Lyrics for A New Arrangement as interpreted by PLANES

A New Arrangement Lyrics
If could change your days
Arranging them in some sweet new sequence
Like any new arrangement is going to make a difference
Because it is the moment that you are living in
And not the one that follows
That makes the mess you are cleaning in your head
And time still drags you forward
Although you keep resisting
Because you know it is what you leave behind
You will soon start missing and the people you once counted on
Says it's all depending on how you act and how you treat yourself
And that is not very well
So baby, when I call for you
I want you to come and explain yourself to everyone
You nod in an acknowledgement of your frequent mood swings
But what good is an acknowledgement
It still don't change things
We've tried all forms of encouragement
And it's still no better
You can't seem to fake or force a smile
Not even a little one
So baby, when I call to you
I want you to come and lay it out for everyone
Exactly how it was before any of this happened
And why you can't leave it behind
Don't just sit there when I call to you
I told you to come and lay it out for
Don't feel awkward
Lay it out for everyone

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  • 28 Comments
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AndForgetMeNots
04-13-2002

Rated 0 
He is so amazing.

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fell4thepromise
07-12-2002

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wonderful song all of them are beautiful....i only wish i could express myself so well.

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chloroformxxperfume
08-31-2002

Rated 0 
the wonderful thing about Bright Eyes is that there is almost one song for every situation you seem to find yourself in. this is my song for right now, since my boyfriend basically went insane and our relationship went to hell, and i don't know...seems so fitting. how i adore Conor.

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Lunetia
09-05-2002

Rated 0 
I think the swaying sort of rhythm of the song complements the lines "time still drags you forward/ although you keep resisting". It mimics the action of pushing and pulling.

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.bright.eyed.girl.
03-05-2003

Rated 0 
this song is perfect. explains my first love to the t. "you nod in an acknowledgement of your frequent mood swings" he didnt "know what he wanted". ha..its only high school shit man, not like we wer gonna get married. ths he continues to act as though we are still dating..and expects my to be strung along in this situation. ha..high school drama is pathetic

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Emoeyes
06-14-2003

Rated 0 
you can't seem to fake or force a smile
not even a little one

That part describes me perfectly. This song's amazing.

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jakelear
06-21-2003

Rated 0 
Seemingly giving a third person view of Conor's bipolarism.

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a subtle allegory
06-17-2004

Rated 0 
this song can be interpretted in a lot of ways, i think.

it seems as though he is writing from the perspective of one of he's friends or lovers, because i really think this song is about him, not someone else whom he refers to as "you."

he is saying he wants to tell people about how he is feeling, and not feel awkward or embarressed.

it's about acceptance.

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asongtopassthetime
11-23-2004

Rated 0 
this song describes exactly how i was feeling for a good half of last year

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promisexkept
12-11-2004

Rated 0 
conor's bipolar? depressed and neurotic,yea,but i never heard about him being bipolar..

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wellwhiskey
12-15-2004

Rated 0 
I saw this song as being about Jesus. And about how if God did acknowledged that he did exist it would not make a difference. Also perhaps when it says 'because you know it is what you leave behind
You will soon start missing and the people you once counted on ' it is talking about Jesus and the crucifixion and how Judas let him down. but at the same time also about somebody who is depressive and wants to end their life.

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wellwhiskey
12-15-2004

Rated 0 
I saw this song as being about Jesus. And about how if God did acknowledged that he did exist it would not make a difference. Also perhaps when it says 'because you know it is what you leave behind
You will soon start missing and the people you once counted on ' it is talking about Jesus and the crucifixion and how Judas let him down. but at the same time also about somebody who is depressive and wants to end their life.

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wellwhiskey
12-15-2004

Rated 0 
I think what i said before is wrong about somebody wanting to end their life.Instead it is somebody being scared to move on from their current situation.

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awywithsuburbia
02-17-2005

Rated 0 
i just interpreted them being about someone who's really into drugs or alcohol or something like that and their friends have gotten sick of their actions, them hurting their bodies through the drugs, mood swings from it and such. i see it as about someone who's so unhappy and lived a crappy life that they feel that they absolutely need the drugs to get by, and their friends just don't get it because they don't know

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veisalgia
02-19-2005

Rated 0 
The first time I heard this song I had to put it on repeat for like, an hour. The drums, strings, everything about it is so good.

