This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Pandora
Pandora's Aquarium
She dives for shells
With her nautical nuns
And thoughts you thought
You'd never tell
I am not asking you to believe in me
Boy I think you're confused
I'm not Persephone
Foam can be dangerous
With tape across my mouth
These things you do
I never asked you how
Line me up in single file
With all your grievances
Stare but I can taste
You're still alive below the waste
Ripples come and ripples go
And ripple back to me
Pandora
Pandora's aquarium
She dives for shells
With her nautical nuns
And thoughts you thought
You'd never tell
Line me up in single file
With all your grievances
Stare but I can taste
You're still alive below the waste
Ripples come and ripples go
And ripple back to me
I am not asking you to believe in me
Boy I think you're confused
I'm not Persephone
She's in New York somewhere checking her accounts
The Lord of The Flies was diagnosed as sound
Pandora's Aquarium
She dives for shells
With her nautical nuns
And thoughts you thought
You'd never tell
I am not asking you to believe in me
Boy I think you're confused
I'm not Persephone
Foam can be dangerous
With tape across my mouth
These things you do
I never asked you how
Line me up in single file
With all your grievances
Stare but I can taste
You're still alive below the waste
Ripples come and ripples go
And ripple back to me
Pandora
Pandora's aquarium
She dives for shells
With her nautical nuns
And thoughts you thought
You'd never tell
Line me up in single file
With all your grievances
Stare but I can taste
You're still alive below the waste
Ripples come and ripples go
And ripple back to me
I am not asking you to believe in me
Boy I think you're confused
I'm not Persephone
She's in New York somewhere checking her accounts
The Lord of The Flies was diagnosed as sound
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
"You know when you've cried and cried, and you really can't cry anymore, so you're very quiet? I started hearing the water, and "Pandora" - the last song on the record - came to me. She was sort of warning me that there are so many feelings under the rocks that I needed to turn into. She told me, 'You need to dive into this one, Tori, because your healing is in there. Once you go, it's a whole new journey, but you've got to metaphorically leave this little dock and come with me to find out what's really in this ocean of feelings.' So i did. And that's where I met these songs."
i know in greek mythology that Persephone was abducted and possibly raped by hades. i think tori sees her as a kind of helpless victim figure, so by saying 'Boy I think you're confused, I'm not Persephone' shes telling someone that although she has been abused by certain men, that isnt who she is - shes refusing to remain the victim.
There are slightly different versions of what happened with persephone. Because she ate pommegranates in the underworld, she was supposed to stay there (it was a rule; once you've eaten there, you must stay). Though Zeus requested her back on Earth, She was to stay on Earth part of the year and the other part in the underworld. Now, while she was in the underworld, the land went barren but when she came back, the land flourished.. Anyway, I figured Tori might be touching upon this but, with her you never know.
Everytime I hear this song I feel like I'm underwater, in the deep black ocean with all these little creatures. Her voice and the piano and the lyrics, it all sounds like the water and you really feel like you're diving inside yourself to discover the hidden truth. I got chills everytime. The funny thing is I liked it after I've read the lyrics and now I love that song.
Pandora mythology!
well merchantpierce got straight to the point with this one, all i can say is that i love how she sings when she says "pandora's aquarium"