In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
To think of my task is chilling.
To know I was carefully building the mask I was
wearing for two years, swearing I'd tear it off.
I've sat in the dark explaining to myself that I'm
straining too hard for feelings I ought to find easily.
Called myself Jezebel.
I don't believe.
Before I say that the vows we made weigh like a
stone in my heart.
Family is family, don't let this tear us apart.
You lie there, an innocent baby.
I feel like the thief who is raiding your home,
entering and breaking and taking in every room.
I know your feelings are tender and that inside you
the embers still glow.
But I'm a shadow, I'm only a bed of blackened coal.
Call myself Jezebel for wanting to leave.
I'm not saying I'm replacing love for some other
word to describe the sacred tie that bound me to
you.
I'm just saying we've mistaken one for thousands of
words.
And for that mistake, I've caused you such pain that
I damn that word.
I've no more ways to hide that I'm a desolate and
empty, hollow place inside.
I'm not saying I'm replacing love for some other
word to describe the sacred tie that bound me to
you.
I'm not saying love's a plaything.
No, it's a powerful word, inspired by strong desire
to bind myself to you.
How I wish that we never had tried to be man and his
wife, to weave our lives into a blindfold over both
our eyes.
To know I was carefully building the mask I was
wearing for two years, swearing I'd tear it off.
I've sat in the dark explaining to myself that I'm
straining too hard for feelings I ought to find easily.
Called myself Jezebel.
I don't believe.
Before I say that the vows we made weigh like a
stone in my heart.
Family is family, don't let this tear us apart.
You lie there, an innocent baby.
I feel like the thief who is raiding your home,
entering and breaking and taking in every room.
I know your feelings are tender and that inside you
the embers still glow.
But I'm a shadow, I'm only a bed of blackened coal.
Call myself Jezebel for wanting to leave.
I'm not saying I'm replacing love for some other
word to describe the sacred tie that bound me to
you.
I'm just saying we've mistaken one for thousands of
words.
And for that mistake, I've caused you such pain that
I damn that word.
I've no more ways to hide that I'm a desolate and
empty, hollow place inside.
I'm not saying I'm replacing love for some other
word to describe the sacred tie that bound me to
you.
I'm not saying love's a plaything.
No, it's a powerful word, inspired by strong desire
to bind myself to you.
How I wish that we never had tried to be man and his
wife, to weave our lives into a blindfold over both
our eyes.
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
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I have a friend who, after hearing this song, got himself to buy all of 10k CDs. It really is an amazing song. It describes so accurately the feelings you get when leacing someone you have been with for a long time, not because of some event but simply because you realize yor feelings for him are over.
This song is obviously about someone who has fallen out of love, and feels like they are lying by staying in the relationship. There is no real debate about that. What struck me today was the significance of when this song was written and released. "Jezebel" was originally released on the album "Our Time in Eden", the last studio album Merchant made with the band. She had announced a year before she recorded the album that she was leaving the band. I have to wonder if the feelings of the woman (I'm assuming it is a woman) in the song reflect Merchant's own feelings about staying in the band even though she had already decided to leave. Even the name of the album, "Our Time in Eden" sounds like the band is talking about how the paradise and innocence of the band's success was ending with Merchant leaving.
Furthermore, her performance of "Jezebel" is one of the most powerful on "MTV Unplugged". In fact, all of the songs on "MTV Unplugged" are VERY emotionally charged, and have a strong hint of sadness. This isn't surprising, considering that Merchant left the band months after the performance. The band's next album, "Love among the Ruins" speaks volumes. The band has moved on, and even though their popularity really did become a ruin, the band was still happy to go on.
Anyway, I just thought it was an interesting, subtle observation about the band and how their art reflected the musicians' lives.
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I have always thought that this song was about a woman that was forced into a marriage after getting pregnant because it was the right thing to do. She realizes that she is not in love and no longer wants to be in the relationship. At the same time, she is experiencing guilt and blames herself for not making it work. The guilt seems to be focused both on the impact to her husband and to the child that caused the marriage. The one thing I always like is the contrast between the verses and chorus. The verses express the guilt and the chorus expressing the building strength to pick up and move on...