Oh Mario
Sit here by the window
Stay here till we reach Idaho
And when we go, hold my hand on takeoff
Tell me what I already know

That we can't talk about it
No, we can't talk about it

Because nobody knows
That someone nearly fell
Trading clothes and ringing Pavlov's bell
History shows there's not a chance in hell

But oh Mariel
We're only to Ohio
It's kinda getting harder to breathe
I won't let it show
I'm all about denial
But can't deny, oh let me believe
That we could talk about
But we can't talk about it

Because nobody knows
That someone nearly fell
Trading clothes and ringing Pavlov's bell
History shows, it really shows it well

Well, well, well...

Oh Mariel why if this is nothing
I'm finding it so hard to dismiss
If you're what I need then only you can save me
So come on baby give me the fist
And let's just talk about it
I've got to talk about it

Because nobody knows
How someone nearly fell
Trading clothes and ringing Pavlov's bell
History shows, that it sure was hell

So tell me
That someone nearly fell
By ringing Pavlov's bell
So then they sure as hell
Oh Mariel



Lyrics submitted by AgathaKavka

Track duration: 04:27


Pavlov's Bell song meanings
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17 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:The song is about being addicted to a person. Alot of her songs deal with addiction and I don't think this is an exception. It might be about a mistress as some of you had said but I think its more important to focus on what this relationship meant rather than what type of relationship it was. She lost her identity to this person and she couldn't control herself. She needed him so badly that she went through withdrawl without him. Overall, I think the song is about looking back on this relationship and trying to forget about it, trying to move past it, and promising herself never to go back to a relationship like that.

    On a side note, I've heard of some relationships where co-dependent drug users actually get physically addicted to each other when they got high together. Its a classically conditioned response. For fellow psych students...that would be:
    US: The drug
    UR: Feeling high
    CS: Being together
    CR: Feeling high
    Flag Anthrogeekon September 18, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:after watching the video, i figured this song was about a mistress: the clock progressing backward made me think she wasn't able to wait for someone to come home but instead had to wait for someone to leave. she slips into an old pair of runners, perhaps belonging to her lover's wife--these little oddities of moved shoes and someone else around the house are soon noticed ("that's how i nearly fell/trading clothes.../not a chance in hell").

    moreover, i think aimee repetitively tempts this man by "ringing pavlov's bell"--omnipresence in his house, sleeping in his bed while his wife is away, wearing her clothes. the secrecy and risk arouses him but gets to her; playing his wife causes her to envy the other woman.
    Flag maximillianarthuron August 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Okay, To understand what this song is about you gotta look at oher songs by Aimee Mann. How about "High on Sunday 51?" It talks about a monkey as in monkey on your back as in addiction and the lyrics straight up say "Baby please let me begin/Let me be your heroin/Hate the sinner but love the sin
    Let me be your heroin." Another song by Aimee Mann called "I was thinking I could clean up for christmas" the lyrics go "'Cause I can't live loaded and I can't live sober/And I've been this way since the end of October/And I know enough to know/That, baby, when it's over, it's over." Surprise se is/used to be a Junkie! (I'm not a hater, she's done more with her life doing drugs than I could accomplish) For those who don't know loaded is a term that is directly used to refer to being high on heroin(kind of like everyone knows what drunk is).
    But my point with this song is if you watch the music video she's waiting around for her dealer(she walks to the door, a car is on the street leaves a bell and she goes inside and just passes out (which is what heroin does to you) and then the emphasis on the spoon and the brown chocolate milk mix, also her alter ego just sitting there) But reference to PAvlov's bell is like the dogs, once her doorbell rings she can feel the 'itch'. Not to mention the lyrics "give me the fix" I'm not sure about the theme of traveling maybe running away from yourself through use of heroin? Also they can't talk about it is what Mario keeps telling her, which is a reference to her dealer I'm absolutely sure because they can't talk about it because that risky business oto talk about when phones could be tapped but she takes it to a deeper level trefering to her need to talk about her addiction.You can say I'm wrong but it fits perfectly into the theme. It's not a love song about a person at least.
    Flag seashelle420on November 22, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think allusion is spot on. Further support:

    "trading clothes and ringing Pavlov's bell"

    could be: when a woman borrows her lover's shirt and puts it on, or even his boxers, it's a typical way to inspire a sexual reaction (ringing the bell). a very mild kink. even kinkier is when a man wears the woman's clothes. but both images evoke sexual play in that mood of an affair...I really do think this is about an affair, not a legitimate relationship.
    Flag cynsaon March 25, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Going on the whole Pavlov's stimuli=behavioral response I'm going to take a wiiiiild guess and say there's a drug/alcohol innuendo in there.............
    Flag sylviasovenon October 05, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:allusion's interpretation is probably pretty accurate... but then, what's the significance of the name Mario? was it a relationship our Mann was in, perhaps?
    Flag mopo976on August 10, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:have to change the name from Mariel to Mario
    Flag xojuiicylovexoon July 26, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think Allusion's interpretation of it is spot on ^
    Flag citizenaimon September 24, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think Allusion's interpretation of it is spot on ^
    Flag citizenaimon September 24, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Here's what I see,

    Mario is a married man or is in a permanent relationship. The singer is a woman who maybe is a colleague or a friend. They went away on a business trip or similar and she 'nearly fell' in love with him, possibly after sleeping with him.

    'Oh Mario, stay here by the window...till we reach Idaho'. She wants to be with him as long as possible, to still continue to be intimate-a one night stand that is tearing both of them apart.

    She 'traded clothes' that is changed roles - dressed up more/flirted with him, and she rang 'Pavlov's bell'.

    Correctly Pavlov showed the conditioning response in dogs - and so in animals in general. That you can get people to react in predictable ways even when they shouldn't, like when they are in a relationship. I think she was flirting with him as they were alone together, and maybe they had that one night, and then she ended up starting to feel so much more for him. 'why if this is nothing, then why am I finding it so hard to dismiss'.

    Where a woman turns on the heat, the conditioned response was for Mario to fall for her. Women, if only you knew what you do to us men when you turn up the heat! 'so that's how I nearly fell, by ringing Pavlov's bell'.

    Also, 'we can't talk talk about it' - but she WANTS SO BADLY to talk about it. 'Nobody knows', but she wants to bring it out in the open, the last thing Mario wants is to think about what happened, she assures him that 'I won't let it show, I'm all about denial.' Yet she also feels 'It's kinda getting harder to breathe' the longer she goes...

    'If you're what I need then only you can save me
    So come on baby give me the fix' but can or will Mario respond???

    A funny transcript error above: If you're what I need then only you can save me So come on baby give me the FIST.....sounds a bit violent to me...
    Flag allusionon April 17, 2006   Link

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