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Ease your feet off in the sea
My darling, it's the place to be
Take your shoes off, curl your toes
And I will frame this moment in time
Troubles come and troubles go
The troubles that we used to know
Will stay with us until we get old
Will stay with us until somebody decides to go
Decides to go
Soberly, without regret, I make another sandwich
And I fill my face
I know that things have got to you
But what can I do?
Suddenly, without a warning
On a pale blue morning
You decide your time is wearing thin
A conscious choice to let yourself go dangling
Hovering
It's an emergency
There's no more "wait and see"
Maybe if I shut my eyes
Your trouble will be split between us
People come and people go
You're scouring everybody's face
For some small flicker of the truth
To what it is that you are going through, my boy
I left you dry
The signs were clear that you were not going anywhere
Anywhere
Save for a falling down, save for a falling down
Anywhere
Anywhere
Save for a falling down
Everything's going wrong
Later on, as I walked home
The plough was showing, and Orion
I could see the house where you lived
I could see the house where you gave
All your time and sanity to people
Then you waited for the people to acknowledge you
They spoke in turn
But their eyes would pass over you
Over you
Who's seeing you at all?
Who's seeing you at all?
My darling, it's the place to be
Take your shoes off, curl your toes
And I will frame this moment in time
Troubles come and troubles go
The troubles that we used to know
Will stay with us until we get old
Will stay with us until somebody decides to go
Decides to go
Soberly, without regret, I make another sandwich
And I fill my face
I know that things have got to you
But what can I do?
Suddenly, without a warning
On a pale blue morning
You decide your time is wearing thin
A conscious choice to let yourself go dangling
Hovering
It's an emergency
There's no more "wait and see"
Maybe if I shut my eyes
Your trouble will be split between us
People come and people go
You're scouring everybody's face
For some small flicker of the truth
To what it is that you are going through, my boy
I left you dry
The signs were clear that you were not going anywhere
Anywhere
Save for a falling down, save for a falling down
Anywhere
Anywhere
Save for a falling down
Everything's going wrong
Later on, as I walked home
The plough was showing, and Orion
I could see the house where you lived
I could see the house where you gave
All your time and sanity to people
Then you waited for the people to acknowledge you
They spoke in turn
But their eyes would pass over you
Over you
Who's seeing you at all?
Who's seeing you at all?
Lyrics submitted by ReActor
Track duration: 03:36
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* Especially at the beginning of the song, it just sounds like the singer is talking about having a carefree day (except for the little words and phrases that hint at something bad that's coming).
* By the end of verse 2, you see that something is very wrong ("emergency ... no more 'wait and see'").
* In verse 3, you see the singer himself tumble into into regret, sadness, and emotional turmoil.
* In verse 4, the singer is seemingly detached again, outwardly peaceful walking under the infinite stars. But now he realizes the extent to which everybody in the friend's life took him for granted.
Depending on your POV, the subject of the song is (a) suicide in general, (b) the dysfunctional relationships surrounding the suicide victim, (c) survivor's guilt.
The singer is addressing a friend who, over the course of the song, kills himself.
* Verse 1: The singer is telling his friend to relax and let his troubles go. Singer alludes to death in the last lines of this verse.
* Verse 2: The singer is contrasting his contented (self-absorbed?) life activities with the friend's sudden jarring suicide attempt.
* Verse 3: The singer realizes the urgency of things, and addresses the dying friend, bargaining to try and keep him around, and apologizing for not seeing the signs.
* Verse 4: The singer is walking past dead friend's house, thinking about how everybody (including himself) ignored his friend and his emotional needs.
I think that what draws people to belle and sebastian's music has never been the hit singles or 'must listen' songs. People are drawn to belle and sebastian because their music is so unassuming. It's brilliant, but never feels like it's trying to grab your attention on purpose. That subtlety is what draws people in. Each B&S song to me feels like walking into a new room and exploring it. It's a really active process and can almost feel like a conversation at times, trying to see how all the pieces fit together. Ultimately, i think that one of Stuart's greatest strengths is that his lyrics tell a story in such a way that you can identify with his characters, but still vague enough to force you to fill in the gaps with your own experience. Perhaps the reason different people identify so strongy with different B&S songs is that that personal 'gap filling' reflects the listener's own life experience and that process, in some circumstances, provides a safe way to subconsciously deal with pain and unresolved emotional issues with through the safety net of superimposing them onto a character in a song. This deep emotional attachment may be why so many fans are so obsessed with this particular band. Neutral Milk Hotel is another example.
My favourite belle and sebastian songs are Ease your feet in the sea, Chickfactor and Don't leave the light on baby. These aren't widely regarded as the 'best' songs in the band's catologue, but they're the ones I identify with most. I'm happy for people to disagree. That's the beauty of this band. Everybody experiences them in their own subjective way.
beautiful imagery :)
"A conscious choice to let yourself go dangling
Hovering
It's an emergency
There's no more wait and see"
no more "wait and see" referring to someone who has threatened suicide before..and the rest of the song the person trying to figure out what he could have done to prevent it.
And I fill my face, I know that things have got to you
But what can I do?"