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I'll lay down my glasses,
I'll lay down in houses,
if things come alive.
I'll subtract pain by ounces,
Yeah, I will start painting houses,
if things come alive
I promise to commit no acts of violence,
Be it physical or otherwise,
If things come alive
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
Oh, I'll say it now
Cuz I want it now
When personality is scarred tissue,
We travel South with disuse
I'm subtle like a lion's cage
Such a cautious display
Remember take hold of your time here
Give some meanings to the means
To your end.
Not even jail.
We marshal in the days of longing,
We tremble like anyone's children,
And wink towards the fire.
I'm erring on the side of caution,
Betraying no other symptom,
But girl, you shake it right.
I will bounce you on the lap of silence,
We will free up to the beats of science,
And girl, you shake it right
I'll say it now
Oh, but hold it still, darling, your hair so pretty
Can't you feel the warmth of my sincerity?
You make motion when you cry
You're making people's lives feel less private.
Don't take time away
You make motion when you cry
we all hold hands,
can't we all hold hands,
When we make new plans?
I pretend like no one else
To try and control myself.
I'm subtle like a lion's cage.
Such a cautious display.
Remember take hold of your time here,
Give some meanings to the means
To your end
Not even jail
I'll lay down in houses,
if things come alive.
I'll subtract pain by ounces,
Yeah, I will start painting houses,
if things come alive
I promise to commit no acts of violence,
Be it physical or otherwise,
If things come alive
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
Oh, I'll say it now
Cuz I want it now
When personality is scarred tissue,
We travel South with disuse
I'm subtle like a lion's cage
Such a cautious display
Remember take hold of your time here
Give some meanings to the means
To your end.
Not even jail.
We marshal in the days of longing,
We tremble like anyone's children,
And wink towards the fire.
I'm erring on the side of caution,
Betraying no other symptom,
But girl, you shake it right.
I will bounce you on the lap of silence,
We will free up to the beats of science,
And girl, you shake it right
I'll say it now
Oh, but hold it still, darling, your hair so pretty
Can't you feel the warmth of my sincerity?
You make motion when you cry
You're making people's lives feel less private.
Don't take time away
You make motion when you cry
we all hold hands,
can't we all hold hands,
When we make new plans?
I pretend like no one else
To try and control myself.
I'm subtle like a lion's cage.
Such a cautious display.
Remember take hold of your time here,
Give some meanings to the means
To your end
Not even jail
Lyrics submitted by Interpolnyc
Track duration: 05:47
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I'll lay down my glasses,
I'll lay down in houses,
if things come alive.
*alcoholics pass out everywhere, houses, etc.
I'll subtract pain by ounces,
Yeah, I will start painting houses,
if things come alive
*he will subtract pain by getting drunk, painting houses as in tearing it apart in a rage*
I promise to commit no acts of violence,
Be it physical or otherwise,
If things come alive
*he promises his gf/wife that he will not be an angry drunk when he drinks (all drunks do this)*
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
Oh, I'll say it now
Cuz I want it now
*he says it now because he doesn't want to lose her (or it could be the bottle, its your call) because he does want to get clean and sober, but it's never that easy*
When personality is scarred tissue,
We travel South with disuse
I'm subtle like a lion's cage
Such a cautious display
*he is a jeckel and hyde type of drunk, (as many of us are) you never know what you are going to get, his personality is scarred because he never really knows who he is with or w/o the booze.*
Remember take hold of your time here
Give some meanings to the means
To your end.
Not even jail.
*when he says "remember take hold of your time here, give some meanings to means" that to me either means he's talking about spending time in jail, or he's attending AA meetings. "not even jail" to me means not even jail can stop him from drinking, the consequences can never be enough for him to stop.
We marshal in the days of longing,
We tremble like anyone's children,
And wink towards the fire.
*he's getting sober but he's got the shakes, he can't take it, he winks towards the fire and the fire is alcohol, he winks because he knows he's coming back to it.
I'm erring on the side of caution,
Betraying no other symptom,
But girl, you shake it right.
