i thought i might have heard

"blossoms that bloom so fine, just to drop from the vinyl"

for some reason that makes me smile..

i just noticed that this song has 60 bpm.

2nd verse

"could keep it silent and tortured" should replace "who'd keep a silent orchard"

The needle, the dirty spoon, the flames and the fumes
Just throw them out tonight

Rejection of heroin use.

The time that you’ve been afforded
May go unsolved, unrewarded
Some nameless you cannot know, may be coming to show you
Unbridled love and light

Essentially this is saying that life takes bad turns and there are things that we cannot understand, but yet there are positive aspects to life.

Here are th lyrics from the booklet. There are some big differences, so relisten to the song, and it will change some things. Love the Edgar Allen Poe reference to "The Tell-Tale Heart." If you have not read the story, after you do, you will see the immediate references.

My mind is like an orchard
Clustered in frozen portraits
Of Blossoms that bloom so fine, just to drop from the vine
I’ve seen 'em all tonight

Could keep it silent and tortured
Or shove it unto the floor boards
A rusty heart starts to whine,
In its tell tale time
so free it up tonight

Life deals a measly portion
Light on good friends and fortune
It's chipped you away inside,
and drawn all your blinds
Conceal ed it all from sight

Could cut that final corner
Charge the void no quarter
Or skip to the final line of some
suicide note well publicized
Or give it up tonight

Kindly reverse the order
of the options you’ve laid before you
The needle, the dirty spoon
,the flames and the fumes
Just throw them out
tonight

The time that you’ve been afforded
May go unsung, unrewarded
Some nameless you cannot know
,may be coming to show you
Unbridled love and light

Should you grow in an orchard?
Covered in dusty portraits
Blossoms that bloom so fine
,just to drop from the vine
Oh, listen up tonight

Don’t keep it silent and tortured
Or shove it all to the floorboards
Your busted heart will be fine
In its telltale time
So give it up tonight

1 Reply

This is gorgeous.

Not quite sure what it's about, but I love how TV On the Radio's lyrics always challenge you and make you think, cos that's what songs should be about.

my take is this: its about a dud who is HUGE into heroin and cant stop because of depression caused by his use. eventually im thinking he goes to rehab where he experiences "unbridled love and light"

the portraits i think must be friends he's pushed away due to his addiction.

I can't believe that more people haven't commented on this song... it's awesome. I'm not sure what exactly it's about, other than the heroin reference that seems fairly concrete, but for some reason I find it very inspiring. It reminds me of the (similarly named) Smashing Pumpkins song "tonight, tonight", about discovering your potential and giving up the things that are holding you back. Perhaps this is a bit "after school special" but that's how I feel about it.

I’ve probably got it all wrong but here’s my take on this excellent song:

-----------------------------------------
My mind is like an orchard
Clustered in frozen portraits
Of Blossoms that bloom so fine, just to drop from the vine
I’ve seen 'em all tonight
-----------------------------------------

While the person is taking drugs, his mind feels so open and blossoming only to later come down from the high (drop from the vine). Frozen portraits are his problems surrounding the tranquil scene. These portraits are perhaps people, frozen temporarily and causing no pain while he is on the high. Later in the song he says “dusty portraits”, which could mean the problems seem so old and in the distant past while he is taking the drugs.

-----------------------------------------
Could keep it silent and tortured
Or shove it unto the floor boards
-----------------------------------------

Could reject drugs and deal with his problems and depression in silent torture without help. Or he could take the drugs and fall to the floor. Very common and you will probably remember the scene in Trainspotting when two of the characters fall back to the floor and look at the ceiling after taking heroin.

-----------------------------------------
A rusty heart starts to whine,
In its tell tale time
so free it up tonight
-----------------------------------------

The depression is growing unbearable and it’s time to decide whether to ease the pain with drugs or not.

-----------------------------------------
Life deals a measly portion
Light on good friends and fortune
It's chipped you away inside,
and drawn all your blinds
Concealed it all from sight
-----------------------------------------

Life deals a measly portion of joy, satisfaction etc.
It’s beat you down and you can no longer see (closed all your blinds) or appreciate all that was once good such as your friends (the light).

-----------------------------------------
Could cut that final corner
Charge the void no quarter
Or skip to the final line of some
suicide note well publicized
Or give it up tonight
-----------------------------------------

Could Cut (as in mix) the heroin with another substance and take it?
Could end it all like so many others have (well publicized) or could give it up.

