Everclear – Sunflowers

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  General Comment:Everyone brings up good points, but I am thinking that even though Art is writing the song that maybe it is not really that much about a time line. I actually think it might be about his brother. But maybe it is about him talking to people long after his brother died.
  I think that it is about him recalling his brother and trying to figure everything out, now that he is an adult. His brother was young when he died so when he looks at pictures he sees how he looked when he was a younger man as well. So he is relating to his brother from both a younger kid looking up to his brother and also as an older adult who know has wisdom he wish he could share. My main reason for this is that it mentions "shaky hands", a sign of drug use/withdrawal. Also "I would die when you smiled" is so true for a little brother who wants to impress his big brother. Lastly, so much of the song is talking about a memory "I remember it all".
  One more point is that Art had issues himself so the line about it running in the family really makes me think that it has to be about someone in his family.

  Flag lovenightandrockon October 18, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:I've always thought this song is about a much younger sister. But his sister's kid as the subject works better with the line, "Your mom she said that you are just like me", so I'll go with that.

  Flag rpn453on October 19, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:I long wondered about this song, but then I did a little research. That research has led me to believe that this song is about Art thinking back about his brother. His brother overdosed on Heroin when Art was only 12, and a lot of the lyrics then make sense of a younger Art looking up at his brother and knowing more about him than his older brother thinks...
  
  The "I know where you go when you want to fall"==>describing how his brother went to do heroin... In any case, the time frames seem to be all mixed up.. part of this is his memories looking up at his brother and the other part is an older Art thinking back on these memories from a much older perspective..
  
  In any case.. this song gets me almost as much as Father of Mine does..

  Flag gothkilleron January 16, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:This is about Art's sister's kid.

  Flag dynawebon May 22, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:Jeez I love this song. So Much for the Afterglow is a very underrated album. My take on the song is, yes, it is a fatherly figure talking to someone younger, but it does not have to be a father necessarily. I agree with Sick*of*it*All in that it could be about two childhood friends. I say this because I've run into the same circumstances. You grow up with someone or meet someone and you begin to care for them not necessarily in a romantic love sort of way but in more of a protective way. As if this person is just like me, i see the same patterns, same insecurities, same problems I went through. I suffered through all these things, and I don't want this person to go through the same things as I did. SO IT IS a fatherly figure, but it could be as a mentor, a friend, a family member, or a little sister type of thing. Damn, I just ranted on for too long. I love this song.

  Flag mynameisjonasjpon February 22, 2007   Link

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  General Comment:All anyone has mentioned is the scenario of the narrator of this song being much older than the subject, but couldn't it be about two childhood friends who have sort of grown apart and the guy feels a kind of paternal affection for his friend because they grew up together. He's looking back at when they were younger and everything was so much simpler, just watching her paint sunflowers, and he's overcome with nostalgia and wishes she could still be as innocent as the girl he used to know.

  Flag SicK*of*it*Allon July 21, 2006   Link

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  General Comment:Maybe he's pretending to look back 10 years from now and the song is what he's afraid his daughter will become. It's just a guess.

  Flag skates02155on April 16, 2006   Link

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  General Comment:i see this as a 'you're just like me, and with that information i know you'll screw up' type song, and it's tearing art up inside because he wants his daughter (or whoever this is coming from; an older sibling to a younger, a parent to a child, etc.) to not make the same mistakes he did and to be happier as a child, because they're the best years of your life

  Flag allrageunleashedon March 26, 2006   Link

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  General Comment:me saying this will sound really weird, but my dad introduced me to everclear, so i think this is the song about art seeing his daughter and how they're similar, and shes starting to make the same mistakes he did, andhe feels that he can't really do anything about it

  Flag KarmenJadeon December 31, 2005   Link

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  General Comment:I always imagined it as an uncle talking to his niece.

  Flag Theo Reoon September 29, 2004   Link

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