Two Doves

Seems like the lyrics are a collage of all their influences. "Geranium kisser / Skin like silk and face like glass" is definitely a reference to Bob Dylan's 'Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands' ("...And your flesh like silk, and your face like glass..." / "...are waiting in line for their geranium kiss..." )

"Don't confront me with my failures" is from Nico's 'These Days'

"Kiss me with your mouth open / For your love, better than wine" is most definitely a reference to Stephen Duffy's 'Kiss Me (With Your Mouth)' ("Kiss me with your mouth. / Your love is better than wine.)

And 'Call on me' could be a reference to Stevie Winwood's 'Valerie'.

There's probably more, but I have a headache from listening to Stephen Duffy and I'm going to sleep.

It may seem like a dubious explanation, but if you listen hard, you can hear a bit of all these songs on the record. Bob and Nico's folk guitar, Nico's violins, Duffy and Winwood's beats and synths. And this wouldn't be Dave Longstreth's first musical referencing (Rise Above, anyone?) He is not one to adumbrate his influences.

Oh and "To the chamber that conceived me" could be from Solomon 3:4, "It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me."

This is, without a doubt, taken from Song of Solomon. In the book Solomon and his lover are saying things back and forth to each other, admiring each others beauty (outer, reflecting inner), etc.

And all those songs mentioned were probably a reference to this song because it's obviously much older.

Beloved [a]

2 Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth– 
   for your love is more delightful than wine.

3 Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you!

4 Take me away with you–let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.

12 While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance. 13 My lover is to me a sachet of myrrh resting between my breasts.

14 My lover is to me a cluster of henna blossoms from the vineyards of En Gedi.

Lover

15 How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves. Beloved

16 How handsome you are, my lover! Oh, how charming! And our bed is verdant.

4 Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my heart loves. I held him and would not let him go till I had brought him to my mother's house, to the room of the one who conceived me.

There really shouldn't be any further speculation about the meaning of this song. There's a lot more references but for the sake of being courteous, I will not include them. I encourage you to read it as it is possibly the most beautiful love poem ever written. And yes, it's in the Bible.

biblegateway.com/passage/

Geranium kisser (Geranium meaning soft and stimulating, so a soft kisser) Skin like silk and face like glass (Their skin is soft and they have a very clear face (since glass is clear). Don't confront me with my failures (?) Kiss me with your mouth open (Talking about how they kiss) For your love, better than wine (Saying how his love is better than wine) For your cologne is really fragrant (His scent really arouses her) Call on me, call on me, call on me (?)

I have a feeling that this song is about the relationship of a couple who on the outside, look pretty good, but on the inside, have many problems dealing with their lives (But our bed is like a failure.)

beautiful, beautiful song

"For your cologne is sweetly fragrant" is the line. This song is beautiful, by the way. Dave's guitar line is deceivingly simple until he adds in the tuplet clusterfuck to end the line.

The 'don't confront me with my failures' line is from 'These Days' by Nico/Jackson Browne; the guitar part of this track sounds similar to the Browne song, so I would guess it's an intentional reference.

This seems pertinent: songmeanings.net/songs/view/122805/

Another reference that runs through the song is to Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands by Dylan: "And your flesh like silk, and your face like glass" "Are waiting in line for their geranium kiss"

Has anyone else noticed the use of Bob Dylan's lyric from "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" here?

"your flesh like silk and your face like glass" - Dylan

"skin like silk and face like glass" - Dirty Projectors

Kind of cool? Interesting at the very least.

I have to wonder about the "but our bed is like a failure" line. I think they're having a bit of a joke there. I mean, when juxtaposed against the rest of the lines - it sticks out so oddly. All the other lines are arguably poetic - leveraging a consistent level of allegory - but then this line is so hamfisted. It cracks me up every time.

It's like a poem written by an accomplished poet - but then one line added in by the poet's manager at the last minute before publication because he thought it made it clearer or something.

My thoughts; a couple who looks good externally, while intimacy is a big problem and causes issues in their relationship. I agree with organic joes.