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Ottoman Lyrics
Ottoman couch, how handsome your furniture
Lovelier now, but dressed for a funeral Begging you to sit for a portrait on the wall To hang in the dark of some parliamentary hall Elegant clothes, you want to be seen with her Under your tweeds you sweat like a teenager Begging you to sit for a portrait on the wall To hang in the dark of some parliamentary hall Today’s for you They laid it out for you For you There will be six bells a-ringing and white women singing for you But this feels so unnatural to Peter Gabriel, too All of the cards and all of the time it took Soon it's all lines of red in a leather book Begging you to wait for a minute by the door Your creeping feet where they’ve never been before Today’s for you They laid it out for you For you There will be six bells a-ringing and white women singing for you But this feels so unnatural Peter Gabriel, too |
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09-23-2008
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09-23-2008
ottoman couch, how handsome your furniture
love you now but dressed for a funeral
begging you to sit for a portrait on the wall
to hang in the dark of some parliamentary hall
elegant clothes, you want to be seen with her
under your tweeds you sweat like a teenager
begging you to sit for a portrait on the wall
to hang in the dark of some parliamentary hall
today's for you
they laid it out for you
there will be six bells a-ringing and white women singing for you,
but this feels so unnatural to peter gabriel too
all of the cards and all of the time it took
soon it's all lines of red in a leather book
begging you to wait for a minute by the door
your creeping feet where they've never been before
today's for you
they laid it out for you
there will be six bells a-ringing and white women singing for you
but this feels so unnatural to peter gabriel too
how great is that line, 'you sweat like a teenager' !!??
i think this is about the same thing as c.c.k.k. she's rich and he's not and he feels intimidated by this fact, and it dooms their relationship.
01-11-2009
03-27-2009
"a portrait on the wall" reflects that the pending marriage will affix their lives permanently (i.e. paintings don’t change their depictions)
In the phrase "they laid it out for you", the key word is "they". This marriage is arranged or heavily promoted. The union is not the choice of those to be married.
The "soon it's all lines of red in a leather book" phrase implies when the event is over. All the family that pushed the marriage are gone, attentions turned elsewhere, these kids are on their own, left only with the registry of guest - which is conveniently in red like blood from a crime. This hints at the criminality of pushing one's children to make life decisions based on parental desires.
"how handsome your furniture" and "portrait on the wall" both imply that these kids are being treated like objects - not people. There is an obvious motif of objectification. The freaking name of the song is an object that can be "arranged" – come on man, who names a song after furniture? The meaning is obvious from the name alone.
This song is chuck-full of sarcastic praise "white women singing". Funny stuff.
03-27-2009
how is this not obvious?
is anyone divorced here? Perhaps it is a life-experience issue.
03-27-2009
Good catch.
This implies they killed the children's futures. (i.e. the family's "furniture arrangement"/"marital arrangement" is "killing" the futures of the couple being pressured into this marriage)
Every word in this song has been selected for a duality of meanings. This is real challenging song writing - as opposed to "like a lollypop".
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10-01-2008
Lyrics sound right to me.
Love this song.
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10-04-2008
10-29-2009
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10-08-2008
lol :D
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10-08-2008
10-29-2009
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10-10-2008
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10-20-2008
01-31-2009
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11-02-2008
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12-04-2008
Doesn't make it any less catchy though.
03-27-2009
"a portrait on the wall" reflects that the pending marriage will affix their lives permanently (i.e. paintings don’t change their depictions)
In the phrase "they laid it out for you", the key word is "they". This marriage is arranged or heavily promoted. The union is not the choice of those to be married.
The "soon it's all lines of red in a leather book" phrase implies when the event is over. All the family that pushed the marriage are gone, attentions turned elsewhere, these kids are on their own, left only with the registry of guest - which is conveniently in red like blood from a crime. This hints at the criminality of pushing one's children to make life decisions based on parental desires.
"how handsome your furniture" and "portrait on the wall" both imply that these kids are being treated like objects - not people. There is an obvious motif of objectification. The freaking name of the song is an object that can be "arranged" – come on man, who names a song after furniture? The meaning is obvious from the name alone.
This song is chuck-full of sarcastic praise "white women singing". Funny stuff.
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02-03-2009
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02-05-2009
i personally think it's about a boy who changes himself for a girl in a higher social class
and after he's changed his lifestyle and clothes, i think she left him.
"how handsome your furniture
LOVELIER* now, but dressed for a funeral"
-> i think that relates to how his lifestyle, even apartment furniture literally, might be much more 'grown-up' and look much more chic and 'older'. chic would be dark colors, like black.
portraits are painted with dark backgrounds usually.
