Lyrics for both hands as interpreted by aur0ra

both hands Lyrics
i am walking
out in the rain
and i am listening to the low moan
of the dial tone again
and i am getting
nowhere with you
and i can't let it go
and i can't get through

the old woman behind the pink curtains
and the closed door
on the first floor
she's listening through the air shaft
to see how long our swan song can last

and both hands
now use both hands
oh, no don't close your eyes
i am writing
graffiti on your body
i am drawing the story of
how hard we tried

i am watching your chest rise and fall
like the tides of my life
and the rest of it all
and your bones have been my bedframe
and your flesh has been my pillow
i am waiting for sleep
to offer up the deep
with both hands

and in each other's shadows we grew less and less tall
and eventually our theories couldn't explain it all
and i'm recording our history now on the bedroom wall
and when we leave the landlord will come
and paint over it all

and i am walking
out in the rain
and i am listening to the low moan of the dial tone again
and i am getting nowhere with you
and i can't let it go
and i can't get through

so now use both hands
please use both hands
oh, no don't close your eyes
i am writing graffiti on your body
i am drawing the story of how hard we tried
hard we tried
how hard we tried

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Lunetia
01-13-2002

Rated 0 
I always thought that it said "the lawn mower/and the dial tone again." The real version is much more beautiful: a low moan --> grief, sex, frustration, pain <--dial tone.

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ChrissyTina
01-22-2002

Rated 0 
What are you talking about?

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outofhabit619
03-11-2002

Rated 0 
"the lawn mower/and the dial tone again." haha, cute :)

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UltimateCHill
04-18-2002

Rated 0 
how incredible is this song?! i love it so much, i'll never get sick of it.

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phoenix41
05-01-2002

Rated 0 
the first song i knew every single word to. i can sing it speak it write it. i will never get tired of this song.

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humdrum
05-11-2002

Rated 0 
Do you think this song is form the point of view of an abused woman? Is the graffiti on the wall her blood? Use both hands to choke her?

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the get up kid
05-26-2002

Rated +1 
i think she refers to using *both hands* in the way that they tried so hard. as though using two hands signifies hard work. for some reason this relationship is falling apart. regardless of how much they would like to love eachother something's in the way. the problem is that neither know what it is or possibly the man in the relationship does but he is not attempting to fix it. it's definately a cool song. full of raw expression. just the way i like em'.

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1 Reply
manogrrlie
05-26-2002

Rated 0 
i think this song is highly sexual. to me, it was always the failed relationship, and as such, is HORRIBLE to listen to while going through a break-up. at the same time, the idea of pleading with someone to use both hands, well, it's undeniably sexual. that's maybe the complete and utter sadness of it: unless you broke up because you weren't sexually compatible, even as you're breaking up, you want both hands on you. you want their eyes open to see YOU. to see what they can't have. to see what they are having......

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cantankerous
05-27-2002

Rated 0 
i thought this song referred to lesbian sex. . . both hands, she wants her to use both hands. . . ya know. . . i thought swan song was a reference to two people being intertwined. . . getting it one. the lady was listening. . . ha

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humdrum
05-31-2002

Rated 0 
If this song is about sex, or a failed relationship, then what is the landlord going to be painting over? What is 'the deep' that both hands will offer?

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manogrrlie
06-02-2002

Rated 0 
i don't think the "deep" is anything you can quantify. in fact, i think both the idea of the landlord, and the deep, are metaphorical. IE, the landlord won't really be painting over anything, but someone is going to occupy this apartment after this couple, and all of it will be erased. the relationship will be painted over. in the same way, the "deep", i think, is merely the speaker's desire for someone, someday (possibly the lover) to remember the whole thing.

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batch
06-06-2002

Rated 0 
The 'recording our history', to me, is literal ... she's really painting on the walls of the apartment that they shared. I think she really did it. Ani was an art student at the New School, and the other songs from this period (Out of Habit) employ painting as a metaphor. The wall will get painted over when they leave, and their history will be painted over too, details forgotten, no longer shared, when they break up.

"The deep" is just sleep, because it rhymes.

