The Spill Canvas – Black Dresses

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  General Comment:I feel like this song is about someones first love, and love lost. Its about that moment when your illusions of finding true love with the first one you fall for, are shattered. The discussion of his childhood seems to stand for his sense of naivety, and the funeral for the loss of it. A first heart break, which no one is ever ready for.

  Flag KMoney93on July 20, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:sorry, accidental multiple posts (didn't know refreshing it makes it post again) any way i can remove them?

  Flag theunknownwonderon February 27, 2011   Link

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  My Interpretation:to me, this song is very personal to me. the few interpretations that i skimmed over talk about it being about a relationship with another person (and by no means am i saying that its not) but my interpretation is slightly different. to me, this song is about a person, a troubled, innocent kid, who never really knew what the world is like and as s/he experiences the life's hardships, s/he begins to experience real life and starts to change; starts to lose innocent, without proper guidance and unwillingly. s/he seeks different ways to get through it (in this case self injury "cut your palms") and as s/he does, she consciously takes note of how s/he's losing her innocent "drip your ruby red, over the casket, a funeral for my once loved youth" *side note* pain/self injury might have been personified as this second person (as the "instructor" telling this person how to get through this time) and as s/he is losing her innocent, youthful days, s/he tells this second person (which sort of shows that the person might be mentally sick as s/he is personifying pain/self harm and treating it as a real person)that s/he is willing to die for him/her and asks if s/he would do the same for him/her (the first person)
  
  in the ninth stanza (goodbyes are said roses are thrown), the person has now unwillingly, and in an unpleasant way, lost his/her innocence, and now that the innocent's "dead body" has been buried, the person wants it back, s/he wants to be that innocent little child s/he used to be again "But the irony of the story is when I fell to my knees, and began clawing at the dirt in front of the tombstone, of my bashful childhood" and this second person (perhaps something mental/personified) is telling him/her that whats done is done, and its time to move on, however, the first person does not want it to end like this, s/he wants to lose her innocence more willingly and through events and with people which are much more meaningful to him/her "And I'm screaming at the top of my lungs,'The ceremony was not proper, there was not enough people'"
  
  really quite the masterpiece. again, this is just my interpretation. there is no right or wrong. no song has just one meaning as meanings only exist when a listener interprets the song, and since there are so many different types of people interpreting a song, there tend to be countless different meanings

  Flag theunknownwonderon February 27, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:to me, this song is very personal to me. the few interpretations that i skimmed over talk about it being about a relationship with another person (and by no means am i saying that its not) but my interpretation is slightly different. to me, this song is about a person, a troubled, innocent kid, who never really knew what the world is like and as s/he experiences the life's hardships, s/he begins to experience real life and starts to change; starts to lose innocent, without proper guidance and unwillingly. s/he seeks different ways to get through it (in this case self injury "cut your palms") and as s/he does, she consciously takes note of how s/he's losing her innocent "drip your ruby red, over the casket, a funeral for my once loved youth" *side note* pain/self injury might have been personified as this second person (as the "instructor" telling this person how to get through this time) and as s/he is losing her innocent, youthful days, s/he tells this second person (which sort of shows that the person might be mentally sick as s/he is personifying pain/self harm and treating it as a real person)that s/he is willing to die for him/her and asks if s/he would do the same for him/her (the first person)
  
  in the ninth stanza (goodbyes are said roses are thrown), the person has now unwillingly, and in an unpleasant way, lost his/her innocence, and now that the innocent's "dead body" has been buried, the person wants it back, s/he wants to be that innocent little child s/he used to be again "But the irony of the story is when I fell to my knees, and began clawing at the dirt in front of the tombstone, of my bashful childhood" and this second person (perhaps something mental/personified) is telling him/her that whats done is done, and its time to move on, however, the first person does not want it to end like this, s/he wants to lose her innocence more willingly and through events and with people which are much more meaningful to him/her "And I'm screaming at the top of my lungs,'The ceremony was not proper, there was not enough people'"
  
  really quite the masterpiece. again, this is just my interpretation. there is no right or wrong. no song has just one meaning as meanings only exist when a listener interprets the song, and since there are so many different types of people interpreting a song, there tend to be countless different meanings

