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Well the smart money's on Harlow and the moon is in the street
And the shadow boys are breaking all the laws
And you're east of East Saint Louis and the wind is making speeches
And the rain sounds like a round of applause
And Napoleon is weeping in a carnival saloon
His invisible fiancee's in the mirror
And the band is going home, it's raining hammers, it's raining nails
And it's true there's nothing left for him down here
And it's time time time, and it's time time time
And it's time time time that you love
And it's time time time
And they all pretend they're orphans and their memory's like a train
You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away
And the things you can't remember tell the things you can't forget
That history puts a saint in every dream
Well she said she'd stick around until the bandages came off
But these mama's boys just don't know when to quit
And Mathilda asks the sailors "Are those dreams or are those prayers?"
So close your eyes, son, and this won't hurt a bit
Oh it's time time time, and it's time time time
And it's time time time that you love
And it's time time time
Well things are pretty lousy for a calendar girl
The boys just dive right off the cars and splash into the street
And when they're on a roll she pulls a razor from her boot
And a thousand pigeons fall around her feet
So put a candle in the window and a kiss upon his lips
As the dish outside the window fills with rain
Just like a stranger with the weeds in your heart
And pay the fiddler off 'til I come back again
Oh it's time time time, and it's time time time
And it's time time time that you love
And it's time time time
And it's time time time, and it's time time time
And it's time time time that you love
And it's time time time
And the shadow boys are breaking all the laws
And you're east of East Saint Louis and the wind is making speeches
And the rain sounds like a round of applause
And Napoleon is weeping in a carnival saloon
His invisible fiancee's in the mirror
And the band is going home, it's raining hammers, it's raining nails
And it's true there's nothing left for him down here
And it's time time time, and it's time time time
And it's time time time that you love
And it's time time time
And they all pretend they're orphans and their memory's like a train
You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away
And the things you can't remember tell the things you can't forget
That history puts a saint in every dream
Well she said she'd stick around until the bandages came off
But these mama's boys just don't know when to quit
And Mathilda asks the sailors "Are those dreams or are those prayers?"
So close your eyes, son, and this won't hurt a bit
Oh it's time time time, and it's time time time
And it's time time time that you love
And it's time time time
Well things are pretty lousy for a calendar girl
The boys just dive right off the cars and splash into the street
And when they're on a roll she pulls a razor from her boot
And a thousand pigeons fall around her feet
So put a candle in the window and a kiss upon his lips
As the dish outside the window fills with rain
Just like a stranger with the weeds in your heart
And pay the fiddler off 'til I come back again
Oh it's time time time, and it's time time time
And it's time time time that you love
And it's time time time
And it's time time time, and it's time time time
And it's time time time that you love
And it's time time time
Lyrics submitted by archmastermind
Track duration: 03:55
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Her thoughts were that this is a song about how death sneaks up on us, and regardless of what was happening in life, that it is time to stop with the unimportant and love.
with mystery lyrics I've no idea about. It would be alot easier to remeber them
if I could attach some meaning, so hopefully someone can help!
The first verse is about a traveling carnival/show and a guy who works in it,
whose fiance is gone/non-existant. Straightforward....
The second verse, I have no idea. All I get is some kind of
'recovering from injury in a hospital' vibe. Mathilda could possibly be from
'Waltzing Mathilda' but I doubt it.
The last verse beginning is as plain as day. This is about some kinda
beautiful woman who has to walk on a street. Guys are hanging out
on their car and they are harassing her and calling her names.
When they are particularly cruel she cuts herself obviously.
But the candle in the window? No clue, unless it is about
her son? She's waiting for someone to come back, duh.. but
who is the fiddler?
ocacophony: i thought your take was really great
wieniek: i also enjoyed your interpretation
"Time" is written from the perspective of a female Death Angel-type character whose task is to take people at their designated time ("¦Time"¦Time). The songs" verses illustrate various peoples" "times" and how most people waste their time being alive and suddenly crave life once their time comes to an end. I can"t decide whether the Death character is determining to whom a second chance is given, but it's possible. Death is burned out with her job (who isn't?) because she is constantly reminded that one must experience extreme proximity to death in order to appreciate life, which is one of life's greatest lessons. Though death is considered a dark subject, please view the song from a positive light in order to appreciate it more completely. Try to resist your human instinct to shy away from the subject and reality of death. It's trying to teach you something here.
