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As you lie before me now, like a shadow
On a pea green sea
Never thought that I could find you so hollow
Laying into me
But this cup of wine
All salt and brine makes me sleepy
And sorrow sows
A field of tears that will never yield a single penny
But I don't know
I've got nothing to hold on to
Wished for gold so I could buy you a palace
By the riverside
You'd come in and I would fill your diamond chalice
You were still alive
But this cup of wine
All salt and brine makes me sleepy
And sorrow sows
A field of tears that will never yield a single penny
But I don't know
I've got nothing to hold on to
I've got nothing to hold on to
Were you sleepless, tearing at the air?
Was the water everywhere?
Were you fretful, to wade into the room?
I'd been wanting to hear from you
Oh, no
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
You're weary, lay him down
You did your time so thank you very much
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
So now your hopes are all allayed
But you hand it all away
Did his eyelids affix on empty chairs
You had traveled to lay beside?
A gentle torture to watch it all recede
And all the while your mother slept beside him
Oh, no
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
You're weary, lay him down
You did your time so thank you very much
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
So now your hopes are all allayed
But you hand it all away
Were you sleepless, tearing at the air?
Was the water everywhere?
Were you fearful, and long to run away
From the cold clasp of Illinois?
Oh, no
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
You're weary, lay him down
You did your time so thank you very much
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
So now your hopes are all allayed
But you hand it all away
But you hand it all away
On a pea green sea
Never thought that I could find you so hollow
Laying into me
But this cup of wine
All salt and brine makes me sleepy
And sorrow sows
A field of tears that will never yield a single penny
But I don't know
I've got nothing to hold on to
Wished for gold so I could buy you a palace
By the riverside
You'd come in and I would fill your diamond chalice
You were still alive
But this cup of wine
All salt and brine makes me sleepy
And sorrow sows
A field of tears that will never yield a single penny
But I don't know
I've got nothing to hold on to
I've got nothing to hold on to
Were you sleepless, tearing at the air?
Was the water everywhere?
Were you fretful, to wade into the room?
I'd been wanting to hear from you
Oh, no
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
You're weary, lay him down
You did your time so thank you very much
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
So now your hopes are all allayed
But you hand it all away
Did his eyelids affix on empty chairs
You had traveled to lay beside?
A gentle torture to watch it all recede
And all the while your mother slept beside him
Oh, no
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
You're weary, lay him down
You did your time so thank you very much
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
So now your hopes are all allayed
But you hand it all away
Were you sleepless, tearing at the air?
Was the water everywhere?
Were you fearful, and long to run away
From the cold clasp of Illinois?
Oh, no
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
You're weary, lay him down
You did your time so thank you very much
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
So now your hopes are all allayed
But you hand it all away
But you hand it all away
Lyrics submitted by hellomagda
"Sleepless" as written by Colin Meloy
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Hand it over meaning he's inheriting all the father's stuff and thank you for doing your time raising him.
Possibly his father's disposition was because of the grandfather's own cruel streak. "And all the while your mother slept beside him"
I may be reaching a bit but it seems to fit.
"As you lie before me now, like a shadow
On a pea green sea
Never thought that I could find you so hollow"
I agree that the ocean/water metaphor represents a kind of slow drowning, drowning in sorrow.
The speaker also mentions money. I think this is key to the story.
"A field of tears that will never yield a single penny
Wished for gold so I could buy you a palace
By the riverside
You'd come in and I would fill your diamond chalice
You were still alive"
The speaker and his/her family could've been poor and unable to afford the treatment necessary to save the person who passed away.
"Did his eyelids fix on empty chairs
You had traveled to lay beside?
A gentle torture to watch it all recede
And all the while your mother slept beside him"
In the above stanza, I can a scene where there are vacant chairs by the patient's hospital bed that he/she wished were filled with more friends, family or even the speaker himself other than his mother.