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oh_doctor_doctor
04-09-2005

Rated 0 
veisalgia, I know what you mean. I listened to it for hours the first time I heard it. It's absolutely amazing, and so damn beautiful.

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dontbuyintothat
07-06-2005

Rated 0 
i agree with awywithsurbubia alot. i can realte to thi song so much it alomst scares me.
i dont think that its about acceptance, tho as sum1 said, more like trying to get through a problem, rising above things, not doing things to destroy yourself...
umm i cant ever manange to say exactly what i mean, so just rust ur own interpretation.

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seashell ships
02-10-2006

Rated 0 
i can relate to thing song alot, also.
i think it's about being with loving someone who is depressed or has a dependency on some sort of drug. it's like... when you're depressed you and stop trying, everyone else around you wants to stop trying too.
it's about feel hopeless.

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seashell ships
02-10-2006

Rated 0 
*being with or loving someone

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apollo IV
02-26-2006

Rated 0 
it's fabulous. it really voices alot of feelings and emotions that people go through. i really enjoy that.

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slinkstersars
04-04-2006

Rated 0 
i think every day and every night side b is the best side b, ever.

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Aliendude
05-22-2006

Rated 0 
Maybe I only see this because I'm living this now, but I see the singer having gone through a breakup with a lot of regret. If only he could "arrange the days in a new sweet sequence," he could have fixed things with the knowledge he found too late. He doesn't want to move on, but "time still drags [him] forward." The relationship was ended because of the singer's emotional problems and "frequent moodswings," which he acknowledges but can not fix. He can't even "fake or force a smile" to fool her. In the final lines about calling to her, he wants to explain how great they were, how she shouldn't leave him behind. He is in desperation wanting to put everything back "exactly how it was before," though she is already moving forward.

I definitely see regret, but the breakup may just be a result of my past week. In any case, it has made me feel much better: the reason I love Bright Eyes.

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charcoalsketch
05-24-2006

Rated 0 
do you not know what contractions are?
it's kind of annoying, considering they're used so much in this song.

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Cielo298
06-16-2006

Rated 0 
I agree with everyone who said it's about a person or group of people who have a friend or loved one who is into something that is self destructive. About wanting them to stop, but they can't, and feeling hopeless. I think it might also be about how the person who's POV this song is describing, knows the self-destructive friend's situation, because they have experienced it themselves. And by knowing how it feels, they also know that in the end, all someone who's self destructive really wants, is for their need to be understood. They just want it to be understood and accepted so that no one nags them about giving it up.

So by saying: 'so baby/when I call to you/I want you to come/and lay it out for everyone/exactly how it was before any of this happened/and why you can't leave it behind,' The person who's watching this person they're writing about, destruct themselves the way they did, they're trying to tell their friend that they should explain why they do what they do, because no one seems to understand but the person who's writing this song.

The songwriter is telling his loved one to take away the mask they wear, and show everyone they know what's on the inside, so that they will better understand them. Also because they're all getting tired of feeling that they're being lied to by someone they used to be close with. They're tired of the distance that the self-destructive person is creating, so they blame it on their self-destructive ways, instead of trying to understand what makes them that way, and trying to help them with that, instead of trying to make them stop. The person who's writing this song, understands that all his/her loved one wants is to open up, and reveal the problems that make them act self destructive. They are the only one out of the person's friends who truly understand that it's not the behavior they should worry about, but WHY they are behaving that way. The person who understands the self-destructive person's feelings, is telling them that they must open up eventually, no matter how hard it is, because it is what they truly want. However, the person doesn't listen to his friends advice, and continues in the destructive behavior, as his/her friends continue to misunderstand the situation, still trying to get them to stop hurting themselves, instead of being supportive friends and helping them with whatever it is that causes them to act destructively.

I agree with a subtle allegory in that it might be the songwriter writing in 3rd person, because usually only you understand yourself, unless someone has been through the same thing, but it is still unlikely for them to grasp what it is you truly want.

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Cielo298
06-16-2006

Rated 0 
Of course I highly believe in the fact that songs always have different interpretations, this is just my belief as to what Conor Oberst had in mind when he wrote it, and what it means to me.

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