second the door shut
And run and tell their friends how truly crazy Lucy was
And lucy knew what people thought but didn't care
'cause while they spread their rumors through the street
She'd paint another masterpiece
(Chorus x2)
Lucy was 87, upon her death bed
At the senior home, where she had previously checked in
Traded in the locks and clips for a head rest
Traded in the charcoal sticks for arthritis, it had to happen
And she drew no more, just sat and watched the dawn
Had a television in the room that she'd never turned on
Lucy pinned up a life worth's of pictures on the wall
And sat and smiled, looked each one over, just to laugh at it all
No Rico, he had passed, 'bout 5 years back
So the visiting hours pulled in a big flock o' nothin
She'd never spoken once throughout the spanning of her life
Until the day she leaned forward, grinned and pulled the nurse aside
And she said:
"Look, I've never had a dream in my life
Because a dream is what you want to do, but still haven't pursued
I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done
So i've been the dream that I wanted to be since day one!"
Well!
The nurse jumped back,
She'd never heard Lucy even talk,
'Specially words like that
She walked over to the door, and pulled it closed behind
Then Lucy blew a kiss to each one of her pictures
And she died.
(Chorus x2)
1 2 3...
A be C...
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This song is definitely referring to Slug. Slug also, in his earlier stuff, would talk about being an "artist" and "drawing", e.g. "Make the love, paint the picture, write the song" or "Got the surface, the tools, the motivation to paint this. Don't know which colours to use, detail is not my game" etc. Also her name is Lucy so notice how much Slug refers to a woman named Lucy
However, it seems to me that this is a kind of warning because Aesop rock, in many of his lyrics, seems to say that he works hard and is somewhat of a 'tortured artist', saying things like 'must not sleep, must warn others'. In these lyrics he says that the girl '...has been the dream shes wanted to be since day one' so that could allude to her being a person with no beliefs or wisdom of life because she just focused on creating art and nothing more, and what child can grow to be a functional human without learning to dream. also, with hard work comes the necessary contradiction of enjoyment of life and seeing what it has to offer, and this is what an artist needs to create any art. this is all brought together by the fact that she dies alone with no one, not even the man she had a loveless relationship with.
It looks to me that she does work hard but takes nothing out of life, has no love besides lifeless art, and she dies alone; leading me to belief that this song is a warning.
'that could allude to her being a person with no beliefs or wisdom of life because she just focused on creating art and nothing more, and what child can grow to be a functional human without learning to dream.'
I don't see how not 'learning to dream' doesn't make you a 'functional human'. Your definition of 'functional human' just appealing to the majority. The whole concept of the album is around the working class (the majority) and that sort. Lucy succeeds in living her life in such a way that she is free to do what she wants. Just read the lyrics in 9-5ers Anthem. This song is NOT a warning; if anything, this song is a recommendation. Remember:
"You can dream a little dream
Or you can live a little dream
I'd rather live it
Cuz dreamers always chase
But never get it"
this song is a beast! fell in love with it straight away :)
Sorry to disagree, but I believe it DIRECTLY relates to Labor Days. Labor is concidered to be about American working society and "Wage Slaves", correct? So in what sense does this track not fit? There are those who spend their entire life being told what to do, how to do it and when to do it. This is a clear example of someone who lived her life the exact way she inteded and went against the grain of the normal lifestyle led by her neighbors.
Ex.
"Now every month or so, she'd get a knock upon the front door
Just one of the neighbors,
Actin nice, although she was a strange girl, really
Say, "Lucy, wanna join me for some lunch??"
Lucy would smile and say "I'm busy, thank you much"
And they would make a weird face the second the door shut
And run and tell their friends how truly crazy Lucy was
And lucy knew what people thought but didn't care
Cuz while they spread their rumors through the street
She'd paint another masterpiece."
So you see, since the entire album theme of Labor Days is the Wage Slaves and American Working Class, it makes perfect sense for it to be on this album. Woman is the odd ball because of her chosen profession/life long passion. And shes happy about her choices.
To 3rdEyeVision:
Perhaps she found it important to tell someone this because 1: She led an overall happy life. 2: She would like to share that piece of mind with someone else. Not to Jusify herself or convince herself that she is actually happy. More so to just be like "Hey, this could be a valuble lession to you." Shes TELLING the nurse this: "Look, I've never had a dream in my life
Because a dream is what you wanna do, but still haven't pursued
I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done
So i've been the dream that I wanted to be since day one!"
I see it as advice to the Nurse.
Also, about whether Lucy is happy or not. Why has she suddenly changed? never talking until now, seems like she has to justify why she did all this, I can't really explain it. Almost seems like she is trying to convince herself that she is happy. Anyone got ideas?
Also it seems like Lucy is actually happy but also convincing herself that she is happy but the fact that she has to convince herself that shes happy doing what she wants to do says something about the way our current society is. society today makes you feel like your doing the wrong thing if you dont follow the norm.
no, she didnt pursue it. she had it in her hands.
"Lucy had very little contact with the folks outside her cubicle day
But she found it suitable, and she liked it that way"
she had her own small space in which she lived her dream which was to draw the people/things around her and she liked it that way. she didnt care what other people thought of her, she just let them be. she let them live their dream as she lived hers. and she respected them.
"Lucy would smile and say "I'm busy, thank you much"
And they would make a weird face the second the door shut
And run and tell their friends how truly crazy Lucy was
And lucy knew what people thought but didn't care
Cuz while they spread their rumors through the street
She'd paint another masterpiece"
she wasnt finished. she let that lady go around and do what she wanted. no one was harming lucy's dream.
Does he mean this literally?
> Does he mean this literally?
Of course he doesn't mean it literally! She says "I'm busy thank you much" in the song. What he means is that she's never deeply communicated to another human being throughout her life. She'd always been an introverted hermit. To suddenly express herself deeply to another human was uncharacteristic of her.