Lyrics for Lover I Don't Have to Love as interpreted by firefly716

Lover I Don't Have to Love Lyrics
I picked you out
Of a crowd and talked to you
Said I liked your shoes
You said "Thanks, can I follow you?"
So it's up the stairs
And out the aim of prying eyes
I poured some wine
I asked your name
You asked the time

Now it's two o'clock
The club is closed, we're up the block
Your hands on me
Pressing hard against your jeans
Your tongue in my mouth
Trying to keep the words from coming out
You didn't care to know
Who else may have been you before

I want a lover I don't have to love
I want a girl who's too sad to give a fuck
Where's the kid with the chemicals?
I thought he said he'd meet me here but I'm not sure
I got the money if you got the time
He said, "It feels good"
I said, "I'll give it a try"

Then my mind went dark
We both forgot where your car was parked
Let's just take the train
I'll meet up with the band in the morning

Bad actors with bad habits
Some sad singers
They just play tragic
And the phone's ringing
And the band's leaving
Let's just keep touching
Let's just keep keep, keep singing

I want a lover I don't have to love
I want a boy who's so drunk he doesn't talk
Where's the kid with the chemicals
I got a hunger and I can't seem to get full
I need some meaning I can memorize
The kind I have always seems to slip my mind

But you, but you
You write such pretty words
But life's no storybook
Love's an excuse to get hurt
And to hurt
Do you like to hurt?
I do, I do
Then hurt me
Then hurt me
Then hurt me
Then hurt me
Then hurt me
Then hurt me
Then hurt me
Then hurt me
Then hurt me
Then hurt me

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  • 315 Comments
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theartistsleisure
06-21-2002

Rated 0 
conor oberst is amazing. i love his lyrics. wow...just....wow

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bright.eyed.girl
07-10-2002

Rated 0 
Okay, now when I saw him perform this in Nashville, the lyrics at the end were "Do you like to hurt? Coz I do...Now HURT ME!!!" (I capitalised coz he screamed it, in that way that only he can). I wouldn't normally be so anal-retentive about lyrics, but when I heard that part, it literally sent a chill down my spine. Good song. And kudos to firefly, coz I was seriously sitting around for a week going "I wish I could find the lyrics to that fucking song".

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theartistsleisure
07-21-2002

Rated 0 
does anyone have this mp3? Or what album is this on? because i really want to hear this song. the lyrics amaze me...but i really want to hear the song. if anyone can help me out...please pm me. thanks

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PLANES
07-23-2002

Rated 0 
its off the new album thats being released at the end of the month (pre-order it!)

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ellen
07-23-2002

Rated 0 
i have the mp3

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theartistsleisure
07-24-2002

Rated 0 
great...do you think you can send me that mp3 sometime? and what is the album called? thanks

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bright.eyed.girl
07-25-2002

Rated 0 
I've heard that the album will be called "The Story's in the Soil, Keep Your Ears to the Ground"

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xXxSavesTheDayxXx
07-25-2002

Rated 0 
yep, that's what they're gonna call the cd. I wanna get the Desaparecidos cd too.

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PLANES
07-26-2002

Rated 0 
guess what..i have the whole cd already thanks to some undercover work and some long emails and downloads

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negatyve
08-04-2002

Rated 0 
Emokid, I've been searching for that cd for that past month figuring it'd be around by now, with no luck. All I ended up with was the studio recordings of this song and Bowl of Oranges. I'll have an FTP up by the end of the week, If you want to be cool and upload it for me, I'll make you an account to get whatever you want off of me. 120gb's of Programs, Music, and Movies.

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skysonfire
08-05-2002

Rated 0 
my friend just burned me the whole new CD (i have no idea how he got it) and bright.eyed.girl: it's actually called "Lifted or the Story is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground". it's completely amazing. i think it's definately up there as conor's best work

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cheshire_cat
08-15-2002

Rated 0 
this song kicks. conor has done it again, i love the entire new cd. any ideas as to why the lyrics to this song are not in the lyric booklet? seeing conor next month... can't wait.

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afraidofcrushes
08-17-2002

Rated 0 
i think they fucked up on the lyric book. cuz one of the lyrics is in the twice and on the next page it has the end of this song on it. so im guessing they just messed up or something?

