and through the life force and there goes her friend
on her Nishiki it's out of time
and through the portal they can make amends

hey would you say whatever we're blanket friends
can't stop what's coming
can't stop what's on its way

and through the walls they made their mudpies
I've got your mind I said
she said I've your voice
I said you don't need my voice girl
you have your own
but you never thought it was enough of
so they went years and years
like sisters blanket girls
always there through that and this
there's nothing we cannot ever fix I said

can't stop what's coming
can't stop what's on its way
Bells and footfalls and soldiers and dolls
brothers and lovers she and I were
now she seems to be sand under his shoes
there's nothing I can do
can't stop what's coming
can't stop what's on its way

and now I speak to you are you in there
you have her face and her eyes
but you are not her
and we go at each other like blank ettes
who can't find their thread and their bare

can't stop loving
can't stop what is on its way
and I see it coming
and it's on its way



Lyrics submitted by Novartza

Track duration: 05:22


Bells For Her song meanings
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23 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment:I think this song is about having that disturbing and empty feeling that you get when someone that you know is losing herself to somebody else, and her personality is getting erased.

    "Like blankettes"

    "and now I speak to you are you in there
    you have her face and her eyes
    but you are not her"

    "Bells" = warning bells?
    Flag Eatcarpeton November 20, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment: @Pilla ~
    I tried to post a reply directly, but it was a no-go. Anyway, I also thought it could be a song to herself. I read in another forum that Under the Pink is thought of as a 'girls' album in that it deals with the different ways women hurt one another through betrayl and jealousy.
    I had this idea at one time that the 'two friends' were actually two [or more] opposing sides of herself and the bells signified having to face losing one part of herself for another part. And that the different selves mean so many little intimacies to each other "Bells and footfalls and soldiers and dolls/brothers and lovers she and I were" but that time is changing them.
    In this way, there is an inner war between these selves. Like one part doesn't think she has a voice, so she wants to use a braver, cover voice, but that the part that is telling the story is saying 'you don't need my voice, girl/ you have your own/but you never thought it was enough of.' And there also seems to be this fear that with the introduction of men some part of her will dissolve, like 'sand under his shoes.' And she 'can't stop what's coming' so she just has to face it and be resigned to it.
    Flag starshinesMoneton November 13, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment: I have always loved the significance of the title to this song ~ Bells. for Her. For a song of such resignation, such sadness it is interesting to choose bells.

    I have spent a really long time listening to this song (years even) and reading/considering your comments. Finally I just wrote a journal entry about my thoughts on this song (because this forum isn't designed for prolonged discourse), so if you have interest in what I had to say here is the URL: starshinesmonet.livejournal.com/…

    I added it here in case the other doesn't work: songmeanings.net/journals/view/17085992/
    Flag starshinesMoneton November 13, 2010   Link
  • +3
    General Comment:This song is CLEARLY about herself as two women...the strong woman, the weak woman...going at it LIKE SISTERS...BLANKETS (can't find their thread and their bare means one blanket made up of many threads which is one body made up of more than one self) both inner selves failing a man...this is why she wrote CAN'T STOP WHAT'S COMING-CAN'T STOP WHAT'S ON ITS WAY because even her stronger self can't seem to get this solider. Her stronger self is now "sand under his shoe" There is nothing that can be done. If you notice in her live recording, she mentions "Can't Stop Loving You." She sees it coming, that there is nothing she can do.

    I've got your mind I said
    she said I've your voice
    I said you don't need my voice girl
    you have your own
    but you never thought it was enough of
    so they went years and years
    like sisters blanket girls
    always there through that and this
    there's nothing we cannot ever fix I said
    Flag Plilaon December 10, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I can't help shake the feeling of childhood friendship ruined by romance and/or sexual experimentation.

    It's pretty explicit that they've grown apart but "brothers and lovers she and I were," and "like sisters blanket girls," seem to imply that they were more than just close friends at some point, maybe this lead to them drifting apart. "but you never thought it was enough of" seems to be a half finished thought, letting trail off what the other party didn't think there was enough of.
    Flag Wintermut3on September 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't know. It seemed like someone was dying to me, but it's more like the person that the friend was has died, leaving behind a stranger. The relationship dies pretty much too. There's a lot of hints toward metaphorical death in the song to me, plus the melody too.
    Flag dark ivoryon February 28, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I thought the song meant that she was trying to describe the onset of personality split in herself.
    Flag ashfeatheron January 15, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:The song is about friends and how they thought they'd be best friends forever, but now they hate each other because of some betrayal. At one point, the friend wanted to be just like her, hence the "I have your voice line", to which the narrator of the song responds that she is beautiful and individual, and doesn't need to be like her. It sounds like a relationship with a man tore the friends apart, but the narrator has accepted it. However, she's still worried, even though she says they act like "blankettes", I thought that was her way of saying they acted like a word she can't even bring herself to say....
    But somehow, she can't stop loving her friend
    Flag j-loveon November 15, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:I think all women can relate to this song: there's been a time in our lives where a really close friend suddenly only had time for her boy, and you can't understand how such a strong bond is suddenly weakened by the arrival of a man. It's heartbreaking, and you feel so hopeless because you wanted to be friends forever the way you planned as children, and yet there's this new guy in her life and he takes your place and all you can do is sit back and watch the inevitable.
    Flag ChelloBelloon August 13, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:I'm reading a little more into this song than most folks seem to be... to me, it's not just a friendship that's been destroyed, but a life that's about to be.

    It seems to me that the singer has grown up with this friend all through childhood and adolescence, and now the friend has gotten involved with someone who is abusive, and it just keeps getting worse.

    Abused folks are often dependent, and the phrase "I said you don't need my voice girl
    you have your own
    but you never thought it was enough of" strikes me as that... someone who can't speak for themselves and so other perople speak for them, controlling them.

    "Sand under his shoes" is a pretty low thing to be, and naturally, when she confronts her friend about it, they fight, "go at each other like blank ettes."

    The lively friend she had is gone, so far gone that she appears dead inside... "and now I speak to you are you in there you have her face and her eyes but you are not her"

    And the singer is afraid that it's going to end in tragedy. That her friend is either going to suicide or be killed by the abuse. She's like to be able to turn away, I think, but she loves the friend too much.

    It's a terrible position to be in: "can't stop loving, can't stop what is on its way, and I see it coming, and it's on its way."
    Flag Doom Shepherdon August 02, 2007   Link

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