We speak in the store
I'm a sensitive bore
You seem markedly more
And I'm oozing surprise

But it's late in the day
And you're well on your way
What was golden went gray
And I'm suddenly shy

And the gatherin' floozies
Afford to be choosy
And all sneezing darkly
In the dimming divide

And I have read the right books
To interpret your looks
You were knocking me down
With the palm of your eye

This was unlike the story
It was written to be
I was riding its back
When it used to ride me

And we were galloping manic
To the mouth of the source
We were swallowing panic
In the face of its force

And I am blue
I am blue and unwell
Made me bolt like a horse

Now it's done
Watch it go
You've changed some
water runs from the snow

Am I so dear?
Do I run rare?
And you've changed some
Peach, plum, pear...
Peach, plum...



Lyrics submitted by Mopnugget


Peach, Plum, Pear song meanings
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134 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:First line: "we speak in the store"
    Last line: "peach, plum, pear, peach, plum"
    The other lyrics are an emotional story told about a relationship.
    It's almost like the main lyrics exist in a storytelling bubble.
    But the story is being told at a store, maybe a supermarket.
    Once the story is over, the narrator looks around.
    Self-conscious, she just names the first thing in sight.
    Peach, plum, pear.
    $2.99 per pound ;)

    Also I hear "I WAS blue," instead of "I AM blue."
    Flag yibbittaon September 30, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Has anyone read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan? I couldn't help being reminded of this book A LOT when reading these lyrics!
    Flag desertdreamon July 03, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I think it could be about suffering from a depression and the changeable moods she experiences.


    'But it's late in the day
    And you're well on your way
    What was golden went gray
    And I'm suddenly shy'

    The transition from having confidence and feeling sunny to feeling dark and introverted.

    The whole section below covers this:



    'This was unlike the story
    It was written to be'

    Disappointed in not having a 'happy ending'

    'I was riding its back
    When it used to ride me'

    Lack of control.

    'And we were galloping manic
    To the mouth of the source
    We were swallowing panic
    In the face of its force,

    Mania and panic all parts of depression.

    'And I am blue
    I am blue and unwell'

    I think Peach, Plum, Pear kind of sums it up representing different aspects of the same thing.
    Flag CocoWildeon June 12, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I think it could be about suffering from a depression and the changeable moods she experiences.


    'But it's late in the day
    And you're well on your way
    What was golden went gray
    And I'm suddenly shy'

    The transition from having confidence and feeling sunny to feeling dark and introverted.

    The whole section below covers this:



    'This was unlike the story
    It was written to be'

    Disappointed in not having a 'happy ending'

    'I was riding its back
    When it used to ride me'

    Lack of control.

    'And we were galloping manic
    To the mouth of the source
    We were swallowing panic
    In the face of its force,

    Mania and panic all parts of depression.

    'And I am blue
    I am blue and unwell'

    I think Peach, Plum, Pear kind of sums it up representing different aspects of the same thing.
    Flag CocoWildeon June 12, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:OK people.. She went grocery shopping and when she was there she saw Santa Clause! So she gets in line and when she asked him for a pony he said no and poked her in the eye so she ran out to the parking lot and slipped on some slush and spilled her fruit. mystery solved thank you.
    Flag partyguy190on December 16, 2011   Link
  • +6
    General Comment:A thoroughly beautiful song, one of the most enlightening and exiting things I've listened to for an awfully long time.

    This is my accompaniment to the verses:

    Planned proposition
    They match
    She's exited

    He's not interested
    Loses interest
    She's read books on this, she's prepared herself greatly for this opportunity, but it means she knows from the looks he gives her that he's not interested (the palm - used to push something away - of your eye)
    He rejects her
    Na na nana na - children, children/peers mocking her maybe?

    NOT how she wanted it
    She'd made this story up
    Now it was going where it wanted, she rides it frightened
    She's panicked by this
    It runs to the "source"
    The reason she wants this relationship is because she's alone, because she wants company, because she thinks he'll make her life better, any of these, that is her original position or "source" and the story runs to that. She's back to square one.