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popnoir
08-17-2002

Rated 0 
So basically its about sex and drugs (and rock 'n roll). :) I LOOOOOOOOVE this song. Right now it is my favourite off the new album, though I haven't heard the entire thing. The music on this song is so different from what Bright Eyes normally does. I love it and his voice is full of emotion as always. Mmmmmmmm...can't wait to see him live in a month.

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Rob_C_Kelly
08-20-2002

Rated 0 
Yeah, i have the uk version (cos im british) and they accidentally put the lyrics of waste of paint up twice...

of course, knowing conor (which i don't) he probably did it just to make people look harder.

rob

i have to wait till probably the new year to see him again... dang! i wonder if i can get a cheap flight to america... and a job that pays more so i can afford a cheap flight...

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theartistsleisure
08-23-2002

Rated 0 
i've finally found this song online and might i say it seriously rocks!!! the lyrics amazed me to begin with, but now that i've heard the song......wow....just wow......

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Psion410
08-23-2002

Rated 0 
I love this entire cd, I bought it the day it came out (thats early enough for me) and no, Rob, you're not the only one with the messed up version of the lyrics. However, Saddle Creek has put up at
http://www.saddle-creek.com/images/LoverPage.jpg
the correct page in JPeg format, so you can print it and see the correct lyrics. Or at least those of you who are lucky enough to have color printers can...

About the song though: If you consider the narrator of the song to be "the boy who's so drunk he doesn't talk" and some woman to be "a girl who's too sad to give a fuck" then "the kid with the chemicals" is someone selling them drugs so they can no longer have a "hunger".

The only thing I can't puzzle out is the line "I need some meaning I can memorize". Is that supposed to be ironic? Is meaning in any way memorieable?

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acursedfriendship
08-28-2002

Rated 0 
this is by far my favorite song on the new album. i think the chorus is like a musical climax and it seriously gives me chills. i could listen to this over and over again i just absolutely love it. ah the violins are just done so perfectly and oh man i cant even describe what i feel listening it.

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midnight
09-07-2002

Rated 0 
this is my favorite song the album too. This whole album is so amazing. I love the violins &ust the lyrics and everything. I bought it the day it came out &I was so amazed. Bright Eyes is amazing.

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ThursdayTheCult
09-08-2002

Rated 0 
No No, it WASN'T a mistake printing the lyrics to Waste of Paint twice, its because Conor is too embarassed to write the lyrics. "Your tongue in my mouth..." its gross. And its so damn addicting.

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vacantjoshs
09-08-2002

Rated 0 
it um.. its different from the other songs.. i would not want my tongue in this dudes mouth.. or any other dudes.. but connor looks really dirty.. im in to the ladies. hey ladies if you live in saint paul and want a piece then just IM me..

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xXxSavesTheDayxXx
09-10-2002

Rated 0 
"No No, it WASN'T a mistake printing the lyrics to Waste of Paint twice, its because Conor is too embarassed to write the lyrics. "Your tongue in my mouth..." its gross. And its so damn addicting. "
..No I really do not think so, I think it's a misprint. He has no reason to me embarassed by this amazing song, Conor is a genious.

'but connor looks really dirty'

No no no, Conor is beautiful, seriously, But that isn't why I like his music, I liked Bright Eyes before i even saw what Conor looked like.

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Lunetia
09-15-2002

Rated 0 
I agree with Firefly: these lyrics are rough. They show an honestly cynical side that I would personally be ashamed to publish, and speaks of love/unlove. The references to hands and tongues and fucking underscore the sexual side of the two lovers' interaction--it's animal, not human.
Later, when the lover says, "Love is an excuse to get hurt," s/he seems to add, almost as an afterthought or a confession, "And to hurt."
S/he even chides him/herself: s/he calls him/herself a bad actor, someone who just "plays tragic."
Perhaps I'm projecting my own feelings onto this song, but I feel it contains a lot of harsh self-criticism that is, perhaps, too harsh. And it's the kind that's shameful, that makes you grit your teeth and clench your stomach to say out loud.

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PLANES
09-23-2002

Rated 0 
about the misprint of lover i dont have to love in the liner notes...theres been a whole big debate about it on the saddle creek board

http://www.saddle-creek.com/wwwboard/viewtopic.php?topic=7848&forum=1

there you go.

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shes stoked
10-06-2002

Rated 0 
Heh this song just kicks ass... Its moving really... Makes me weapy...

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