  Flag theunknownwonderon February 27, 2011   Link

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  Song Meaning:to me, this song is very personal to me. the few interpretations that i skimmed over talk about it being about a relationship with another person (and by no means am i saying that its not) but my interpretation is slightly different. to me, this song is about a person, a troubled, innocent kid, who never really knew what the world is like and as s/he experiences the life's hardships, s/he begins to experience real life and starts to change; starts to lose innocent, without proper guidance and unwillingly. s/he seeks different ways to get through it (in this case self injury "cut your palms") and as s/he does, she consciously takes note of how s/he's losing her innocent "drip your ruby red, over the casket, a funeral for my once loved youth" *side note* pain/self injury might have been personified as this second person (as the "instructor" telling this person how to get through this time) and as s/he is losing her innocent, youthful days, s/he tells this second person (which sort of shows that the person might be mentally sick as s/he is personifying pain/self harm and treating it as a real person)that s/he is willing to die for him/her and asks if s/he would do the same for him/her (the first person)
  
  in the ninth stanza (goodbyes are said roses are thrown), the person has now unwillingly, and in an unpleasant way, lost his/her innocence, and now that the innocent's "dead body" has been buried, the person wants it back, s/he wants to be that innocent little child s/he used to be again "But the irony of the story is when I fell to my knees, and began clawing at the dirt in front of the tombstone, of my bashful childhood" and this second person (perhaps something mental/personified) is telling him/her that whats done is done, and its time to move on, however, the first person does not want it to end like this, s/he wants to lose her innocence more willingly and through events and with people which are much more meaningful to him/her "And I'm screaming at the top of my lungs,'The ceremony was not proper, there was not enough people'"
  
  really quite the masterpiece. again, this is just my interpretation. there is no right or wrong. no song has just one meaning as meanings only exist when a listener interprets the song, and since there are so many different types of people interpreting a song, there tend to be countless different meanings

  Flag theunknownwonderon February 27, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:i think that it means that when he doesnt cut he starts to lose the "thought" girl he is talking about,i mean he starts talking about them holding hands while everyone is at a funeral and then he says "the fear that part of me is dying" i think that means he is trying to hold on to whatever is left of the girl he loves. like maybe its visions or presence of the girl. but with the cutting it keeps enough of that girl with him, but is weeping because the girl didnt die with him, i guess? he flip-flops so it is hard to keep up. also i think that the girl could be a close relative like a mother or something.

  Flag anything5000on December 30, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:To me it's like he's talking about a funeral for a very close friend, I'm not too sure if its about a lover, although 'Bonnie and Clyde' were lovers and outlaws, so maybe it was a secret relationship. But 'black dresses flood the cemetery', well that does kinda refer to a funeral right?..'The ceremony was not perfect'..he didn't think the funeral was enough..and yeah i guess the chorus just kinda sound like he's talking to a lover..I really think its a song about losing the one who he's pretty much spent his whole life with and would die for them..and now they're dead, and he just can't handle it..and he won't accept it..and he just wants to join them but i can't be too sure..this is a beautiful song..i think i'm just gonna listen to it again..

  Flag SHEisKCon June 24, 2010   Link

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  Memory:I can't believe I'm going to tell a bunch of strangers on this website my story, the story that I have hardly told anyone. Anyway, this song is so beautiful and meaningful to me. It symbolizes everything I went through two years ago, the things that will always haunt me. I made so many mistakes, I fell "in love" with the wrong person. This guy that had a reputation as a "bad boy" started talking to me, and suddenly I found myself falling for him. I was over my head in what I thought was love. Right then, I was already in too deep to turn around. I just thought I was so in love with him and his pretty words. He would insult me constantly, but in ways that it wasn't quite obvious what he was doing. He'd get pissed at me and slap me(He wasn't very physically abusive, the most he ever did was slap me. And it was only, like, three times.) and then he'd go off the deep end bitching about things I had done. I made the mistake of trusting him and telling him all of my secrets, and he would mock me for them. He would bring them up and threaten to tell everyone the things that happened to me. He called me worthless, stupid, etc. But the thing was, he would then apologize. He would beg me to forgive him and say that he loved me and didn't mean it, if I didn't forgive him, he said he would kill himself. This scared me, because I still thought I was in love with him. One day he came up to me and started kissing me all over. I backed away and told him to stop, he said that he wanted to have sex with me. I was only fourteen at the time, and I wasn't even close to ready. I didn't even want to think about having sex with this emotionally abusive 16 year old. He would tell me lies about how much he loved me, how beautiful I was, and false promises for the future. He tried to talk me into it, he threatened to kill himself if I didn't have sex with him. Since he had said this many times in the past, I didn't believe he would actually do it. He texted me telling me to meet him at the school on Saturday at 11:05 PM. I went, and he was standing on the top of the building(which was really high) and said he was about to jump. I tried to talk him out of it and I still didn't believe he would actually jump. He went to the edge and almost fell/jumped, but then I screamed for him to stop. I asked what I could do to keep him from jumping and he told me I had to have sex with him. I agreed, regretfully. I hated it. I felt almost like he was raping me, although he wasn't, because I had consented to it. I felt dirty and disgusted. He was taking over me, controlling me, forcing me to do things I didn't want to do. I hated myself for letting him do this to me. My innocence was lost. He kept making mistakes, and time and time again I would take him back. After we had sex, I became depressed. He continued his routine of being emotionally abusive and then begging me to take him back. I now took his threats seriously. I became depressed soon after, I became a wreck, started cutting myself. My life was falling apart. This song helped me through those times, and it continues to haunt me. I love it, despite the horrible times it reminds me of.
  
