Lyrics for Paris Is Burning as interpreted by mistercrinkles

Paris Is Burning Lyrics
I write to give word the war is over
Send my cinders home to mother
They gave me a medal for my valor
Leaden trumpets spit the soot of power they say

"I'm on your side when nobody is, cause nobody is
Come sit right here and sleep while I slip poison in your ear"

We are waiting on a telegram to give us news of the fall
I am sorry to report dear Paris is burning after all
We have taken to the streets in open rejoice revolting
We are dancing a black waltz fair paris is burning after all

Oh no oh no

Enclosed in this letter there's a picture
Black and white for your refridgerator
Sticks and stones have made me smarter
it's words that cut me under my armor they say

"I'm on your side when nobody is, cause nobody is,
come sit right here and sleep while I slip poison in your ear"

We are waiting on a telegram to give us news of the fall
I am sorry to report dear Paris is burning after all
We have taken to the streets in open rejoice revolting
We are dancing a black waltz fair paris is burning after all

Oh no oh no

Dance poor people dance and drown
Dance fair Paris to the ground
Dance poor people dance and drown
Dance fair Paris ashes now

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WOAHCAKE
08-02-2007

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no comments?!this is a great song!
the most obvious meaning i think is that it is from the viewpoint of a (dead?) soldier,anyone think of any other meanings?

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mistercrinkles
08-08-2007

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Yay a comment! I've wanted to comment for ages but I can't comment my own song. :(

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heartlikeasocket
10-12-2007

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Okay, you misspelled refrigerator. Just heads up. ANYWAY.
I definitely get the dead soldier impression, WOAHCAKE. And I got a serious WWII vibe from this. I mean, there's not really much evidence to support that, but I'm definitely thinking WWII. Eh?
I guess that's it. It's a pretty straight forward song, I think. But it probably has a super deep meaning that I just can't comprehend. ^^;;;

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bugmenot123
10-17-2007

Rated 0 
I agree that St. Vincent's lyrics tend to work on multiple levels, and there were a couple bits that jumped out at me:
"poison in your ear" is likely an allusion to Hamlet (Act I, scene 5) where the ghost of Hamlet's father tells him he was murdered by the current king. Possibly also to Act I, scene 5, where words are equated to a poison in the ear.

Paris was certainly bombed to pieces in WWII, but the multiple uses of "black" and the "open rejoice revolting" made me think of the riots, mainly by black Africans in Paris in the summer of 2005,

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crystal_dreams
02-02-2008

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Personally, I see the "war" as a metaphorical war. The "poison in the ear" bit does seem like a reference to Hamlet to me, so I thought, perhaps, a close relationship that has gone wrong? Friends or lovers fighting with each other until they basically just end the friendship. Hence the "war" is "over".

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miriamleaman
04-07-2008

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I thought of WWII as well. Paris was burned in WWII. I know a lot of her songs have that sort of "old" feel (the old style of music from that time), but I think it is even more pronounced in this song and it sort of sounds like it is over a radio in the part where it is like "give us news of the fall/Paris is burning after all/open rejoice revolting/is burning after all"--radio, as you may know, was the most important communication technology. The trumpets at the beginning also give it that feel of the WWII era. There were revolts and a lot of secrets. The secrets would be by telegram occasionally--the French Resistance. And no one really knew who was on who's side with all of the secret agents, and people turned against each other--poison. That could be the WWII take on it. But I definitly think there is probably much more to it than that, and I am not even too sure that this is the meaning. It is objective, but since it was brought up I thought I would give some support to it. I agree that everything that has been posted is valid though. Beautiful song, St. Vincent sure does have her ways.

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miriamleaman
04-08-2008

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One other thing.. the poison could be false information that would lead someone to their death.

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miriamleaman
04-08-2008

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One other thing.. the poison could be false information that would lead someone to their death.

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guiltfreepleasures
07-18-2008

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I'm pretty sure this song is actually referencing to the French Revolution in the late 1700s, when the working class revolted against the monarchy. Phrases like "we have taken to the streets in open rejoice revolting" and such gives me that sense. There was lots of chaos, so I'm sure there were fires. There was also a lot of gunfire and many revolutionaries died, but were praised as martyrs for the revolution. Also, things like "telegram" and things would indicate a time prior to WWII.

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guiltfreepleasures
07-18-2008

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Oh, in addition to my previous comment, the last lyrics make me feel even more like it has to do with the revolution because after the revolution, France fell apart. There were many executions and the time after is known as the "reign of terror."

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guiltfreepleasures
07-18-2008

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Oh and one more thing - revolutionaries were described as dancing in the streets during/after the revolution

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Sinsear
12-19-2008

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As many said, I'm pretty sure there is an allusion to WWII, especially since there is a French film called "Paris brûle-t-il ?" (meaning "Is Paris burning ?") about the end of the war (and the end of the nazi Occupation in France).

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piersy
05-28-2009

Rated 0 
I'm not sure the song is meant to be taken too literally.
In World War 2 Paris didn't burn and famously fell with almost without a shot, so its definitely alluding to it in that it's burning after all, but I think it's all more metaphorical about how erlationships corrupt and die, that they're not always how they seem, but then that might just be too literal too ;)

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theribenakid
06-25-2009

Rated 0 
I always think of WWII for this song, too! I think as well as everything said above, it's also that reference to 'a photo, black and white for your refridgerator'. I feel that because photos and fridges were two things just getting really very popular around the world at that time, she's sarky in using these two shiny new objects in a song that seems to be about war and death. Like, 'yes, we're all dying - but hey! You have a new fridge and I have a camera! Whoa!'

Well, that's how I feel, anyway. ^_^

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roninseattle
09-16-2009

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paris was NOT bombed in WW2

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mdoubledbg
11-04-2009

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I'd like to point out she tells the people to dance because fire dances, thus paris is dancing to the ground because the fire would be dancing. It forces me to beg the question, does the narrorator want paris to burn. If Paris is dancing, than it must be beautiful. Maybe the soldier who died helped burn paris. That's why no one is on his side excpet those with no one is on there side. Because no one in paris is on their side and the person in charge doesn't care for the soldiers. They just want paris to burn. They just leak words to coerce or slip poisen into the ears of the soldiers. The soldiers tone is depressed because he died for nothing. He thought he died for a cause. They gave him a medal but why does it matter. He died for a pathetic cause but since he died, let paris burn. If he dies, so must paris. When it happened isn't really relavant as far as I'm concerned. That's how I interpreted the lyrics. If that gives anyone any thought, I'd like to know what you think.

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mdoubledbg
11-04-2009

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I'd like to point out she tells the people to dance because fire dances, thus paris is dancing to the ground because the fire would be dancing. It forces me to beg the question, does the narrorator want paris to burn. If Paris is dancing, than it must be beautiful. Maybe the soldier who died helped burn paris. That's why no one is on his side excpet those with no one is on there side. Because no one in paris is on their side and the person in charge doesn't care for the soldiers. They just want paris to burn. They just leak words to coerce or slip poisen into the ears of the soldiers. The soldiers tone is depressed because he died for nothing. He thought he died for a cause. They gave him a medal but why does it matter. He died for a pathetic cause but since he died, let paris burn. If he dies, so must paris. When it happened isn't really relavant as far as I'm concerned. That's how I interpreted the lyrics. If that gives anyone any thought, I'd like to know what you think.

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