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sakebox
06-07-2002

Rated 0 
This song, I think, is about that very last fight, and the very last make-up, before two people finally break up. The history that the two share of good, and bad, and other is so extensive, it needs to be recorded.


Writing "graffiti" on your body makes me think of cavemen paintings.....and that is an intensive undertaking, taking a person's "both hands".

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humdrum
06-09-2002

Rated 0 
ok. Why is she listening to the low moan of the dial tone again?

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Cat
06-13-2002

Rated 0 
I always saw it as a song about a relationship. The sexual implications I took to show how close she felt with this person both by emotion and body.

As for the low moan of the dial tone, either she's thinking of calling this person or they hung up on her.

I found the song to be very moving and beautiful.

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syko
06-20-2002

Rated 0 
This is the greatest Ani song ever written! The trouble with this is that I am a male and Ani is a feminist. Most people think that is odd, but you don't have to be female to be a feminist.

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sara_rachel
06-21-2002

Rated 0 
not surprising to me that this song has the most hits (16!) of all of the ani songs posted. this is one of the first songs i ever heard, off "living in clip" and it's definitely an awesome song.
MAINLY it's great that everybody has their own interpretations. isn't that the point?

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jimmysavedmyday
06-29-2002

Rated 0 
this was teh first ani song i heard and it is by far my favorite. i saw ani a few months ago and it was such a great experience. she is honestly one of the most beautiful and charasmatic people you will ever see...ooo ani rules :)

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shes stoked
07-23-2002

Rated 0 
This is by far the most beautiful song I have ever heard. I just dont know how to describe the feeling it gives me whenever I listen to it. I can keep this song on repeat for hours and hours and that feeling just wont go away. Amazing song. Ani never fails to bring out real emotions in me. Yea... Just wow.

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SexyBlondie
08-07-2002

Rated 0 
ani is a great person. her lyrics are so meaningful. i read earlier in someone's comments "what's ---- mean?" in my opinion ani wants to paint a verbal picture and will phrases that gets her point across. she is extremely talented. her music is so great when you're going through a rough time and need a boost of confidence/women power! she just totally rocks!

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Moonglow
08-16-2002

Rated 0 
Hi, I was wondering if any one could tell me what they thought of the line "I am writing grafitti on your body" - My friend knows a girl who loves Ani and got a tattoo of this line on her body...please, I would love to hear what you think this line is about. Thanks! :) -Dina

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Hecate
09-04-2002

Rated 0 
Another Ani favorite....the list goes on and on.
once again, sorry if you're tired of hearing this, it reminds me of my ex and I. We tried so hard to keep our love alive and we pretended like everything was great and wonderful but we were really killing each other and lying to ourselves. The part that says "with each others shadows we grew less and less tall" that was so true we didn't keep our separate selves we just meshed too much. Also this part:
"i am watching your chest rise and fall
like the tides of my life
and the rest of it all
and your bones have been my bedframe
and your flesh has been my pillow
i am waiting for sleep.."
After he left me I was so used to sleeping in bed with him, cudling and being close: he was my bedframe and pillow and I couldn't sleep when he was gone.



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yeahyouknowme
09-14-2002

Rated 0 
to me....this song is about someone that she loved, someone that she felt a connection to on every level imaginable. i think that the "painting on the wall" is completely metaphorical. the details are going to be forgotten. not only will the forget the good, but also the bad. after they move out, they'll start to forget just how good, or how bad, they had it for a while. they tried and tried but couldn't get anywhere....i know i personally have had relationships where i was crazy about someone but there was something wrong and we both knew it...but we didnt know what it was so we didnt know how to fix it i think that's the kind of relationship ani is talking about

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goodkarma49
09-16-2002

Rated 0 
This song is great because so many people can relate to it. My own personal experience is that i had longt erm relationship and so much drama got wrapped up in it and the he said she said and we truly loved each other but even if you use both hands to fix it sometimes it just doesnt work. we thought sex would fix our problems but it only hides them and in the end no matter how much we love each other it wont work not even with both hands..

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you had time
05-07-2003

Rated 0 
i think it's about her relationship w/ a female becuz of the both hands thing. i love love love this song soooo much.
ps i am going to marry ani.

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