*he's staying clean, working the program, but damn he misses the way booze made him feel.*
I will bounce you on the lap of silence,
We will free up to the beats of science,
And girl, you shake it right
*he constantly thinks about it in his head, it frees up his imagination, it makes him feel more alive, it's his woman, his everything, or he could be in a memory of a woman at a bar or something.*
I'll say it now
Oh, but hold it still, darling, your hair so pretty
Can't you feel the warmth of my sincerity?
You make motion when you cry
*He's remembering the pain he has caused his significant and himself as the result of his alcoholism.*
You're making people's lives feel less private.
Don't take time away
You make motion when you cry
*booze makes everyones lives less private, it's a spotlight for negativity. She's going to leave him*
we all hold hands,
can't we all hold hands,
When we make new plans?
*this I'm almost positive is talking about an AA (alcoholics anonymous) meeting. At the end of a meeting you all hold hands in a circle and say the Lords Prayer asking him to not lead you into tempation and forgive others etc. Making new plans for life, cleaning up, living differently is what ALcoholics NEED to stay sober*
I pretend like no one else
To try and control myself.
I'm subtle like a lion's cage.
Such a cautious display.
*This part does puzzle me a bit. Maybe he doesn't believe the program can work for him, or he doesn't want to put the effort in, he still feels the same "lions cage" as he did earlier in the song when he was in active addiction. He lashes out in meetings, a dry drunk in other words.*
Remember take hold of your time here,
Give some meanings to the means
To your end
Not even jail
* this to me signifies it's you who can make your own destiny. Not even jail will save you from the bottle if you don't put in a lot of work, give some meanings to the means, try and make sense of life, be happy with yourself and who you are. Take hold of your time here as in life, or AA, or the bottle.*
Just my two cents, but I really think i'm not far off with this. To each their own I guess.
Then we skip forward in time... they marshall in new days...they're still together, the relationship has its troubles, but he's showing restraint, sincerity and caution, and she still *shakes it right*. But she doesn't fight fair, she's airing their dirty laundry and he's kind of disgusted by that. By saying *I pretend like no one else to try to control myself* = come on, babe, make an effort. You embarrass us. If I'm the only one who's trying to hold things together...
*I'm subtle like a lion's cage* (a jail for the lion - but also keeps the observer safe) = he's committed to this relationship, he's stuck in it, and she benefits, but then sarcastically: *such a cautious display* (the lion may roar and rattle the bars, but he's not going anywhere, and can't do a thing to the observer, and they both know it) = he'd like her to change, work on herself because he's given so much to the relationship and he wants it to succeed, but she's holding them back. Maybe its her voice saying *such a cautious display* with sarcasm. Like she's lost respect for him for some reason.
Then *Remember take hold of your time here* is repeated... like a memory of all they promised to each other at the beginning,
*I will bounce you on the lap of silence* = I'd be a good provider, you'll want for nothing.
*We will prelude to the beats of science* = it is a biological inevitability that we will one day procreate. Maybe it will be together?
Perhaps this is completely in left field, but I couldn't understand the title of the song at all till I plugged it into an anagram engine and turns out *Not Even Jail* is an anagram for Violent Jane... any thoughts?
BUT... the line in this song that references "painting houses" is closely followed by a pledge to commit no acts of violence. So there goes that theory...
I feel that the song embodies the course of a relationship/love and how various factors influence a relationship. Love is at first full of promises, and you can get a sense of that in the music how it starts to feel like it's going well, it starts with a bang and then coasts at a nice steady beat, full of promise, making you wonder what's coming next. He keeps saying "I'll say it now" and you feel the relationship is building momentum. He is saying all these things, making promises, setting the stage for the relationship, but talk is cheap, and he keeps "saying it now" this is the beautiful start to a relationship.
The music then changes and he goes into negative aspects that are getting in the way, personality being scar tissue, saying he got worse "traveled south" as he is using this tissue (his personality) that was scared from past relationships, having a subtle outer appearance but being a wild animal inside (that not even jail can tame), take hold of your time here etc is him saying don't waste your life like I did. The music builds up again and then changes..
