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A moment of steel, a dry eyed house
Did he say goodbye to you, or did you kick him out
I know you're not afraid to go alone
But this was a marriage of spirit, flesh and bone
Now what you gonna do when the planets shift
What you gonna do, gonna slit your wrists
Bleed all over the milky way
The stars in your eyes look red today
[Chorus]
Cry love, cry love
The tears of an angel
The tears of a dove
Spilling all over
Your heart from above
Cry love, cry love
The trust of a woman in his hand
But he was a little boy, not a man
You loved him stronger than he could feel
But he was wrapped up in himself like an orange peel
Now what you gonna do with the bruise and the blush
What you gonna do when there's no rush
Cop a little misery at the corner store
Well one day that train of pain won't stop no more
[Chorus]
Throwing up ashes on the floor
If this is a lesson in love, well what's it for
The heart won't remember the burning fire
The next time you feel the flame of desire
[Chorus: x2]
Cry love, cry love, cry love
Did he say goodbye to you, or did you kick him out
I know you're not afraid to go alone
But this was a marriage of spirit, flesh and bone
Now what you gonna do when the planets shift
What you gonna do, gonna slit your wrists
Bleed all over the milky way
The stars in your eyes look red today
[Chorus]
Cry love, cry love
The tears of an angel
The tears of a dove
Spilling all over
Your heart from above
Cry love, cry love
The trust of a woman in his hand
But he was a little boy, not a man
You loved him stronger than he could feel
But he was wrapped up in himself like an orange peel
Now what you gonna do with the bruise and the blush
What you gonna do when there's no rush
Cop a little misery at the corner store
Well one day that train of pain won't stop no more
[Chorus]
Throwing up ashes on the floor
If this is a lesson in love, well what's it for
The heart won't remember the burning fire
The next time you feel the flame of desire
[Chorus: x2]
Cry love, cry love, cry love
Lyrics submitted by lily(myoneandonly)
Track duration: 04:23
"Cry Love" as written by John Hiatt
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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That's why he says "if this is a lesson in love, well what's it for" (You can see it in the video, he sort of throws his hands up like, what's the point). Next time you fall in love you will forget how much pain you felt. Which is good IMO, because otherwise you'd probably never want to fall in love again.
There's a protagonist talking about, or to, a woman who split up with her guy. He's been behaving childish, egotistical - and although she loved him, she decided to send him away. Moment of steel. With dry eyes. As it goes.
Now what?
The song's protagonist asks her 'whatcha gonna do?'. Will she remain unhappy about her love lost, will she give in to destruction?
"Cry love". Is that an imperative? Who are the angels, the doves who cry tears, spilling on her heart? They usually stand for 'goodness' and 'peace'. What what have they got to do with love's misery?
Here comes a clue. Is she going to give in to alcoholism and self-destruction (cop a little misery at the corner store)? Hiatt knows what he's talking about here. His train of pain did not want to stop no more either, but thank god and the AA he saved himself.
By crying love. By yielding to angels and doves, that are just as real or unreal as love is. By being honest, stop being cynical, stop hurting yourself and the people around you. By crying 'love'. And starting to be deserving of love.
The last original lines of the song (before earlier lines are repeated) go: "The heart will remember the burning fire, the next time you feel the flame of desire". That fire IS ambiguous, as love is. It is the fire that drives you to love, and the fire that burns you down when love is lost. You'll remember them. Both. Every time when love calls.
This is like Jacques Brel singing "Je sais, je sais, que le prochaine amour sera pour moi la prochaine défaite" (I know, I know, that my next love will be my next defeat). but you cannot deny the fire, and we cannot deny love.
Love, and its misgivings, they are unevitable and healthy - as long as we don't use them for self-destruction. That's the Hiatt song 'Cry Love' for me.
also, this may seem like an odd connection, but the theme of this song reminds me very much of a Tegan and Sara song called "Speak Slow".
This is why
"When your love lets you go you only want love more
even when love wasn't what you were looking for"
...that's all.
"The heart will remember
The burning fire"
the thrown up ashes line i take to mean the remanents of the past love (seeing as love is referred to as a burning flame)
To me this song is one that reminds better to love and lose than never love.
This song is so good, depending on my mood, it either is like a song that puts it's arms around me to let me cry, or is a song reminding me that I made it through another day and to learn the lesson.