This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Stand beside it, we can't hide the way it makes us glow
It's no good unless it grows, feel this burning, love of mine
Deep inside the ever-spinning, tell me does it feel?
It's no good unless it's real, hillsides burning
Wild-eyed turning 'til we're running from it
I'd take care of you if you ask me to
In a year or two, oh oh oh
You say swimming in the lake we'll come across a snake
It is real and then it's fake, feel its heartbeat
Feel what you heat, far so fast it feels too late
I'll take care of you if you'd ask me to
In a year or two, oh oh oh
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
It's no good unless it grows, feel this burning, love of mine
Deep inside the ever-spinning, tell me does it feel?
It's no good unless it's real, hillsides burning
Wild-eyed turning 'til we're running from it
I'd take care of you if you ask me to
In a year or two, oh oh oh
You say swimming in the lake we'll come across a snake
It is real and then it's fake, feel its heartbeat
Feel what you heat, far so fast it feels too late
I'll take care of you if you'd ask me to
In a year or two, oh oh oh
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
I'll take care of you, take care of you
That's true
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
I think this song is about someone who has decided they love a person, but the other person is scared/running. And they are letting them know that they will wait for them.
I agree. So lovely. I never really thought about the year or two until I saw your post. I love that you wrote this.
@jiggadywig she chose to love him? or pretend?
An incredible end to an incredible album.
I think the second verse, though it could be sexual, is intended to represent a tangible feeling that the person addressed as "you" gives the storyteller. The feeling is there (and perhaps this is where it could manifest itself physically?), but each time they reach this love, it feels oddly distant, "far so fast it feels too late." Perhaps they feel that at this point the love isn't real like it once was. The final message is one of warmth, though it leaves a feeling of melancholy, thinking of someone who can't fully be in passionate love with another, but would take care of them just the same if things came to that.
Either way, this is a gorgeous song, and I love the album. So beautiful.
It's amazing how Beach House takes these huge, sweeping, universal emotions and expresses them in sonic and lyrical form that just penetrates the heart of the listener. They've perfected this strength on this album.
One thing I noticed about the chorus is how the phrase "I'll take care of you/ if you ask me to" just becomes "I'll take care of you, it's true" as the song fades out. She doesn't need to be asked, she'll just take care of the person she loves. The fade out at the end is the spot on way to end the song; "I'll take care of you" is just repeated into infinity, like it's a promise that carries on forever. Lovely.
Such a beautiful, hauntingly sad song. I think this song is about completely loving someone with issues, who is afraid of getting too deep into a relationship. It sounds like it starts with a person whose significant other broke up with her because the relationship was getting serious and it scared him. The author is convicted in her love for the other person, and is pleading with that person to look at their relationship objectively and see that it makes them both feel happy. But the author wants the relationship to progress, and wants the other person to stop running away and for both of them fully surrender to the love they have for each other.
In the chorus, "I'll take care of you, if you ask me to//in a year or two", the author is saying the other person can trust her, but ultimately it's up to the other person whether they want to. And she's not trying to pressure him, it's ok to take their time and enjoy the relationship.
She sees that in the relationship, there are feelings that he fears, and it's hard for him to tell if those fears are legitimate and real, or if they're his mind playing tricks on him. And he thinks he has to end things because they're moving too fast, but she reaffirms that he can trust her, and she loves him and is committed.
I love that she repeats that she'll take care of him, over and over again, at the end without the caveat that they can take their time. Because she'll always be there for him.
It is young love, scared and a part of something bigger than the world. You must wait a few years until your love can be expressed as marriage forever, "I'll take care of you"
what an amazing song. this album is so good.
I'll take care of you If you ask me to In a year or two oh
@dillonk When my addiction is over. It's a sickness.
To me, the ends sounds like "I'll Take Care of You Take Care of you that's true"
So beautiful. Wow. Power , emotion, devotion, and some sadness
Besides the poor capitalization, I agree with portkill about the ending of the song. Although it's probably "I'd take care of you," and not "I'll take care of you." These repeated lines aren't given in the insert though, so who knows.
This is my favorite from the album right now, the vocals at the end are so well done. Love.
The last verse about the snake...feeling its hearbeat and such. Anyone else getting any sexual connotations from that?
no
Well, there is at least some hints of it. Alex Scally had this to say in a Pitchfork interview bout the themes going through the album:<br /> <br /> "I think the other records were more monochromatic in energy too and this one entertained a lot more feelings and a lot more shined through. And there is a lot of sickness, and there's sexuality and depravity, that's all there. So much of that is in there."
I definitely do. Especially since previously in the song:<br /> <br /> "It's no good unless it grows, feel this burning, love of mine<br /> Deep inside the ever-spinning, tell me does it feel"