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The phone slips from a loose grip
Words were missed then, some apology
"I didn’t want to tell you this
No, it’s just some guy she's been hanging out with
I don’t know, the past couple weeks I guess"
Well, thank you and hang up the phone
Let the funeral start, hear the casket close
Let’s pin split-black ribbon to your overcoat
Well, laughter pours from under doors
In this house, I don’t understand that sound no more
It seems artificial, like a TV set
Well, haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh
This weight it must be satisfied
You offer only one reply
You know not what you do
But you tear and tear your hair from roots
From that same head you have twice removed now
A lock of hair you said would prove
Our love would never die
Well, ha ha ha
I remember everything
The words we spoke on freezing South Street
And all those mornings watching you get ready for school
You combed your hair inside that mirror
The one you painted blue and glued with jewelry tears
Something about those bright colors
Would always make you feel better
But now we speak with ruined tongues
And the words we say aren’t meant for anyone
It’s just a mumbled sentence to a passing acquaintance
But there was once you
You said you hate my suffering
And you understood
And you’d take care of me
You'd always be there
Well where are you now?
Haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh
The plans were never finalized
But left to hang like yarn and twine
Dangling before my eyes
As you tear and tear your hair from roots
From that same head you have twice removed now
A lock of hair you said would prove
Our love would never die
And I sing and sing of awful things
The pleasure that my sadness brings
As my fingers press onto the strings
In yet another clumsy chord
Haligh, haligh, an awful lie
This weight will now be satisfied
I'm gonna give you only one reply
I know not who I am
But I talk in the mirror
To the stranger that appears
Our conversations are circles
Always one sided
Nothing is clear
Except we keep coming back
To this meaning that I lack
He says the choices were given
Now you must live them
Or just not live
But do you want that?
Words were missed then, some apology
"I didn’t want to tell you this
No, it’s just some guy she's been hanging out with
I don’t know, the past couple weeks I guess"
Well, thank you and hang up the phone
Let the funeral start, hear the casket close
Let’s pin split-black ribbon to your overcoat
Well, laughter pours from under doors
In this house, I don’t understand that sound no more
It seems artificial, like a TV set
Well, haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh
This weight it must be satisfied
You offer only one reply
You know not what you do
But you tear and tear your hair from roots
From that same head you have twice removed now
A lock of hair you said would prove
Our love would never die
Well, ha ha ha
I remember everything
The words we spoke on freezing South Street
And all those mornings watching you get ready for school
You combed your hair inside that mirror
The one you painted blue and glued with jewelry tears
Something about those bright colors
Would always make you feel better
But now we speak with ruined tongues
And the words we say aren’t meant for anyone
It’s just a mumbled sentence to a passing acquaintance
But there was once you
You said you hate my suffering
And you understood
And you’d take care of me
You'd always be there
Well where are you now?
Haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh
The plans were never finalized
But left to hang like yarn and twine
Dangling before my eyes
As you tear and tear your hair from roots
From that same head you have twice removed now
A lock of hair you said would prove
Our love would never die
And I sing and sing of awful things
The pleasure that my sadness brings
As my fingers press onto the strings
In yet another clumsy chord
Haligh, haligh, an awful lie
This weight will now be satisfied
I'm gonna give you only one reply
I know not who I am
But I talk in the mirror
To the stranger that appears
Our conversations are circles
Always one sided
Nothing is clear
Except we keep coming back
To this meaning that I lack
He says the choices were given
Now you must live them
Or just not live
But do you want that?
Lyrics submitted by PLANES
Track duration: 04:43
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The phone slips from a loose grip
Words were missed then, some apology
"I didn't want to tell you this
No, it's just some guy she's been hanging out with
I don't know, the past couple weeks I guess"
Well, thank you and hang up the phone
Okay. Some Friend, One That Obviously Cares About Conor (Or The Guy In The Song) Calls Him Up And Tells Him About Ah Guy The Girl He Is With Has Been Seeing. He Obviously Was Upset About It.
Let the funeral start, hear the casket close
Let's pin split-black ribbon to your overcoat
Well, laughter pours from under doors
In this house, I don't understand that sound no more
It seems artificial, like a TV set
I Think The Funeral Here Is Symbolic. The Relationship Is Dead. And He Isn't Taking It Well. The Laughter To Me, Is Ah Memory. And He Is Starting To Realize That The Laughter (Which Usually Means Happiness) In The Relationship Wasn't Real. He Is Probably Recalling Old Happy Times, And Because He Is Upset About The Death Of Their Love, It Seems Artificial, Like he Is Hearing It From Ah TV In Their Old House When They Were Happy & Together.
CHORUS.
Well, haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh
This weight it must be satisfied
You offer only one reply
You know not what you do
But you tear and tear your hair from roots
From that same head you have twice removed now
A lock of hair you said would prove
Our love would never die
Well, ha ha ha
This Part I Had To Do Ah Little Research On. In Some South African Cultures There Is Ah Festival Called "Kalashkapa" Where Men Drink Ah Variation Of Apple Cider And Mourn Their Cheating Ex Girlfriends. Its Customary For Them To Chant "Haligh Haligh Haligh" While Eating Their Dish & Drinking Their Cider. When Someone Cheats On You, You Call Them A Lie. Hence, Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh. The Guy Here Probably Has Ah Heavy Heart Due To The Sorrow Caused by This Girl. He Knows Somehow It Has Got To Be Lifted, Because If You've Been In This Situation You Know That It's Hard To Live With AH Heavy Heart. He Probably Questioned The Girl About It, And She Only Said She Didn't Mean To Hurt Him. Or She Didn't Mean To Do It. "You Know Not What You Do" Which Was Hurt Him. I Think That The Girl Might Realizes That She Has Screwed Up & Is Promising Her love, But The Guy Is Suffering From Nostalgia And I think That "But you tear and tear your hair from roots From that same head you have twice removed now A lock of hair you said would prove Our love would never die Well, ha ha ha" Is Him Recalling The Times When the Girl Promised She Loved Him. Like When Someone Says I Love You More, Even When You Know They Don't, And They Say They Will Prove It. She Has Already Said This "From That Same Head You've Twice Removed", And Proved Herself Wrong "A Lock Of Hair You Said Would Prove Our Love Would Never Die" (The Hair Symbolizing her Words). The Ha Ha Ha, Isn't Ah Sincere Laugh, I think He Is Laughing At Himself More Than Her For Believing That She Ever Really Loved Him. And Laughing At Her For Lying, Even When He Told Her He loved Her More.
