Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
She says wake up, it's no use pretending
I'll keep stealing, breathing her
Birds are leaving over autumn's ending
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open
Naked as we came
One will spread our
Ashes round the yard
She says if I leave before you darling
Don't you waste me in the ground
I lay smiling like our sleeping children
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open
Naked as we came
One will spread our
Ashes round the yard
I'll keep stealing, breathing her
Birds are leaving over autumn's ending
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open
Naked as we came
One will spread our
Ashes round the yard
She says if I leave before you darling
Don't you waste me in the ground
I lay smiling like our sleeping children
One of us will die inside these arms
Eyes wide open
Naked as we came
One will spread our
Ashes round the yard
Lyrics submitted by eucil
Track duration: 02:33
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
but i think the song goes through phases of life
1st verse who dies 1st is buried by the other
2nd verse the kids bury you. they are the arms
I think the opening line tells you the writers intent - wake up from pretending ie your gonna die - and the rest of the lyric goes on to smile laugh and have fun in the illusions of life and death - we really just cycle through. Love is what makes it real - and love is never stated but always implied
He knows they will at least be together till the end. To sum up the chorus. We are born with nothing and we die with nothing and both agree not to be buried but cremated. 2nd verse. "She says if..........." same as second part of chorus." I lay smiling......" again he would rather live in the moment and not think of death like there children who are sleeping peacefully.
His wife says that if she dies before him, she doesn't want to be buried (wasted) in the ground.
love this song
"She says wake up, it's no use pretending
I'll keep stealing, breathing her"
She's saying there is no use in pretending they will last forever.
All relationships come to an end whether through a physical or emotional death. He's "stealing", as in denying the inevitable end of their relationship and acting like they will be together forever. Breathe = life. He'll keep breathing her, trying to maintain the life(love/relationship) even though it will end. No more breathing = death.
but alas..
"Birds are leaving over autumn's ending
One of us will die inside these arms"
birds migrate seasonally which perpetuates the cycle idea where there's always a beginning and an end. Autumn symbolizing the end of life or in this case the life of the relationship.
One of us will not always be there to love the other, whether through falling out of love or actual death. One of us dying in these arms equals, one of us will fall out of love, exit the relationship and thus the relationship is dead.
"Eyes wide open
Naked as we came"
With every end is a new beginning. perhaps a new relationship and the cycle continues. Naked as we came. We came into the relationship with nothing and created and invested and yet at the end, we are as naked as we came into it. It's dead, it's over. Starting from zero.
"One will spread our
Ashes round the yard"
In this case, it'll probably be him "spreading the ashes" or memorializing their relationship and not wanting to let go.
One of us will move on and one of us will lament what's been lost. People don't fall out of love at the same time whatever the reason.
"She says if I leave before you darling
Don't you waste me in the ground"
In other words she knows one day it'll end between them, so she's telling him move on and don't grieve over her when it happens. He doesn't want to accept this, hence he keeps stealing, breathing her. No one wants to lose what they love.
What a terribly sad thought that the one you so passionately love will not always be there. They may leave, fall out of love, or even die. No matter how great the love or relationship is, it's all only temporary and will end as it began and all that's been acquired will be lost. Sad, but true to life.
And though it ends, it still doesn't diminish what was, hence...
"I lay smiling like our sleeping children"
I do not take children in the literal sense here. I think of children as a metaphor for their relationship, especially that which was good. All that came from being together that couldn't have happened independently, just like children can not be created independently. She lies smiling meaning she accepts the inevitable end of the relationship and smiles (a happy reflection) of what was between them, which now "sleeps". Sleeps being another metaphor for death or the end.
Also, note the album this song is off of...Our Endless Numbered Days.
the ironic title suggests...there's no end to the cycle of our days which will always end.
cycles in life seem to be recurring them on the album (see sunset soon forgotten).
he is enjoying holding his wife in the morning. His wife says lets start the day, i know your awake. but he is pretending he is asleep. and he enjoys it so much it feels like he is steeling pretending he is asleep. his wife says come on weve been here too long, the birds are flying south, the seasons are changing even..(its a joke) sam pretty much says ill leave when im dead. the chours reiterates that.
his wife wants to be there in bed too but she knows she has to leave soon so she says "if i go dont shoot me" (another joke) because he said earlier nobody's leaving unless one of us are dead.
after his wife says that joke, he is just smiling at that and his mind wanders to his loving family peacefully sleeping.
then chours again.