Lyrics for Timorous Me as interpreted by hollyhoxnj

Timorous Me Lyrics
Me and Johnny sittin' in the green grass -
I don’t remember too much from that far back in the past,
But man, oh man, was Johnathan a laugh
In those days.
Apparently he was my very best friend -
We spent warm summer days wishing they would never end -
But I only know from photographs I look at
Every now and again.

And J-J-Johnny -
Ooh, ooh, all he left us was an apple tree,
And ooh, where'd he go, and ooh, why'd he leave,
And ooh, why do I grieve?

Now I don’t ever see Johnathan no more,
But my life rolls on just like it did before,
And I only wonder what it is
That I even miss him for.

Me and Timory holdin' hands -
I was shakin' hers, ‘cause she said she was a fan,
There was an awkward pause, and something that should’ve began
Just passed us by.
But I watched her sing along with every word,
In the prettiest voice that I never heard,
And I still see her dancing, wearin' my shirt:
Right there.

And t-t-timorous me -
All Timory left me was a memory.
And ooh, I was blind, and ooh, now I find
That I can’t see.

Now me and Jodi spend a lot of our time
Just sittin' in silence, driving late at night,
And maybe even wonderin' what’s on each other’s mind
This time.
But I know she’s like me, so I let it ride -
She’s dwelling in that quiet space left behind,
Where only peace can answer why,
And you abide
The birds must fly.

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Biscuits
07-01-2003

Rated 0 
This is an awesome song. I love Ted Leo and The Pharmacists. What I love about this song is as the verse "Now me and Jodie spent a lot of our time..." the song just starts building up to it's full point. So great. The only bad thing is that soon after it breaks open like that, it ends :( . Still, a great song.

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runningincircles
06-30-2004

Rated 0 
Love this song! This song is about losing/making friends/relationships...damn, there have been to many lost. "we abide that birds must fly." Geez! these lyrics are all wrong, who is doing the posting?

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whatslifelike
10-28-2004

Rated 0 
ooh ooh ooh amazing song. I'm amazed that this band isn't super famous.

runningincircles is right...its about his relationships and friends who you'd have to know to understand all of the lyrics. The song brings to mind a guys itting looking at photos and reminiscing about all the good and bad memories...its a beautiful song.

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absolutelyamazing
01-03-2005

Rated 0 
i heard that this song might be about timory hyde, a girl who fell out of a window on her 22nd birthday and died--her friend who survived the fall said he suspected this was about her and that she had some connection to ted leo. She also has another amazing song written about her by OKgo called "return" that is absolutely heartbreaking

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ghosts
01-09-2005

Rated 0 
wow, that is really interesting (to the comment above). this song musically is amazing also, i love the primitive irish sounding drum/guitar around the end of the song, it sounds marvelous.

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LittleUnicornBoy
01-30-2005

Rated 0 
best Ted Leo song. hands down, man, crazy riff.

jigga buh DOW duh duh DOW

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spanwayhits
03-16-2005

Rated 0 
To me, this is a song about missing old times with people that didn't really matter to you, but you still miss it for some reason. "My life rolls on just like it did before but I wonder what it is that I even miss him for." Timorous means "Full of apprehensiveness; timid". It seems like he is missing these times in his life where he had the opportunity to do something that didn't really matter, but he backed down, and he's regretting it.

But really, who cares what it means. THIS SONG IS SO GOOD.

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benjabean
04-23-2005

Rated 0 
well ted has said himself that the song is a pseudo-irish wake song...

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mias
04-26-2005

Rated 0 
What a great song, to me this song is about fear and regret and how those things guide your life - often times in ways that you may not want them to.
Fear is the only limiting factor in our lives.

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prilla1206
05-15-2005

Rated 0 
In my opinion, he is of course, like most said, talking about the friendships we make and lose. I think he wonders what he misses Johnny for because he knows that missing him won't bring him back and even though they had good times, they're over now and he's going to make new friends. He is just honoring the beauty of friendship and the sadness of loss.

Only making peace with the loss can help us accept that "birds must fly" (we must die). Yes? No? Maybe? I think so.

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myseveredheart
06-07-2005

Rated 0 
i am very touched by the opening verse, i had a good friend (best friend) named Jon, who i never see anymore, he just ran away from home and no one has seen him since.
I love this song.

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Flinchy17
10-21-2005

Rated 0 
Some corrections..
"but I only know from photographs that I only get every now and again." should be "but I only know from photographs I look at every now and again"
"Telling me" should be "Johnny"
"but my life rolls on just like a death before." should be "but my life rolls on just like it did before"
"just past us by" should be "just passed us by" (Nitpicking i suppose)
Atleast to my ears.

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bottledlife
02-05-2006

Rated 0 
Is the apple tree a reference to Johnny Appleseed?

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SkiElk13
03-03-2006

Rated 0 
I love this song. It is probably my favorite Ted Leo song. The guitar is sick and the lyrics are incredibly poignant, but there is one I don't get.

"and I still say I can't so where am I shine right there?"

Any guesses as to its meaning?

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rachele
03-04-2006

Rated 0 
"and I still say I can't so where am I shine right there?" doesn't make sense because it's...wrong. So very, very wrong. I'm pretty sure it's actually "and I still see her dancing wearing my shirt right there", which should clarify things a bit.

This is possibly my favorite song ever. It still rocks my socks, even after I've listened to it 847 times.

