(Spoken)
Alright, I have never never played this song before in concert. I have grave, grave misgivings about doing it now. But you people have been bitching about it forever so... It's entirely possible its not even that good of a song, it does however have a really great title. It sort of goes like this.. I'm not sure I can play this. But I'm doing this just for you. I want you to know that I rehearsed it on the piano in the change over between Graham Colton and the Wallflowers when you weren't looking tonight.

(Song)
They're waking up Maria
Cause everybody else
Has got some place to go
She makes a little motion with her head
Rolls over, and says she's gonna sleep for a couple minutes more

I said I'm sorry to Maria
For all the cold hearted things that I have done
I said I'm sorry by now, at least once
To just about everyone

She says, "I've forgotten what I'm supposed to do today"
And it slips my mind what I'm supposed to say
We're getting older and older, and older
And always a little further out of the way

You look into her eyes
And it's more than your heart will allow
In August and everything after
You get a little less than you expected, somehow

Well, I stumbled into Washington Square
Just as the sun began to rise
I walked across the lawn to the cathedral
And layed down in the shadow of St. Mary's in the sky

I'm just one of these late model children
Waiting for the king
But there ain't no sign of Elvis in San Francisco
It's just me, and I'm playin this rock 'n' roll thing

She wants to be just like me
And I want every damn thing I can see
You know one day you're daddy's little angel
The next day, you're everything he wanted you to be

They dress you up in white satin
And they give you your very own pair of wings
In August and everything after
I'm after everything

I said, la la la la la la la la la la la la la

Now I got my reservations
And I got my seven million dollar home
And I got the number of some girl in New York City
Who's always wide awake so I never have to spend a night alone

I got this nasty little habit of peakin down the shirts
Of all the little girls as they pass me by
I wonder, when it all catches up to me
And I finally break down.. no
Did you think I was gonna cry?

Well I already got my disease
So take your fucking filthy hands off of me
I hope you don't expect me to be crucified
The best that they can do is to just hang me from the nearest tree

Cause it's midnight in San Francisco
And I'm waiting here for Jesus on my knees
In August and everything after
I want somebody else to bleed, for me

I said, now la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Oh na na na na na na na na na na na ohh..

I came down from North Dakota
Cause I had confidence in the military mind
Now, everyone I know is just turning showgirl
And dancing with their shirt off in some Las Vegas hotel line

So I'm going to New York City
Cause it got a little sleezy here for me
When I find myself alone
I know I'm never going home
To make the changes, the changes that we need

But I no longer know how to pray
I live in a dog town, and it's a dalmation parade
I changed my spots over and over
But they never seem to fade away

I am the last remaining Indian
Looking for the place where the Buffalo roam
In August and everything after
Man, them buffalo ain't never comin home

In August and everything after
Man, them buffalo ain't never comin home

La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na, oh no, na na na na na na na na na na na na na na...


Lyrics submitted by indefeat

August and Everything After (Live 12/03 Version) song meanings
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7 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is so wonderful. To me this seems to about the trappings of fame. I think theres a few 'money cant buy you love' lines thrown in for good measure. It seems to be a song about regret and the need for redemption. There is an underlying feeling of desperation and resigning oneself to the fact that everyone gets older and sometimes that can be a pretty scary feeling. At the end of the day with all the fame and fortune that the guy in the song bestows. It still boils down to him being a loneley guy who feels some of his friends have sold out and now maybe he's even questioning his own motivations.

    lostinspaceon April 30, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Considering when this song was written, it seems to be primarily about Duritz's yearning for some degree of recognition in his early years as a struggling songwriter. However, this being the only released version of the song, some of the lyrics have changed, and it's about the irony of the original song, which he is beginning to realise as an older, wiser, famous songwriter. So, he acheived all that he was yearning for in the original song, but it turned out to be a sour version of what he had dreamed about. Duritz illustrates the same point with more elegance in Mr Jones, but this is still a clever and rather bitter performance.

    cravenmonketon June 17, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    To me it's a coming of age story. It's Adam realizing that he's a grown up for the first time, which fits the time frame in which the song was written pretty well. He's watched all his friends go off on these lives that are so bizarre or degrading. He down-talks himself with "I hope you don't expect me to be crucified, the best they could do is just hange me from the nearest tree" He's not that great to be crucified. I love the lines about the dalmation parade ... "I change my spots over and over but they never seem to fade away" I just think it's about a guy revisiting those he knew in like high school or something and seeing what the world does to people and how much things change. Great song in my opinion with a really cool writing style.

    Jag3892on February 05, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    love it

    rash_decisionon April 10, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    for me it goes parallel with Round Here. It's possibly his greatest song. The lyrics are amazing. I could go thorugh it all and analyse each lyric but that would take forever. I just love how the 'I said 'la la la...' bit sheds light on the 'I don't want to feel it slip away, come on say 'la la la'' bit in the New Amsterdam version of 'Rain King'.

    phil_FFFon September 30, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think the reason that Adam Duritz always wonders if this is a good song is because it isn't about anything specific. It seems to be a stream of conscious writing ("peeking down the shirts..." may be a reference to TS Elliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock?), so each stanza is kind of about something different. I think that is what makes this song so great, because it seems to touch on so many different elements of what it means to be human.

    YYURYY2Con September 15, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is amazing. Before I had heard it, I read that it wasn't as well recieved by fans as the hype made it out to be; I mean that, the hype of "Oh, he's finally gonna release that song we've been wondering about for years" outweighed the actual performance, but this is one of my favs. I like that he changed all the you's to I's in this, it makes it more convincing. This is a beautiful, beautiful song, and a beautiful version. I've listened to it on repeat for hours, I just can't get enough. It's pure poetry, really. He just really sells it.

    Sounds to me like...well like a real sad fucking song! lol

    But in all seriousness, there's definitely a struggle going on here, he's wrangling with his emotions and the things that have happened in his life.

    I don't think I can pick a favorite part of this...but "I no longer know how to pray" is up there.

    And um, this? "Well I already got my disease So take your fucking filthy hands off of me I hope you don't expect me to be crucified The best that they can do is to just hang me from the nearest tree"

    I think that sums it up perfectly. Seems like he doesn't even think he deserves crucifixtion.

    thecoldparton March 26, 2008   Link

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