  In muddy grass we stand side by side
  with our knuckles interlocked
  Black dresses flood the cemetery
  in this cliche tragedy
  
  The cliche tragedy. What happened was cliche, like one of those things you read about in romance novels and in Lifetime movies. The cemetery is representing times of grief and sadness.
  
  Just do as you're instructed and....
  Take this razor and cut your palms
  I'll do the same until a river of crimson begins to flow
  Now drip your ruby red over the casket
  A funeral for my once loved youth
  
  "Take this razor and cut your palms" reminds me of my depression that came along with losing my virginity to an awful person. I became depressed and started cutting myself. "My once loved youth" I had a great childhood, but when I met him things started to spiral downhill. Losing my virginity was the last straw, I had lost my innocence and it was like saying goodbye to my youth. I'm not sure if any of this makes sense.
  
  My secret is fatally gorgeous
  I'd die for you
  But in this Bonnie and Clyde kind of romance
  tell me what would you do?
  My secret is fatally gorgeous
  I'd die for you
  But when your precious life is at stake
  tell me would you die for me too?
  
  I think this verse is horrifyingly fitting. My relationship with him was a secret. Yes, everyone knew we were together, but they didn't know anything about our relationship. No one knew he was abusive, no one knew he was controlling, no one knew he pressured me, no one knew he was suicidal, etc. I thought I was in love with him (I'd die for you). Bonnie and Clyde kind of romance --- It was destructive, it was wrong, it was bad. I wasn't sure how he felt about me for sure, he was abusive yet he would tell me lies about how much he loved me, how beautiful I was, etc. (would you die for me too?)
  
  The quivering liquids in your stomach
  will eat away at the bad habits that have made you
  a real character in the story of your now distant life
  Goodnight and goodbye, quickly
  
  All of the bad habits that had become of me (depression, cutting, letting myself trust him, listening to what he told me to do) were changing who I was. I was letting go of my childhood, my happiness, my life and becoming this stranger. It was as if I was a character in a movie about my "now distant" life. I was saying goodbye to who I used to be and the innocence I once had.
  
  In gentle greens we stand side by side
  with your head buried in my chest
  Black veils send me shivering
  The fear that part of me is dying
  
  I still stayed with him, despite the things he did to me. I allowed myself to be the person he took out all of his urges and desires on, the person that he could take his anger out on. I knew that everyday I spent with him, listening to his ridicule, taking his abuse, allowing him to have sex with me, was killing the only part of who I used to be that I had left. I was this happy, cheerful, talkative, innocent child but ever since I met him, I had changed and I was losing the little part of that child I still had in me.
  
  Goodbyes are said and roses thrown
  And the crowd starts to weep
  But the irony of the story is when I fell to my knees
  and began clawing at the dirt in front of the tombstone
  of my bashful childhood
  With you by my side, you're screaming at the
  top of your lungs, "let it go"
  And I'm screaming at the top of my lungs
  "The ceremony was not proper, there was not enough people,
  and who picked the music?
  Those melodies almost made me physically sick"
  
  I love this verse. It makes me cry. The first time I heard it, I literally stopped and just cried. I had lost myself, I was a new person and I hated that person. It was like a funeral. My family and friends, and most importantly myself, were saying goodbye or having a funeral for the person I used to be. I wanted my old self back, but it was impossible. "You're screaming at the top of your lungs, let it go!" I told him about my depression and sadness and that I wanted my old self back, but he enjoyed watching me become a self loathing, hopeless stranger and he wanted me to forget about it and just listen to him. I disagreed. I felt sick every time he entered my body, insulted me, threatened to kill himself, every time I took a razor to my wrist. And the "who picked the music?" is a metaphor; as in, you have no control over what happens. At your funeral, someone else is picking the music, among other things, and you want things to be different, but you are unable to speak up, because in a funeral, you are dead, and in my situation, you have no voice.
  
  My secret is fatally gorgeous
  I'd die for you
  But in this Bonnie and Clyde kind of romance
  tell me what would you do?
  My secret is fatally gorgeous
  I'd die for you
  But when your precious life is at stake
  tell me would you die for me too?
  
  The quivering liquids in your stomach
  will eat away at the bad habits that have made you
  a real character in the story of your now distant life
  Goodnight and goodbye, quickly
  Goodnight and goodbye, quickly
  
  <3.

  Flag gabbixlovesxyoux3on April 06, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:does anyone know what he's saying in the middle-ish when he starts talking?

  Flag jadebelenon November 05, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:This song has so much passion it means alot to me. This song is AMAZINGG!!!! ive been though alot of what this song talks about it reminds me of my life

  Flag EmoLover123on September 16, 2009   Link

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