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SkiElk13
03-05-2006

Rated 0 
I think absolutelyamazing is right. I saw TL/Rx in Providence, and right before the second verse, he said, and this all happened in providence. Timory Hyde went to Brown University and the a friend of hers, who almost died in the same accident, knows Ted Leo.

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edwardthefourth
03-13-2006

Rated 0 
This song is so amazing! It makes me sad though... I saw him in concert last week and he played this as an encore and had it lead into "Walking to do", which is another one of my faves. It was AMAZING!

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jipsing
06-13-2006

Rated 0 
HI. This song and the supposed story behind it (of Timory Hyde) made me want to join this site. When I read about the accident, I just became really fascinated with it and did some research and such... I think it is so horrible that someone should die in that way, just a month before graduating from college. It must especially be a horrific memory for her friend who was in the accident with her.

Anyway, I think that this song is, like prilla1206 said, about the friendships we have throughout our lives, whether they last or not. I also think, however, that it is about the potential friendships that pass us by, and the regret of not knowing someone better. This is where I see the Timory Hyde thing come in.

"Me and Timory holding hands.
I was shaking her's cause she said she was a fan.
There was an awkward pause and something that should have began
just past us by.
But I watched her sing along with every word
in the prettiest voice that I never heard
and I still say I can't so where am I shine right there? Timorous me.
All Timory left me was a memory
and oh I was blind
and oh now I found that I can't see. "
This part makes me think that Timory once saw Ted Leo in his older band (I forget the name, but I read in her friend's blog that he saw him that year... she could have been with him,) and that she met him briefly ("me and timory holding hands, i was shaking her's 'cause she said she was a fan"). I found out that her friend, Elliot, who fell with her know's Ted Leo's brother, soo it works. That's not the point, though... i just think that Ted Leo is expressing that odd feeling that comes with meeting someone that you see great things in (potential) and then finding out that something terrible happened to them. It is very sad, and knowing the story of Timory Hyde makes this song really really powerful.



PS- Just so everyone knows, I wasn't stalking Timory's family or friends, I just wanted to learn more about what they went through and everything, because the story was just so unbelievably sad to me.

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internet2
08-02-2006

Rated 0 
These are the correct lyrics. The ones above are retarded.

Me and Johnny sittin' in the green grass -
I don’t remember too much from that far back in the past,
But man, oh man, was Johnathan a laugh
In those days.
Apparently he was my very best friend -
We spent warm summer days wishing they would never end -
But I only know from photographs I look at
Every now and again.

And J-J-Johnny -
Ooh, ooh, all he left us was an apple tree,
And ooh, where'd he go, and ooh, why'd he leave,
And ooh, why do I grieve?

Now I don’t ever see Johnathan no more,
But my life rolls on just like it did before,
And I only wonder what it is
That I even miss him for.

Me and Timory holdin' hands -
I was shakin' hers, ‘cause she said she was a fan,
There was an awkward pause, and something that should’ve began
Just passed us by.
But I watched her sing along with every word,
In the prettiest voice that I never heard,
And I still see her dancing, wearin' my shirt:
Right there.

And t-t-timorous me -
All Timory left me was a memory.
And ooh, I was blind, and ooh, now I find
That I can’t see.

Now me and Jodi spend a lot of our time
Just sittin' in silence, driving late at night,
And maybe even wonderin' what’s on each other’s mind
This time.
But I know she’s like me, so I let it ride -
She’s dwelling in that quiet space left behind,
Where only peace can answer why,
And you abide
The birds must fly.

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Quonset
09-11-2006

Rated 0 
One of my favorite songs to have been released so far this decade...

I like how this song moves forward chronologically. First verse about a childhood playmate, second about a girl he briefly met when he was younger, and the last one is a perfect portriat of two people who are in a long-term relationship. That last verse especially reminds me of something from a Springsteen song. Very wistful.

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msongbird
12-18-2006

Rated 0 
im pretty sure alot of these lyrics are veerryy wrong...

thanks internet2 for posting the correct ones!

this song is so good!!! he performed it live the two times i saw him recently and it was amazing

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Greengo
02-19-2007

Rated 0 
by whatslifelike: "ooh ooh ooh amazing song. I'm amazed that this band isn't super famous. "

I ask me the same thing !

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talflick
04-28-2007

Rated 0 
its simple.
its telling you to get over the fact youre no good with people by showing you what you can miss.

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mdawg
12-01-2007

Rated 0 
hands down my favorite song. the second verse (timory) has such great imagery. even after listening to it a million times, i think i started to get it fully only a few months ago. timory is a fan who he met briefly and there was a little spark (attraction) but nothing happened. from the stage he could see her having a great time, dancing, wearing his band's shirt (b/c she was a fan) and singing along. this is the part i just got- "in the prettiest voice that i never heard"- he's onstage so all he can hear is himself but he can see she is singing along.

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plastic_scones
11-04-2008

Rated 0 
This is such an interesting song.
He talks about his best friend Johnny, who he barely remembers anymore. Though he cherishes the memories they had he doesn't seem to miss him at all.
Yet he meets Timory at a show for five minutes and hasn't forgotten her.
I think it's all about connection. There are certain people in your life that you will only have known for a short period of time, but are going to have a lifelong impact on you.
It's about the special connection you make with another person for a split second that lets you know how beautiful things can be, yet he never got to experience it with Timory.
My favorite line is "In the prettiest voice that I never heard"
It's heartbreaking actually.

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