Lyrics for A Winner Needs a Wand as interpreted by Periodix

A Winner Needs a Wand Lyrics
Like it's killing me
It's kidding me around

This bite, you bit on me
You put on me a gown

That fits me like a quarter door
That hits me like a sound
It's like you shut on me
Or shouldn't be around

Like the fennel seed
The funny gene you found

I like the man-o-weeds
The man-o-wars abound

That fits me like a quarter door
That hits me like a sound
I might just win a war
A matador around

There's still nothing I can say to change
My news for you
There's still nothing you can do to exchange
My dues to you

Like you fit on me
To bit on me a bound

This life that's shut on me
That shouldn't be the grounds

To emulate an epicene
To elevate a sound
This life, a winner needs
A winner needs a wand

Never want to blame you
Bound you, blame me
Never want the blame you bound

Never want to blame you
Bound me, blame you
Never want the fame you found

And where's the same
And where's the strong
And where's the guard
And where's the one who tries to make you?

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_ellie
12-09-2005

Rated 0 
I love all the close sounds.

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WoodenPirate
01-21-2006

Rated 0 
This is possibly one of my favorite Sufjan songs. Hard to decide on a favorite though because he is so amazing. I like the addition of his wife's voice.

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WoodenPirate
01-23-2006

Rated 0 
Turns out he does not have a wife. I just assumed because the woman he sings with has the last name 'Stephens'. Same sound, different spelling. Just didn't notice the spelling at the time. Still a nice addition to the song though.

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sunstorm_five
01-25-2006

Rated 0 
it sounds like he says in the beginning

'it's like you shit on me
or shouldn't be around'

but otherwise. this song is amazing

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nashers13
05-16-2006

Rated 0 
thats what i thought sunstorm five, so i came here

awesome lyrics

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SnwBorder52
06-06-2006

Rated 0 
This song confuses the heck out of me...

Anybody have any idea what it means?

I think its about how did something bad, like he broke a girls heart maybe, or broke a promise, or etc.

Im lost. Help me!

Love the song btw =X

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dan356
06-25-2006

Rated 0 
yeah, this is one of those songs where you really have no idea what he's talking about

a winner needs a what? a wand? yeah...okay...

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zither
09-05-2006

Rated 0 
I believe Sufjan's use of the word "wand" here to be phallic. Earlier he uses the word "epicene" which means sexless or neuter (I had to look it up!). So a good translation may be "In this life, to be a winner, you need to be a man". This in turn is probably being used as a statement against patriarchal society injustice. Either that or it's a magicians wand to victory!! ;)

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TheGinnyPumpkin
10-17-2006

Rated 0 
I just love this song. It just, idk, feels like he's just trying to let out these feelings held, but I'm probably gonna have to look up some of the words.

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cellardoor810
05-15-2007

Rated 0 
To me, it seems like hes venting about having to reject someone he knows is perfect for him. Just because he cant handle it. Like hes beeing choked by the grasp of something that keeps coming back.

"There's still nothing I can say to change
My news for You
There's still nothing You can do to exchange
My dues to You"

The struggle of a rocky relationship that he keeps coming back to like a bad habit. Thats at least what i think. I think everyone thinks different thing because of their own personal experiences.

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Periodix
05-20-2007

Rated 0 
The original edition of "A Sun Came!" had the lyrics for all the songs in Sufjan's handwriting, which I tried to transcribe and preserve as much as possible. Unfortunately, all the lyrics are written in one long block of text, so I had to conform to SongMeanings' standards by removing some of his punctuation and adding line breaks where it seemed appropriate.

Among Christians, such as Sufjan, it is conventional to capitalize pronouns referring to God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit. For that reason, I think it's an important distinction that Sufjan capitalizes every instance of the word "you" in this song, "We Are What You Say," "Rake," and "A Sun Came," but leaves it uncapitalized in "Dumb I Sound," "Rice Pudding," "A Loverless Bed (Without Remission)," "Happy Birthday," and "Jason." In "Demetrius," the word "you" is written in both upper and lower case. However, all of the capitalized instances are immediately following a period, so it could be that he was just writing the lyrics to that song in a more prosaic form.

His use of upper versus lower case is probably a hint about the person he's referring to in each of those songs.

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Periodix
05-23-2007

Rated 0 
Here are the exact lyrics for this song, transcribed from Sufjan's handwriting in the first pressing of the album. The lyrics are originally written without line breaks.

A winner needs a wand: Like it's killing me, it's kidding me around this bite You bit on me, You put on me a gown that fits me like a quarter door that hits me like a sound. It's like You shut on me or shouldn't be around. Like the fennel seed, the funny gene You found. I like the man-o-weeds, the man-o-wars abound, that fits me like a quarter a door, that hits me like a sound. I might just win a war, a matador around. There's still nothing I can say to change my news for You. There's still nothing You can do to exchange my dues to You. Like You fit on me to bit on me a bound. This life that's shut on me that shouldn't be the grounds to emulate an epicene to elevate a sound, this life a winner needs, a winner needs a wand. Never want to blame You, bound You, blame me, never want the blame You bound. Never want to blame You, bound me, blame You, never want the fame You found. And where's the same, and where's the strong, and where's the guard, and where's the one who tries to make You?

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wish83
06-21-2007

Rated 0 
hello everybody... I'm Italian so I don't speak English very well and maybe it's more diffucult to me to understand the right meaning of a song.. anyway.. I really love this song..
but it makes me think about a person who's going to be a priest, maybe a catholic one and he's full of doubts.. there are some words that suggest me this interpretation..
gown - maybe a religious dress
he has some dues.. You is written with the capital letter
and the bounds.. all the sacrifices he has to do for his God and maybe epicene refers to the chastity of a catholic priest..
maybe Sufjan interrogates God about the sense of giving up all to be a priest when this "war" against the Evil would need a warrior.."And where's the strong
And where's the guard"..
but maybe I'm wrong.. it's so difficult to translate it!!
so

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Godzuki
11-27-2007

Rated 0 
i like the idea that Sufjan got really into Harry Potter and decided to use it as inspiration to come up with something good (unlike the HP films).

A winner needs a wand - almost a direct quote from Dumbledoore to harry in the last book
This bite - his scar
gown - invisibility cloak
etc

I know its not but it makes Harry Potter seem cooler. haha.

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tethersofthiscene
03-19-2008

Rated 0 
at the end it still sounds like "and where's the sane?"
not "and where's the same?" does anyone else think this?

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Invader Z?
04-15-2008

Rated 0 
I thought that at the end, he said "Tries to RAKE you," as in a reference to "Rake" and "You Are the Rake."

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Ccquared
06-25-2009

Rated 0 
Well Sufjan always says he looks to his own past and feelings in his writing, so I think it is definitely about himself. I think this song is really a defiant stand against what people think of him, and his choice to venture into music.

It's like the burdens of becoming an "artist" fall upon him, and he questions what he should do with his gown, in which he's probably referencing graduating from college. Now that he has an education he has the doors opened to him to do as he pleases, and become a doctor or lawyer, but he chooses music instead.

Sufjan, it should be noted, was not a musician, however. His major instrument he played in high school and college was the recorder, he always jokes. So what chance is there of him becoming a master of music? There is a much better chance of him becoming the greatest at something else, though that's not where his heart lies.

As for the title, I think the wand could also mean a conductor's baton. A winning composer in the musical world stands before an orchestra leading, and here he is with his ambitions and his degree from the New School.

As for most of it I think it's him questioning God on whether or not he was put on the earth to make music, and on whether or not he will do it anyway, what he "should" do or not.

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