    In this position she looks back
    Blue now, not red with love and the exitement
    Unwell - lovesick?,
    Bolt like a horse, when horses are scared, now she is scared as a result of rejection - change

    Now it's gone - She's looking back
    She tells herself to watch it go (letting go/release)
    You've changed some (change theme)
    Water runs from snow, it changes form (change), it runs (he ran away, if she used to be snow (her situation, or herself) and now she is water (or her situation). She's changed, and she shies (or runs) away from snow because she's scared of rejection again

    It makes her question herself
    After being confident in her beauty/intelligence/suitability it's a knock to her confidence
    Is she so dear? (Is she all that she thought she was? As valuable?)
    Does she run rare? (Is she uniquely suitable like she thought she was? Are there many like her?)
    And you've changed some (prononciation of some not as "sum" but "som" a reference to her name New"som"? She's changed because of this)
    Peach, Plum, Pear (How she thought she'd change)
    Peach, Plum *NO PEAR* (An interruption, things don't go as planned)

    I love this so much.
    Flag LeMudCrabon October 31, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This kind of makes me think of mistaken first impressions (à la Pride and Prejudice), with the beginning of "you seem markedly more/and I'm oozing surprise" that makes her "suddenly shy". As for the fruit, peaches and plums are both stone fruit, which Newsom references to in "Only Skin" (with the "smell of a stone fruit being cut and being opened"), so there could be some personal metaphor there. As for the pear, nothing jumps out at me, except perhaps that they are in a store whilst speaking. so maybe they're at the grocer's?
    Flag ElenSilaon October 04, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:true it isnt about picking apart her songs word for word and digging so deep when what emotion she's trying to convey is most important. but i think by trying to interpret this song particularly youd be able to understand what exactly the song is wanting to convey
    i think its about a relationship not working or her starting to get mixed feelings about it
    like the beginning particularly of the relationship. she thinks she's not worth his time and she's boring, and shy, and undesirable. further in the song she mentions "i was riding its back when it used to ride me" as in she's losing control of the situation bc it was "unlike the story it was written to be" .and she has competition with the floozies like theyre hiding in the shadows waiting for her to mess up or back out so they can come in. (and the "dimming divide" kind of tells us she's in the brink of it failing)
    and with the last two stanzas she knows she let it go. bc "now its done". "water runs from the snow" she was frigid and frightened of something going wrong that she made it end. and i think peach, plum, pear is a kind of evolution too (like someone else commented on briefly). or atleast shifts in personality or something. like a peach and a plum are prty similar but a pear is completely different. so she was once a peach, slowly evolving into a plum (she's not completely different yet) and then arrives at this pear. not only is she completely different but she sees herself as kinda of disfigured and an outcast.
    Flag nicolerc2008on August 15, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I am definitely thinking that was a brief acquaintance, not a full relationship.

    The narrator is completely smitten with a boy that she's just met. I think the "markedly more" bit is about how he seems to have *more* going for him than she, and she's thrilled (oozing surprise). This is a golden moment.

    That is diminished by floozies arriving on the scene. When she seems him interacting with these ladies, she's taken aback enough to realize that he's "knocking her down with the palm of [his] eye", (which to me sounds like a dismissal). He acts differently with the other girls around. Disappointingly and hurtfully so.

    What a let-down. It's a song about being wrong about a guy, ending with her questioning herself. I don't understand the "am I so dear?" part, although it sounds like she's questioning the difference between importance he'd shown her earlier, and the current disaffection. "Do I run rare?" makes me both think of her earlier sensitive bore comment. I think it's a double metaphor. One part is the imagery of meat (her heart) oozing blood (emotions). And the second part is that rare meat is undercooked, which is easily a parallel for naivity. Sensitive and naive.
    Flag acidstarshineon February 18, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I would like to start with saying that I adore Joanna with all of my soul. It amazes me how she could channel so much emotion into each of her songs. I wish other people could see that, and look past the fact that her voice may not be that of an angel's. I think this is one of her most loved and favorite song of her fans, and the reason for that is explained in the later... EMOTION. I hate the feeling of knowing love will not be reciprocated, even though you wish it could, and the fact that people change over time. I think this is how Joanna felt when writing this, because it's what I felt when listening. I LOVE YOU, JOANNA!!!
    Flag SaraBearaon December 23, 2010   Link

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