Lyrics for Ave Maria as interpreted by lemonjelly

Ave Maria Lyrics
A boy on a train with a birthmark on his forehead
Listening to language tapes and all he hear is birds
Everyone laughs cause he brings his own chair to the office
Convinced that the cushions will give him steadier thoughts

The muscles of the intellectuals are atrophying
Nobody’s running, nobody’s hiding
They’re lit by a light that isn’t even the sun
Lit by a light that isn’t even the moon
Ave maria…

Now how many times have i told you not to go there?
How many times have i begged you not to go?
And how many times have you snuck down to that cellar
Just to watch how the roots begin to grow straight up through our floor?


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  • 16 Comments
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Sammie_ru
05-25-2006

Rated 0 
i loveeeeeeeeeee this song and her voice@!

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satirecafe
11-06-2006

Rated 0 
this is such a great song - regina spektor's talent moves me to tears (:

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aliboonga
02-14-2007

Rated 0 
Regina said in one of her live concerts that it is "Sort of Christian themed, not negative."

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ihaveapen
03-12-2007

Rated 0 
this song is love. regina is love and always has been.

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mooebon
03-31-2007

Rated 0 
I just wanted to say that I think the words "steadier thoughts" should be "sturdier thighs." This goes with the idea in the next line about how the muscles of the intellectuals are atrophying.

She's talking about the environment man evolved in---living outside, by the light of the sun & moon, running from predators, etc. and how different it is for modern man, sitting thinking in an office in artificial light, temp. etc.

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envirohodges
04-30-2007

Rated 0 
to me thi speaks of a mans hopeful to be more intelligent. someone who is trying so hard to be profound but just was born with a simple mind. and his wife telling him its not important it doesnt matter "dont go there" and the tree is the tree of knowledge. it always pays to learn.

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Super_Cristal
05-09-2007

Rated +1 
lol..."A boy on a train with a birthmark on his forehead"- the only thing this line can make me think of is Harry Potter. :)))

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crow_heart
06-06-2007

Rated 0 
hahahahahah!
I'm agree with super cristal

i love this song and her voice is amazing!

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just_old_light
07-25-2007

Rated 0 
From what I could gather, it's a call to return to nature.

The boy is an artist who thinks unconventionally and longs for nature. People alternately laugh at his ideas and implore him to stop his train of thought, begging him to stop dreaming about returning to mankind's roots, telling him it's a pointless, unproductive way to think. He should be doing something practical, like learning a new language or holding down a steady job in an office. He turns to prayer for comfort and support, talks to God and Mary because no one else seems to understand him.

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xniggercake
11-03-2007

Rated 0 
ave maria means "hail mary" in latin, doesn't it?

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its real love
01-16-2008

Rated 0 
i don't know why but this song kinda reminded me of an immigrant coming to America for the first time and how everyone thinks he's odd. maybe not even an immigrant but an odd person. but everyone els is just dull

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SeraphimAleda
06-29-2008

Rated 0 
in the begining i think it is talking about a boy who is ...hm... excentric and people laugh but he doesn't care because he knows it is right. Then i feel like when she sings about how many times she said not to go down to the cellar it is a mother trying to keep her daughter from knowing something. I also feel it is like mary (for Ave maria means hail mary) is looking down at the world woundering what happened? "They live by a light that isn't even the sun. They live by a light that isnt even the moon..."

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SeraphimAleda
06-29-2008

Rated 0 
in the begining i think it is talking about a boy who is ...hm... excentric and people laugh but he doesn't care because he knows it is right. Then i feel like when she sings about how many times she said not to go down to the cellar it is a mother trying to keep her daughter from knowing something. I also feel it is like mary (for Ave maria means hail mary) is looking down at the world woundering what happened? "They live by a light that isn't even the sun. They live by a light that isnt even the moon..."

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MirabileDictu
11-03-2008

Rated 0 
Does anyone know where I can download this song? I've been trying to find it for ages, only seen it on youtube and such. I love it, and would be tremendously grateful if someone could help me out.

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l3na
04-14-2009

Rated +1 
I think it's about a boy who has moved to/is living in a place where he doesn't quite fit in, thins are a bit alien to him, maybe he is an immigrant or a student. he has to work in an office and doesn't enjoy it, but doesn't complain. the intellectuals live in their own heads, don't even pay any attention to the sun or moon, just those artificial lights. I think maybe he is fascinated by the Christians despite his own family's tradition ('how many times..?') (I am pretty sure that the cellar = church? the roots growing up through the floor, a sort of history) and he finds beauty there, just like listening to the birds instead of the language tapes when he's on the train. but, the 'lit by a light that isn't even the sun' could also mean a sort of inner light and maybe that is what fascinates him, he wants to feel that too, sings 'ave maria' like a prayer. I am probably completely off, oh well. this is such a magnificent song, why has it not made it onto any of her albums yet? I guess the demo is the definitive version really, I love her whistling at the end <3

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besstudor
05-23-2009

Rated +1 
This might not be what Regina intended, but this song always makes me think of Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

"The muscles of the intellectuals are atrophying" ... We might think that we have a broad understanding of the world, but we are really just prisoners in a cave, only seeing shadows of reality.

"Nobody's running, nobody's hiding" ... They are chained inside of the cave. They think what they see is reality, so they are conent... they don't try to escape their shackles.

"Lit by a light that isn't even the sun, lit by a light that isn't even the moon" ... They are watching shadows on the wall of the cave, projected by a huge fire.


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