"So long everything!" he shouted
Then he ran next door to Margot's house
"I'm moving," he said
"Where?" asked Margot
"Two weeks away," he said
"Mitchell, where is that?" asked Margot
"It's everywhere I will be after I walk for two weeks," said Mitchell, "I have lived in the same place for a long time, it is time for me to go someplace else"
"No," said Margot, "You have only lived next door for fifty years"
"Sixty," said Mitchell
"Fifty, sixty. What's the difference?" said Margot, "I want you to stay next door forever"
"I can't," said Mitchell, " I do not want to go wake up in the same old bed and eat breakfast in the same old kitchen. Every room in my house is the same old room, because I have lived there too long"

You turn on a spindle
You are so much looser now
But you’re not explaining how
You gained such new repose
I touch the clasp of your locket
With its picture held
Some secret you wouldn’t tell
But let it choke your neck
So we imagine a darkness
Where all shapes divide
Solids changing into light
With a burst of heat so bright
Well fine, don’t you do what I want you to
Don’t degrade yourself the way I do
Because you don’t depend on all the shit
That I use to make my moods improve

"And you look at me and think, same old face, same old tail, same old scales, same old walk, same old talk," said Margot
"No," said Mitchell, "I like your face, tail, scales, walk and talk. I like you"
"I like, like, like you"
"I like, like, like you too," said Mitchell
He walked through the door
"I must pack," he said

Near a sea of pianos
There were waves of chords
That crashed against the shore
In one huge and useless roar
And there were girls bringing water
Like a dream they came
To cure the fever of my brain
And soothe my burning throat
And they made me a necklace
Hanging beads of sweat
On a string of my regrets
And placed it around my neck
And they were singing
"Don’t you do what you’ve wanted to
Yeah, don’t destroy yourself
Like those cowards do
And maybe the sun keeps coming up
Because it has gotten used to you
And your constant need for proof"



Lyrics submitted by PLANES

Track duration: 06:28


A Spindle, a Darkness, a Fever, and a Necklace song meanings
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93 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:Onetwothreefour, yeah, Conor dated Neely Jenkins of Tilly and the Wall when they were in high school. They lived next door to each other and I get the vibe that Conor included this clip from Mitchell is Moving with her in mind. It seems like much of Fevers and Mirrors is centered around their breakup/its effect on Conor.
    Flag manicdepressivestoneron November 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:He couldn't have chose a better story to sample. It shows the constant state and importance of change, as well as people's fear of such. "Fifty, sixty. What's the difference?" said Margot, "I want you to stay next door forever" "I can't," said Mitchell.
    Flag awasteofpaintawasteofpainton April 12, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Memory:The end always reminds me of this poem from Baudelaire, Past Life (La Vie Antérieure).

    "It was there that I lived in voluptuous calm,
    In splendor, between the azure and the sea,
    And I was attended by slaves, naked, perfumed,

    Who fanned my brow with fronds of palms
    And whose sole task it was to fathom
    The dolorous secret that made me pine away."
    Flag fuyopoon April 22, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:" SO LONG EVERTHING"
    i love the use of this story
    the simplicity of it

    Flag lainehon March 30, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"No," said Margot, "You have only lived next door for fifty years"
    "Sixty," said Mitchell"

    I Always thought they said 15 and 16?


    "Near a sea of pianos
    There were waves of chords
    That crashed against the shore
    In one huge and useless roar"
    This has to be the most BEAUTIFUL imagery ever written in a song in the history of the earth.

    Flag Sharkonlandon March 27, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i love how conor's songs depress you, but in the end they make you feel so happy. weird . . .
    Flag JessicaDinhon March 20, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:to 'onetwothreefour',
    haha Neely O'Hara is a character from "Valley of the Dolls". You're probably thinking of Neely Jenkins.
    Flag milkandholywateron August 07, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Did connor not live next door to and date Neely O'hara from Tilly and the Wall for a long time when he was younger, i guesse i always realated the reading at the beging to his realtionship with her , did anyone else ?
    xx
    Flag onetwothreefouron February 23, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think i read that book.
    the reading near the end of the song almost brought me to tears. I cry at stupid things. ahaha. but it goes with the song, good job connor.
    Flag SKULLZORon February 02, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is just amazing! Conor sings with such emotion, especially in the line "and placed it round my neck" this song just fills me with emotion whenever i hear it. I think it's quite dark in theme, and about loss and moving on..but that's just how i interpreted it. Beautiful. =]
    Flag yourladyofsorrowon October 12, 2007   Link

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