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Tell me, baby, tell me
Are you still on the stoop
Watching the windows close?
I've not seen you lately
On the street by the beach
Or places we used to go
I've a picture of you
On our favorite day
By the seaside
There's a bird stealing bread
That I brought
Out from under my nose
Tell me, baby, tell me
Does his company make
Light of a rainy day?
How I've missed you lately
And the way we would speak
And all that we wouldn't say
Do his hands in your hair
Feel a lot like a thing
You believe in
Or a bit like a bird
Stealing bread
Out from under your nose?
Tell me, baby, tell me
Do you carry the words
Around like a key or change?
I've been thinking lately
Of a night on the stoop
And all that we wouldn't say
If I see you again
On the street by the beach
In the evening
Will you fly like a bird
Stealing bread
Out from under my nose?
Are you still on the stoop
Watching the windows close?
I've not seen you lately
On the street by the beach
Or places we used to go
I've a picture of you
On our favorite day
By the seaside
There's a bird stealing bread
That I brought
Out from under my nose
Tell me, baby, tell me
Does his company make
Light of a rainy day?
How I've missed you lately
And the way we would speak
And all that we wouldn't say
Do his hands in your hair
Feel a lot like a thing
You believe in
Or a bit like a bird
Stealing bread
Out from under your nose?
Tell me, baby, tell me
Do you carry the words
Around like a key or change?
I've been thinking lately
Of a night on the stoop
And all that we wouldn't say
If I see you again
On the street by the beach
In the evening
Will you fly like a bird
Stealing bread
Out from under my nose?
Lyrics submitted by slickboot
Track duration: 04:21
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'Do his hands in your hair
Feel a lot like a thing
You believe in
Or a bit like a bird
Stealing bread
Out from under your nose?'
I can really relate with the feeling he is describing here. Being in a relationship with someone who you don't really love (and who doesn't really love you) can cause a grudge against that certain person. It can cause a feeling that that person doesn't deserve the piece of yourself you are giving because they do not seem to know the worth of it, hence the bird stealing bread. Of course the other way around is just as true (you not estimating their worth enough). At least, this is what I'm getting out of it.
"Tell me, baby, tell me
Does his company make
Light of a rainy day?"
He's asking her if the other guy's company is comfortable for her.
"Do his hands in your hair
Feel a lot like a thing
You believe in
Or a bit like a bird
Stealing bread
Out from under your nose?"
Here "a thing she believes in" may be a positive thought, like if the other guy really loves her,
"or a bit like a bird stealing bread out from under your nose" may mean that if he's just with her to get some pussy and fly away like a bird stealing bread.
The rest of the song is pretty clear i guess.
For me, this is a brother speaking to his baby sister. It's sort of a sad sound, but to me there's not so much longing in it... Or at least, not longing for the girl he's speaking to. More a longing for the way things used to be. He used to be the one to take care of her, the one to talk to her late into the night on the front stoop, the one who had such a close bond with her that they didn't even need to speak for each to understand how the other was feeling. Now, she's fallen in love.
The thing that really says brother to me is that he doesn't ask for her back, he doesn't speak about how she would be better off with him, and he doesn't seem in any way bitter about "losing" this girl. He just wants to ask her some questions.
"Does his company make light of a rainy day?
Do his hands in your hair feel a lot like a thing you believe in, or a bit like a bird stealing bread out from under your nose?"
He wants to know if this man makes his sister happy. That is what's important to him.
"Do you carry the words around like a key or change?"
To me, this is asking if his sister truly loves this man. "The words" to me means, "I love you." Think about the two items he asks about. How do you carry a key? Carefully, attentively. To lose a key means to be shut out from something that is important enough to you to lock it, and you do not give a key to just anyone. How do you carry change? Carelessly, absently. Change is thrown around, and you might give it to a random stranger by the roadside.
And to be honest, I'm not sure I understand the very last verse... but I know that it makes me personally imagine a small girl running to meet her brother with her arms out like a bird.
On another note, this song makes me cry almost every time I hear it, not only because it makes me think of my brother, but because it took me a very long time to understand what he meant by "a bird stealing bread out from under your nose." In fact, it took until the first time I was kissed. It was really strange... it was the oddest, saddest feeling... sad, but not sad. In that moment, I understood exactly what was meant by the question, "Do his hands in your hair feel a lot like a thing you believe in, or a bit like a bird stealing bread out from under your nose?" Because it definitely felt like the latter. I almost felt as if something very small, but something I had come to take comfort in had been stolen from me, but having it stolen wasn't even an entirely unwelcome sensation. I'm not even sure how to explain it... it's more just something I understand on an emotional level, not so much an intellectual one, I think.