"Well the smart money's on Harlow and the moon is in the street
And the shadow boys are breaking all the laws
And you're east of East Saint Louis and the wind is making speeches
And the rain sounds like a round of applause"
This part serves to link to the last verse of the song, so read on for my interpretation of that. "Shadow Boys" are those who are "marked", which seems tiresome to Death, to the point that she's placing bets on who will be next on her "list". I think the "rain" symbolizes all of the things that are overwhelming in a human life, and are so close and loud that it sounds like applause, which is a diversion; yes, applause, in this song, is not a good thing"”it's a distraction. Same with the wind--the "speeches" aren't noticed by anyone because they blow away so quickly, metaphorically.
"And Napoleon is weeping in a carnival saloon
His invisible fiancee's in the mirror
And the band is going home, it's raining hammers, it's raining nails
And it's true there's nothing left for him down here"
Of course, to state the obvious, this person isn"t literally Napoleon, and as with all well-written poetry and lyrics, Waits leaves space for personal imagery and interpretation in terms of the specifics of this person; this verse is written so well that I, at least, have a very specific image of who this person is in their setting in my head when I hear this song. Anyway, this person is so depressed with his situation (because who isn't a little depressed at their circumstances?), as life seems to be raining nothing but pain on him.
"And they all pretend they're orphans and their memory's like a train
You can see it getting smaller as it pulls away
And the things you can't remember tell the things you can't forget
That history puts a saint in every dream"
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. This verse is from Death"s perspective as a weary reaper who notices the same trend from all those she comes to: that everyone has an excuse as to why it shouldn"t be their time to go, or why it's too soon, because of their notion of what bad things have happened to them, even though they've wasted the time they had already. "Their memory"s like a train" that conveniently forgets the bad things they"ve done as well, because "history puts a saint in every dream". We all become martyrs to spare our own egos at one point or another.
"Well she said she'd stick around until the bandages came off
But these mama's boys just don't know when to quit
And Mathilda asks the sailors "Are those dreams or are those prayers?"
So close your eyes, son, and this won't hurt a bit"
I think the person referenced in this verse, Mathilda, is an escort/prostitute/mistress-type. As you listen from this perspective, please try to view this character in as powerful instead of with judgment of moral character, as she is the one in control here, and is called upon by men as a confidant in addition to the other, more obvious/stereotypical reasons. Again, the story is being told by Death. The sailors confide to Mathilda their deeds, experiences, and cravings in a way that is unique to those kinds of arrangements. (Consider the character of Cathy in Steinbeck's "East of Eden", for example; see also: Tori Amos' "Virginia".) Death hears all, and there are no secrets kept from her, "So close your eyes, son, and this won"t hurt a bit."
"Well things are pretty lousy for a calendar girl
The boys just dive right off the cars and splash into the street
And when they're on a roll she pulls a razor from her boot
And a thousand pigeons fall around her feet"
This verse illustrates the repetitive nature of being a reaper. The "calendar girl" line moves us from the Mathilda verse as Death continues on her path; I do not believe that it refers to a female model/traditional "calendar girl" in a retro sense.
The entire song shows that Death finds her job tiresome (lousy), particularly because people do irresponsible things ("dive right off the cars and splash into the street"). I think the "thousand pigeons" line is to highlight the repetitiveness"”she pulls a razor from her boot (takes the lives) and a thousand pigeons (possibly humans who are damaged, whether by their own choices/hand or by others, since pigeons are considered a street parasite to some) fall (die) around her feet"”-just another day at the office.
CHORUS:
"Oh it's time time time, and it's time time time
And it's time time time that you love
And it's time time time"
The chorus of this song is repetitive for a very specific reason: Death is telling us, as the audience, that it's time that we love in our lives, before it's too late. The repetition serves to emphasize the song"s lesson so that the song"s message is truly heard. it's no accident that the chorus repeats so much while the verses themselves are quite complex.
"So put a candle in the window and a kiss upon his lips
As the dish outside the window fills with rain
Just like a stranger with the weeds in your heart
And pay the fiddler off 'til I come back again"
The last part is directed to the audience. Appreciate what you have. Kiss the one you love. Don't be self-absorbed in your own life's damaging events; everyone is damaged--all of the strangers with the weeds in their hearts. Lock the bad parts of your life outside your sacred space/home (rain outside the window). Appreciate living in order to "pay the fiddler off" "til Death comes back for you, because she will, and know that she"s watching. A truly lovely and profound song.
Awesome.
the man you want find is me....
i love the song even i can't understand a word of it
And a thousand pigeons fall around her feet") Pigeons means blood that dropped round her feet, and also as a symbolism of freedom (onw she`s free, world won~t hurt her any more. Very sad is that almost noone sees her pain and dath, live is floatin as on the beginnig of this song - "The boys just dive right off the cars and splash into the street". And finnaly on the end - narrator asks us to remeber her pain, and to think aoubt our own live - "So put a candle in the window and a kiss upon his lips".
Beautiful song, and even better lyric, ... superb