-----------------------------------------
Kindly reverse the order
of the options you’ve laid before you
The needle, the dirty spoon
,the flames and the fumes
Just throw them out
tonight
-----------------------------------------

Not sure about the reversing the order line but the rest is self explanatory.

-----------------------------------------
The time that you’ve been afforded
May go unsung, unrewarded
Some nameless you cannot know
,may be coming to show you
Unbridled love and light
-----------------------------------------

You may not have had the best luck in your life so far, but you never know what is around the corner.

-----------------------------------------
Should you grow in an orchard?
Covered in dusty portraits
Blossoms that bloom so fine
,just to drop from the vine
Oh, listen up tonight

Don’t keep it silent and tortured
Or shove it all to the floorboards
Your busted heart will be fine
In its telltale time
So give it up tonight
-----------------------------------------

Don’t remain inactive and torture yourself by keeping all your problems hidden from those around you. Don’t take the drugs either, just give it up and seek help.

I believe I heard it on an interview with the band that it is a little about suicide; to not lock yourself into yourself (sorry for my english:P) :
"Don’t keep it silent and tortured"
"Your busted heart will be fine"
give up your inner struggling, open yourself up to the people around you, if you are depressed you must give up and seek help and advice, don't hide yourself from the world, don't commit suicide... tonight.

at first i thought that the song was not necessarily about drugs. but a second thought reveals to me that it is about drugs or the rejection of drugs. but it is from the point of view of a non-junkie, maybe talking to a junkie friend.

the first stanza describes the world or consciousness as it is experienced by the speaker.
_____________________________________________
My mind is like an orchard
Clustered in frozen portraits
Of Blossoms that bloom so fine, just to drop from the vine
I’ve seen 'em all tonight
_____________________________________________

it seems like a description of a photographic memory from the inside.

i don't know what to make of the "drop from the vine" part, only that is a fucking beautiful metaphor.


in the next stanza the speaker suggests that he could keep his mind (an orchard of memories) silent, and torture it (himself) by not sharing his visions (frozen portraits) with the world, but his heart whines, so [we'll] free up [our] hearts or consciousnesses or needs to create or share that with the world (even by experiencing life)
___________________________________________
Could keep it silent and tortured
Or shove it unto the floor boards
A rusty heart starts to whine,
In its tell tale time
so free it up tonight
___________________________________________



in the next stanza,... i will have to continue later

I've got a pretty broad view of this song.

I think it's not just about drugs or suicide, but both are a part of it.

It's almost like having a life changing night where someone who's used drugs to deal with the heartbreak in his life looks back on everything and has to ask whether it's worth going on living. Just going on hanging on to the past (the orchard of portraits) and thinking life is unrewarding and without value seems to be a waste, but going back to what gets him by is also a waste.

It's like this song is the voice of reason, either from a friend or in his own head that just says let go of the old shit, life sucks for everyone, but people keep going because they have each other.

i love the poe reference in the last verse

first off, thanks to camboro for the CORRECT lyrics.
they have such a different impact....

everyone has sortof got the little pieces, you're just not putting them together.

the first thing i've noticed is that a lot of you guys are really hung up on the drug-use mentioned in the song. it's not really the point. neither is suicide.

it's just about the way people shut themselves out from the world; the sadness and lonliness that stems from that. you shouldn't "lock yourself into yourself," as peter so eloquently states.

yeah, life sucks.
but you don't have to make it worse by being an idiot.
what else is new?

ps - i think the song, as a whole, is pretty broad. i didn't take it as a reference to a specific instance.

I agree with hyperhypothetical, in the sense that this song is a broad reference to not dealing with things alone etc.

As far as I see it, the song is written from the position of a caring friend, as oppossed to being from the direct point of view of the drug taker/depressed person. The first stanza:

My mind is like an orchard
Clustered in frozen portraits
Of Blossoms that bloom so fine, just to drop from the vine
I’ve seen 'em all tonight

Seems to me to be that 'caring friend' referring to all the good friends (frozen portraits) he's lost to drug use and insular depression (blossoms so fine...[that] drop from the vine).

This 'caring friend' motif is continued through the song in language of the lyrics, which seem to be shaped as advice-from-experience to someone who is a potential 'dropping bloom'. This is confirmed in stanza 7 with: "Blossoms that bloom so fine, just to drop from the vine. Oh, listen up tonight"

So, for me, the song is essentially re-assuring advice being given by the singer (whether literally or poetically), who has seen too many friends fall prey to drug use, and wants to let those who may still be saved that it is all ok and that "Your busted heart will be fine, In its telltale time, So give it up tonight"