All this time, I think it's one person relating the story. But, then the voice changes into another character:
"Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
You're weary, lay him down
You did your time so thank you very much
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
So now your hopes are all laid
But you hand it all away"
Whoever is speaking here may be the cold subconscious truth edging out of his mind saying give up all hope (hand all hope over). But, I can also imagine them saying hand over all your money for the treatment and with it everything you own, including feelings of hope. "You did your time so thank you very much" is a very cold statement to make in light of death. This speaker gives no empathy and demands even more suffering upon the family.
Take my interpretation with a grain of salt please. I don't pretend to know what everything Colin means, but I think it really is a death of a loved one and how they can't afford to pay for the hospital bills (keeping with the theme of AIDS awareness).
Thanks,
Chewy
I think it's important to pay attention to all the images of water, besides the immediately obvious.
Pea green sea is probably not meant to represent the ocean (most likely something to do with hospitals as someone mentioned before) but I believe Colin ties all his lyrics together and uses water imagery to describe several parts of this song.
The cup of wine all salt and brine seems to be a reference to the taste of the ocean. A field of tears can be the large expanse of ocean and emotion within the drowning character.
Then the song becomes a little confusing because the perspective seems to change a few times between characters. Regardless, there is still the constant theme of water and drowning.
Water is such a beautiful symbol - so adaptable. Bravo Colin on another beautiful piece of music.
As you lie before me now, like a shadow
On a pea green sea
Never thought that I could find you so hollow
Laying into me
- The feelings post-relationship. You find someone gone , like a shadow , empty and hollow , devoid of anything , yet you can still feel it. But they dont , they're hollow.
But this cup of wine
All salt and brine makes me sleepy
A sorrow so
A field of tears that will never yield a single penny
But I don't know
I've got nothing to hold on to
- "Cup of wine" , drinking. A metaphor for an action you do trying to forget. But you cant , and it makes things rough , and cause some to cry , but nothing will make things back the way they were. You have nothing to hold on to , nothing to give you support.
Wished for gold so I could buy you a palace
By the riverside
You'd come in and I would fill your diamond chalice
You were still alive
-The feelings during a relationship. You want to give him/her everything , you treat him/her as a queen/king , but it was when things were fine. When things were "alive" , so to speak.
Were you sleepless, tearing at the air?
Was the water everywhere?
Were you fretful, to wade into the room?
I'd been wanting to hear from you
Oh, no
- The hurt one is asking the ex-partner if they felt the same. If they felt sleepless, distraught , or felt like drowning (being taken over). But they're not okay anymore , and all he can do is ask himself/herself.
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
You're weary, lay him down
You did your time so thank you very much
Hand it over (hand it over)
Hand it over (oh)
So now your hopes are all laid
But you hand it all away
- To give it up. To forget and forgive. To let it pass.
Did his eyelids fix on empty chairs
You had traveled to lay beside?
A gentle torture to watch it all recede
And all the while your mother slept beside him
Oh, no
- To view on the past memories. When things were good. It's hard to see something good and to be reminded of what once was. "..while your mother slept beside him". I dont get this part , but maybe a different partner? Someone close to you , probably.
These are just *my* feelings anyway.
"But I don't know"
Pretty sure it's supposed to be "That I don't owe".
There's hints of Space Oddity (Major Tom) in the music. Fitting, to me.
"long to run away
From the cold clasp of Illinois?"
Dear gods, yes.
"Wished for gold so I could buy you a palace" and "Would I could afford to buy my love a fine robe."
Both of them have a dead lover:
"You were still alive" and "but she is dead and gone and lying in a pine grove"
Both Eli and the first narrator drown too.
I think the song has two narrators. The first drowns. The second mourns the first. The second narrator comes in after the guitar solo.
"I've got nothing to hold on to" has two meanings- literally, he's out in the ocean and exhausted and doesn't have anything to keep him afloat. It could also be interpreted as he has lost everything in his life, so what's the point of living.
Or I could be reading too much in to things. Either way, Meloy is a brilliant lyricist.