Her Morning Elegance

The songs about a girl who's very lonely and feels that in the great scheme of things, her life doesn't matter and no one notices her.

Sun been down for days A pretty flower in a vase A slipper by the fireplace A cello lying in its case

The first line makes her seem slightly depressed or at least sad. In the second line, she is the pretty flower; instead of flourishing and growing, she's been up rooted and she's stuck in a vase. Maybe that refers to the pattern of life she's stuck in... Her slipper is by the fireplace because thats where she spends most of her nights alone...The cello is in its case because she's lost any motivation to play it again. She's avoiding the things she used to enjoy.

And she fights for her life as she puts on her coat And she fights for her life on the train She looks at the rain as it pours And she fights for her life as she goes in a store with a thought she has caught by a thread she pays for the bread and she goes… Nobody knows

The chorus describes how mundane her life is. She puts on her coat, takes the train, goes to the store, etc. But the people who are "pleasantly strange" don't realize that doing even these small tasks is a struggle for her. She's fighting for her life because she wants to make it better. But she doesn't think that anything she can do will change things.

If I may be so bold, I don't really agree with the sad/depressing interpretation. I think there there is too much dreaming in this song for it to be about suicide.

To me, the girl of the song is in love. Perhaps she doesn't know if he loves her back...perhaps she doesn't even know who he is yet, but she hopes...

But the dream constantly swirling around her head affects every aspect of her life. As she is walking around, she notices beautiful things (a pretty flower in a vase, a cello lying in its case), when she pours a cup of something hot, she sees the dance in the rising steam. When there is a noise outside her door, she immediately imagines that its him, or a sign of him, finally coming to weave the hope into reality.

The reason she is fighting for her life is because dreams don't often move well within a day-to-day mundane. When the notion of him brushes past her mind and plants her feet with the hope of it, she has to wake up (at least halfway) to keep them moving, to put her coat on, to get to work on time. When the daydreams lull her into the song of the rain, she has to eventually pull away from the window and keep moving among the strangers in the store to buy what she needs. This is a secret, flighty hope, a small, hidden glimmer that sets her heart pounding. And no one knows. The people passing by don't take notice of the dreaming stranger in the train, and she hides her unfounded hopes when talking to those she knows, because they are woven of sunlight and moonlight, and rendering them into words wouldn't make sense.

At least, not yet.

she's a dreamer and notices the beauty of life and people.. but she's depressed, suicidal even, thus the "sun been down for days" (though that could be just literal) and her "fighting for her life" at every little step

and lonely ("a letter", "a stranger she could love" and "nobody knows")

[interpretation based on a personal connection i felt with the character so it could be completely off, but that's what i felt]

i love the song.

the video is exquisite

we're all dieing we're all going to die, and we generally don't know when and so I'd believe we are always fighting to live us just being in existence shows we struggled and do struggled to survive.

so I don't think it really has anything to do with a terminal illness.

she is alone. And I'd say all other interpretations spawn from that. She daydreams about a her loneliness, and about companionship, etc. Her loneliness saddens her, and may even cause her depression.

it's something that makes her question existence, whether or not there is a point to her even getting out of bed, because she knows that no one will know, and that she will be going through this routine alone; and so is there a point?

Is there a point to being some girl all alone, with no one to love, or no one to share life with? Is there a point to being a pretty flower, when you're stuck in some vase, unable to flourish and grow, taken out from the ground, placed away from all the other plants. Is there a point to being a slipper, a shoe which keeps a foot warm, when your lying next to a fireplace, and not only that, but you are alone, with no other slipper to the pair? Is there a point in being a cello, if you're lying in a case...

I dunno it seems like to me it's all about her asking herself, "should I go on?" I wonder...

I belive you really have to focus on "And she fights for her life" as well as "Nobody knows" Possibly she is dying of cancer or another illness and as she goes about her daily activites and is always reminded she is fighting for her life "as she goes......."

"The sun has been down for days", she has known about the illness and it has kept her down for days. "The sound of water makes her dream, awoken by a cloud of steam, She pours a daydream in a cup, a spoon of sugar sweetens up" Her time is shortening so she enjoys the simple things

For me, the song is about a girl who has an anxiety disorder, and suffers from panic attacks a lot. Because when you have a problem like that, normal everyday things can be very hard to do. "And she fights for her life as she puts on her coat, and she fights for her life on the train..." could be referencing how hard things are for her to overcome. And this causes her to be isolated from the world probably, and it seems like she is lonely and feels like nobody understands. "Perhaps a letter with a dove, perhaps a stranger she could love...." The song has depressing lyrics and an upbeat rhythm, which can be happy or sad depending on your mood, as someone said earlier. I really love this song.

This song, to me, is not about depression, illness, or suicide. I think it's a simple song about a not so simple girl. I think she likes to dream and take naps, and drink coffee and look at the rain. I think she likes music, and the cello, and taking the train. I bet she loves to go grocery shopping, picking out ripe avacados and palm-sized nectarines. I imagine her making origami swans and watching the history channel. I can practically hear her swearing like a sailor, then reading Alice in Wonderland in the same afternoon. I bet Monet is her favorite painter.

I think she fights for her life, daily. I think we all do. It's a metaphor, though, not a reality. We each encounter daily struggles...fights with our parents, or friends. An F on a math quiz. Gossip and rumors.

The only thing I find hearbreaking about this song is the, "nobody knows..."

So often, our families and friends are feeling sad inside, or maybe angry, or lost. It's not that we forget to ask if they are "ok." I think more often, we forget to really listen to them with our hearts.

Try listening tomorrow. Really listening.

I promise you, they will appreciate it.

I think it's about a girl daydreaming. It's been raining for days and she's bored, so her mind starts to wander. Making her morning coffee/tea, she dazes off, only to be snapped into reality with a cloud of steam to her face.

"And she fights for her life as she puts on her coat And she fights for her life on the train" refers to an action sequence in her daydreams

"Nobody knows" no one knows she's off in her own world while they're living out of the mundane.

She's playing a "winter melody" on her cello when she hears someone at the gate.. "Perhaps a letter with a dove Perhaps a stranger she could love."

I think of Amélie from the film for some reason.