I remember everything
The words we spoke on freezing South Street
And all those mornings watching you get ready for school
You combed your hair inside that mirror
The one you painted blue and glued with jewelry tears
Something about those bright colors
Would always make you feel better
This Is Nostalgia Kicking In Again. When Ah Relationship Ends, And You Miss It. You Begin To Recall All The Memories. The Girl Might Have Been Depressed About Something In Her Life & The Guy Was With Her & Helped her through It. He Stayed By Her & Helped Her Be Happy. He Loved Her. And He Thought She Loved Him.
But now we speak with ruined tongues
And the words we say aren't meant for anyone
It's just a mumbled sentence to a passing acquaintance
But there was once you
They Are Distant Now. He Is Angry And Speaks With Her Regarding His Anger & Hurt "Ruined Tongues" & The Things They Tell Each Other Now Aren't Personal, Like They Once Were. It's Just Like Greetings And "Acquaintance" Talk. But, Once, They Were More Than That. They Would Talk About How They Feel & Tell Each Other Things. Not Just Hey & Bye. He Is Missing Being Close To Her. Nostalgia.
You said you hate my suffering
And you understood
And you'd take care of me
You'd always be there
Well where are you now?
He Has Stated How They Are Distant, Now He Tells How Close They Once Were, The Closeness He Misses. He & She Seem To Both Have (And In His Case Are) Suffered From Depression. She Understood & Promised To Be There For Him As He Was For Her. But Now that He Is REALLY Upset, She's Bailed On Him. She's Not There And He Feels He Has Nobody Else & Needs Her.
(I Have Already Said The Meaning Of The CHORUS ^^^^.)
And I sing and sing of awful things
The pleasure that my sadness brings
As my fingers press onto the strings
In yet another clumsy chord
He Is Depressed, Has No One To Turn To, So He Turns To Music. He Sings Of The Awful Things She Has Done, He Feels, And The Memories He Recalls. When You Are Really Depressed You Get Ah Certain Amount Of Pleasure From Your Sadness & Pain. He Can't Let Her Go, So He Holds On To Things That Cause Him Sadness (Memories, Tears, Hurt, Songs, Ect) & Feels like He Sill Has Some Of her, This Brings Him Pleasure. He Is Singing & Playing. Using Music To Vent.
Haligh, haligh, an awful lie
This weight will now be satisfied
I'm gonna give you only one reply
I know not who I am
She Lied. She Cheated. He Is Singing About It. He Knows That Once He Gets It All Out The Heaviness Of His Heart Will Ease Some. I Believe That He Has Called Her And Is Telling Her All Of His Feelings And Thoughts. He Is Confused. He Lost All That He Loved, He Lost Some Of Himself. He Tells Her He Doesn't Know Who He Is Anymore.
But I talk in the mirror
To the stranger that appears
Our conversations are circles
Always one sided
Nothing is clear
He Is Desperately Searching For Himself. The Mirror Is Symbolic. He Is Searching Himself For Who He Truly Is. But He Can't Find The Answers. He Is Still Depressed And Can't Truly Focus On What Makes Him Happy. He Misses Her And Can't Find Who he Is Without Her.
Except we keep coming back
To this meaning that I lack
He says the choices were given
Now you must live them
Or just not live
He Keeps Coming Back To Why She Left Him & Why She Is Gone. What he Did Wrong. How To Move On, How To Live Without Her. But He Doesn't Know How. There May Have Been Signs that The Relationship Wasn't Going To Last And He Had Ah Choice To Stay With Her Or Move On. Now He Realizes He Chose The Wrong Option And He Has To Live With It & Move On. Get Over her. Or Kill Himself.
But do you want that?
He Knows He Doesn't Want That And She Isn't Worth Death. He Will Move On. In Time.
I Know This Is True because I Am Going Through The Exact Same Thing. I Suffer From Depression, Anxiety Nostalgia, & I'm Only 15. Conor Oberst Sings My Heart, And He Doesn't Even Know Me.
I could probably describe all of my pathetic stories in Bright Eyes lyrics. Unfortunately that doesn't make it any less pathetic.
i dont even like any other emo music or music similar to bright eyes in any way. bright eyes is just sooo goooood. the lyrics are the best thing about them.
and the way the songs make you feel while you listen to them.
im pretty much hooked on bright eyes. :D
but on urbandictionary.com it has one definition:
1. An angsty and/or emo teenage girl.
2. A girl that breaks your heart.
3. A chant of heartbreak.
the last two make a lot of sense to me, even if the word is made up.
the second on is clear, he's speaking to this girl, and the "chant"
could be what some of us think is like the old expression.
just a thought.
Gosh, All of you make valid points about it, though.
But I'm set on the idea that its an old expression.