It starts to become similar to the first part of the song, the relationship is becoming boring, marshaling in the days of longing, waiting to watch the fire, the "fire" passion has gone or has lessened. He is erring on the side of caution, not wanting to stir the fire but there's still enough flame for him to be interested (he still loves her but it's buried). I think girl you shake it right could be taken literally or it could be taken as her trying to shake it to get his attention trying to stir life into the relationship (or him), to wake his lion. Now he's trying to tell her that he really is sincere (the warmth of my sincerity) but it took him getting his wild side out (sex) for him to realize this. She can't deal with his hot and cold nature, so she cries and makes a big scene, which is uncomfortable for him. He's trying to calm her, but she is hysterical.
I think this man is a paradox, he is wild and crazy inside but on the outside he is blunted and cold. He has been hurt so bad that he protects his wild self. He doesn't want to see her walk the same path so he gives her advice to help her avoid the same mistakes the only problem is in the course of their relationship he is actually paving the way for her to become like him, with scar tissue.
I will lay down my glasses
I will lay down in houses
If things come alive
I'll subtract pain by ounces
Yeah, I will start painting houses
If things come alive
I promise to commit no acts of violence
Be it physical or otherwise
If things come alive
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
Oh I'll say it now
Because I want it now
When personality is scar tissue
It travels south with disuse
I'm subtle like a lion's cage
Such a cautious display
Remember take hold of your time here
Give some meanings to the means
To your end
Not even jail
We marshal in the days of longing
We tremble like anyone's children
And winter was the fire
I'm erring on the side of caution
Betraying all the symptom
But girl you shake it right
I will bounce to all the lack of silence
We will freeload to the beats of science
And girl you shake it right
I'll say it now
Oh, but hold it still, darling, and your hair's so pretty
Can't you feel all the warmth of my sincerity?
You make motion when you cry
You're making peoples lives feel less private
Don't take time away
You make motion when you cry
We all hold hands
Can we all hold hands
When we make new plans
I pretend like no one else
To try to control myself
I'm subtle like a lion's cage
Such a cautious display
Remember take hold of your time here
Give some meanings to the means
To your end
Not even jail
I'll lay down my glasses (he will stop looking at other women)
I'll lay down in houses (he is ready to settle down)
if things come alive.
I'll subtract pain by ounces,
Yeah, I will start painting houses,
if things come alive
I promise to commit no acts of violence,
Be it physical or otherwise,
If things come alive (he will be the best he can for her)
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
I'll say it now
Oh, I'll say it now
Cuz I want it now (he is tired of not feeling alive or feeling loved and wants it NOW)
When personality is scarred tissue,
We travel South with disuse
I'm subtle like a lion's cage
Such a cautious display (talking about his personality/demeanor)
Remember take hold of your time here
Give some meanings to the means
To your end.
Not even jail. (he has fallen into a routine and wants to change his life)
We marshal in the days of longing,
We tremble like anyone's children,
And wink towards the fire. (subtlety)
I'm erring on the side of caution,
Betraying no other symptom,
But girl, you shake it right. (he tries to keep it to himself but wants her badly)
I will bounce you on the lap of silence,
We will free up to the beats of science,
And girl, you shake it right (my favorite line!)
I'll say it now
Oh, but hold it still, darling, your hair so pretty (stay in this moment)
Can't you feel the warmth of my sincerity?
You make motion when you cry
You're making people's lives feel less private.
Had to take time away (she takes away his loneliness but he still needs time to himself)
You make motion when you cry (she doesn't understand his behavior)
we all hold hands,
can't we all hold hands,
When we make new plans? (self-explanatory)
I pretend like no one else
To try and control myself.
I'm subtle like a lion's cage.
Such a cautious display. (he keeps his emotions under control)
Remember take hold of your time here,
Give some meanings to the means
To your end
Not even jail