"elegant clothes, you want to be seen with her"
-> obviously relates to how he's changed his look to see more suited to her tastes.
"all of the time it took, soon it's all lines of red in a leather book"
-> all the effort he put into making new, more sophisticated friends has been a waste.
he's scratching out their names in his Little Black Book of phone numbers.
that just how i always thought of this song or at least those parts.
the chorus i don't understand?
03-27-2009
The wedding registry silly?
here is my response to another reply. Chew on it. See if it makes more sense to you.
"a portrait on the wall" reflects that the pending marriage will affix their lives permanently (i.e. paintings don’t change their depictions)
In the phrase "they laid it out for you", the key word is "they". This marriage is arranged or heavily promoted. The union is not the choice of those to be married.
The "soon it's all lines of red in a leather book" phrase implies when the event is over. All the family that pushed the marriage are gone, attentions turned elsewhere, these kids are on their own, left only with the registry of guest - which is conveniently in red like blood from a crime. This hints at the criminality of pushing one's children to make life decisions based on parental desires.
"how handsome your furniture" and "portrait on the wall" both imply that these kids are being treated like objects - not people. There is an obvious motif of objectification. The freaking name of the song is an object that can be "arranged" – come on man, who names a song after furniture? The meaning is obvious from the name alone.
This song is chuck-full of sarcastic praise "white women singing". Funny stuff.
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03-04-2009
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03-10-2009
i believe he is about to get married and taking photos for it or something like that... all the mean while he is so nervous that "under your tweeds you sweat like a teenager" [which is my favorite line]
does anyone have any other ideas on what this song really means?
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06-01-2009
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06-18-2009
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07-13-2009
he wants this marriage to help his family, because the girl is from an upper class family, ie the elegant clothes.
obviously he feels awkward, and sweats like a teenager.
"they laid it out for you" makes me feel like neither the man nor woman REALLY want it to happen.
and then afterwards, "all of the cards and all of the time it took, soon it's all lines of red in a leather book" he doesn't feel like the extravagant wedding was worth it
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11-04-2009
-portrait is his story/her story
-"six bells ringing, white women singing" aint no wedding
-Everything and everyone, including the big eye, prepared him for her.
The catch to it all is i dont think they ever really met?????? Think he tried to sing to her and she never sang back. Best part is the end, how he's still singing, moving on to find that love.
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12-02-2009
It is:
LOVELIER now but dressed for a funeral
(as mentioned above)
and
all of the CARS (NOT CARDS!!!) and all of the time it took
ottoman couch, how handsome your furniture
LOVELIER now but dressed for a funeral
begging you to sit for a portrait on the wall
to hang in the dark of some parliamentary hall
The protagonist is marrying into wealth. They are always dress for success. There are many pictures of the privileged that still hand around on walls and in trophy cases.
elegant clothes, you want to be seen with her
under your tweeds you sweat like a teenager
begging you to sit for a portrait on the wall
to hang in the dark of some parliamentary hall
He isn't comfortable with his surroundings but it really helps his social status. The sweating represents a nervousness in a way that he knows know he has to be perfect to fit in.
today's for you
they laid it out for you
there will be six bells a-ringing and white women singing for you,
but this feels so unnatural to peter gabriel too
"Today" is the wedding day (Six bells represents a church). The mother and father of the bride put this big show on, so he must act accordingly and suck it up. But he still knows that the vanity he sought doesn't make him feel as comfortable as he thought it would.
all of the CARS and all of the time it took
soon it's all lines of red in a leather book
begging you to wait for a minute by the door
your creeping feet where they've never been before
This is saying that all of the effort into an extravagant wedding day will mean nothing in time. The words in the guest list are really all that would remain in the marriage, not all the fancy things involved with it. Wait by the door (duh...before he heads to the alter!! also stated above)He's obviously never been there and doesn't know what he's getting into.
today's for you
they laid it out for you
there will be six bells a-ringing and white women singing for you
but this feels so unnatural to peter gabriel too
Ezra uses the Gabriel reference again to perfection. He used it for a girl coming back to her wealthy surroundings with an "I don't care about money" attitude. And now he uses it to represent a man that has suddenly realized he doesn't want the social status after truly being a part of it.
12-03-2009
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01-07-2010
tweeds were used more commonly back then,
6 bells a ringin symbolizes a traditional church wedding, which was much more common, if not the only way to get married back then
sitting for portraits doesnt usually happen these days, unlike wealthy families back then.
besides, "all of the cards" is a metaphor for all of the steps (like for a wedding)
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