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I wish that we could talk about it,
But there, that's the problem.
With someone new I couldn't start it,
Too late, for beginnings.
The little things that made me nervous,
Are gone, in a moment.
I miss the way we used to argue,
Locked, in your basement.
I wake up and the phone is ringing,
Surprised, as it's early.
And that should be the perfect warning,
That something's, a problem.
To tell the truth I saw it coming,
The way, you were breathing.
But nothing can prepare you for it,
The voice, on the other, end.
The worst is all the lovely weather,
I'm stunned, it's not raining.
The coffee isn't even bitter,
Because, what's the difference?
There's all the work that needs to be done,
It's late, for revision.
There's all the time and all the planning,
And songs, to be finished.
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops.
I wish that we could talk about it,
But there, that's the problem.
With someone new I could have started,
Too late, for beginnings.
You're smaller than my wife imagined,
Surprised, you were human.
There shouldn't be this ring of silence,
But what, are the options?
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
We're safe, for the moment.
Saved,
For the moment.
But there, that's the problem.
With someone new I couldn't start it,
Too late, for beginnings.
The little things that made me nervous,
Are gone, in a moment.
I miss the way we used to argue,
Locked, in your basement.
I wake up and the phone is ringing,
Surprised, as it's early.
And that should be the perfect warning,
That something's, a problem.
To tell the truth I saw it coming,
The way, you were breathing.
But nothing can prepare you for it,
The voice, on the other, end.
The worst is all the lovely weather,
I'm stunned, it's not raining.
The coffee isn't even bitter,
Because, what's the difference?
There's all the work that needs to be done,
It's late, for revision.
There's all the time and all the planning,
And songs, to be finished.
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops.
I wish that we could talk about it,
But there, that's the problem.
With someone new I could have started,
Too late, for beginnings.
You're smaller than my wife imagined,
Surprised, you were human.
There shouldn't be this ring of silence,
But what, are the options?
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
When someone great is gone.
We're safe, for the moment.
Saved,
For the moment.
Lyrics submitted by someonegreat, edited by janeaparis1
Track duration: 06:26
"Someone Great" as written by James Jeremiah Murphy
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I can't be sure obviously, but that's what I get from it.
The stanzas aren't in chronological order, i guess. the first one would be verse 4, at the hospital, with the stillborn baby. Next, verse is verse 3: the speaker returns home to get back to work. Then 2, where he gets a call from the hospital that his wife is dead. Then finally the first verse, where he mourns the time they shared.
I think the first stanza describes speaker's funny problem of talking about a death with his therapist when the death is that of the therapist:
I wish that we could talk about it, But there, that's the problem
;and his belief that seeing a new therapist about this would be futile and unsatisfactory compared to the length and quality of his relationship with Mr. Kamen. Clearly, something beautiful has come to an end. I think the songwriter expresses his appreciation of the therapist and the therapeutic process (sometimes antagonistic) by saying,
The little things that made me nervous,
are gone, in a moment
I missed the way we used to argue,
Locked, in your basement.
I think voodoodolly is on target with second and third stanzas. I would add that the line
Your smaller than my wife imagined
Surprised, you were human
could also refer to diminutive,perhaps, dwarf-like, stature of the therapist as many, at least in my experience, are quite short. The line about the 'ring of silence' has a double meaning. First, the grief that numbs a person when someone passes away and it also, I believe , refers to the exclusive, private and unique relationship between Mr. Kamen and the speaker where things not uttered to others (including the previously mentioned wife) are shared. By virtue of Mr. Kamen's death this 'ring of silence' is sealed forever and the issues are no longer to be talked about in the previously unique format ("But what, are the options?").
The chorus "Someone great is gone", of course, refers to the speaker's attachment Mr. Kamen and his professional stature in his field (check his bio).
The last two lines are interesting:
We're safe, for the moment
Saved,
for the moment
I like to think it's an acknowledgement of death and perhaps, the healing nature and redemptive nature of therapy where the word 'moment' refers back to the word 'moment' in the first stanza.
But I could be overnalyzing ....
(How much of a neurotic and vain waste would that be?)
He has in fact always refused to be explicit about the inspiration and has stated multiple times that there is a density to the meaning which goes beyond a single event.
But, I personally believe this song is about losing a child though a miscarriage or sudden infant death.
However, the address of the lyrics is alternately seems to be both to the wife AND the child whom he will never know.
The person who argues that the phrase "someone great" disqualifies an unborn child have clearly never been through this situation. I am among the many people who have and I can tell you that as a couple you build all sorts of hopes about who a child will become, even before the birth. And in almost all cases (certainly in my own) the death is so painful that it becomes something unspeakable for the couple involved. It can often be divisive or even ruin the future of the relationship. So I think the song is addressed to both the loss of the child who would have been great and the relationship between the man and the woman. Perhaps I am being too selfish in my interpretation, but no song I know of is more personal to me because of this association.
Oh, and whoever said you don't get a phone call when a child dies before or immediately following birth is also wrong. I definitely got a phone call at work.
That's how I see it. I don't care if it's accurate or not. It helped me come to grips with where I am at, everyone else's opinion is fine, maybe more accurate but who cares..