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as someone sets light to the first fire of autumn
we settle down to cut ourselves apart.
cough and twitch from the news on your face
and some foreign candle burning in your eyes
held to the past too aware of the pending
chill as the dawn breaks and finds us up for sale.
enter the fog another low road descending
away from the cold lust, your house and summertime.
blind to the last curse of the fair pistols and countless eyes
a trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch
loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.
your name on my cast and my notes on your stay
offer me little but doting on a crime.
we've turned every stone and for all our inventions
in matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all.
blind to the last curse of the fair pistols and countless eyes
a trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch
loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.
we settle down to cut ourselves apart.
cough and twitch from the news on your face
and some foreign candle burning in your eyes
held to the past too aware of the pending
chill as the dawn breaks and finds us up for sale.
enter the fog another low road descending
away from the cold lust, your house and summertime.
blind to the last curse of the fair pistols and countless eyes
a trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch
loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.
your name on my cast and my notes on your stay
offer me little but doting on a crime.
we've turned every stone and for all our inventions
in matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all.
blind to the last curse of the fair pistols and countless eyes
a trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch
loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.
Lyrics submitted by rudegirl
Track duration: 05:24
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"as someone sets light to the first fire of autumn
we settle down to cut ourselves apart."
This means while there is new life entering the world we begin to think about leaving the world.
"cough and twitch from the news on your face
and some foreign candle burning in your eyes"
This means becoming nervous from the emotions that are portrayed on another person's face, and this person has a distant, sad scared look in their eyes.
"held to the past too aware of the pending
chill as the dawn breaks and finds us up for sale."
This means that you're remembering everything about this person, although you both know that death is coming.
"enter the fog another low road descending
away from the cold lust, your house and summertime."
This means you begin to go into something that you and no one else alive understands which is the opposite of your happiest memories
"blind to the last curse of the fair pistols and countless eyes"
This is saying that the person no longer sees the good in humanity (it goes kind of off topic but in my opinion because of a shooting or bombing that happened)
"a trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running"
(Here's another time that I kind of take a wild guess that still seems right to me) The person becomes open to corruption
"feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch"
I honestly can't get the beginning but dousing an ancient torch means a life ending that has been going on for a long time.
"loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love."
After the person dies you let go of all of the emotions you usually hold back and remember the great things the person did.
"your name on my cast and my notes on your stay
offer me little but doting on a crime.
we've turned every stone and for all our inventions
in matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all."
This verse is pretty much just dealing with the aftermath of the persons death.
As you can probably tell, the song is very close to me and I have experienced. the things I described. Also this is just my interpretation so continue believing what you believe.
so.
"as someone set's light to the first fire of autumn, we settle down to cut ourselves apart."
we "broke up" when we left for school and things got worse from there. i inquired that we get together and talk about things... essentially "settle down to cut ourselves apart"
"cough and a twitch from the news on your face, some foreign candle burning in your eyes."
even though i expected it, it still hurt to see that she could be so okay with us ending our relationship. her face was strong yet mine wasn't. then, the second line, is the "foreign candle" just another boy in her life and she's already moved on and i havent?
the next verse is purely reminiscent, especially "your house in summertime." we had our best times together at her house over summer break.
"your name on my cast" refers to my efforts to forget and move on but everywhere i turn i can't forget her and am constantly reminded.
even so, "we've turned every stone and for all our inventions. in matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all." we've tried everything we can to make it work but there's simply nothing else we can do.
"loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love." i can't function properly most days because i am at a crossroads as to whether to hold onto that love or move on to a new one ... AKA "lose yourself in lines dissecting love."
this is just typical me twisting the lyrics to respond to my current emotional state, i tend to do that way too often. either way, thought i'd pitch in my thoughts either way. thanks for letting me vent.
(describing new life and love, elsewhere)
we settle down to cut ourselves apart.
(Separation, but not angry separation. Submissive, and sad)
cough and twitch from the news on your face
(Has something to say, it's obvious, but they're nervous)
and some foreign candle burning in your eyes
(An unusual, "foreign" look someone has. Unfamiliar)
held to the past too aware of the pending
(Wishing for the life and energy shared in the past, but mutually aware of what is inevitable)
chill as the dawn breaks and finds us up for sale.
(They've gone their separate ways, and don't know where to go from there)
enter the fog another low road descending
(Nothing makes sense, everything seems to be leading further down)
away from the cold lust, your house and summertime.
(Retrospective on what was both good and bad before the separation)
blind to the last curse of the fair pistols and countless eyes
(This one is a little confusing. If the lyrics are in fact 'curse of the fair' then I imagine one of the two are repeating the same sort of relationship, the fair being someone... well, fair. Beautiful, but troubled. Pistols and countless eyes is even more confusing, the only thing that comes to mind is a western duel, with a crowd of people watching, no one knowing what will be the outcome.)
a trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
(the innocence of people getting tangled up and hurt emotionally, due to negligence of feelings)
feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch
(distract yourself, forget the events of before)
loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.
(stop feeling, get rid of the pain, loose yourself. Lines dissecting love almost seems self-referential, James writes a lot of songs that relate to love in some way, and he is very deep about it.)
your name on my cast and my notes on your stay
(Memoirs of whatever relationship the two had)
offer me little but doting on a crime.
(Seem insulting, the relationship is gone)
we've turned every stone and for all our inventions
(Despite all they could accomplish)
in matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all.
(They couldn't do anything when they stopped having feelings for each other)
I didn't write this as well as I had hoped, but I think that a lot of the lyrics help to set the mood and recreate the feelings of what the song is about, through imagery and reminiscence. I'm not sure if I wrote it out here, but I feel that I understand this song very well... It carries such a forlorn sadness, of someone who is aware of what is wrong, but helpless to do anything.
My favorite song from my favorite band. Long live The Shins.
we settle down to cut ourselves apart.
cough and twitch from the news on your face
and some foreign candle burning in your eyes
held to the past too aware of the pending
chill as the dawn breaks and finds us up for sale.
enter the fog another low road descending
away from the cold lust, your house and summertime.
blind to the last cursed affair pistols and countless eyes
a trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch
loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.
your name on my cast and my notes on your stay
offer me little but doting on a crime.
we've turned every stone and for all our inventions
in matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all.
blind to the last cursed affair pistols and countless eyes
a trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch
loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.
As someone sets light to the first fire of autumn--rash hashanah is in september
We settle down to cut ourselves apart.--Separation or selection of the Jews/ Elie’s waning love to God
Cough and twitch from the news on your face--Elie’s father is doubtful of the selection
And some foreign candle burning in your eyes
Held to the past too aware of the pending Elie’s contemplation of his past/ page 70 talks about how cruel the camp used to be, now Elie’s focused on the future ie furnace or freedom
Chill as the dawn breaks and finds us up for sale. Demeaning labor use of the Jews
Enter the fog another low road descending
Away from the cold lust, you house and summertime.
Blind to the last cursed affair pistols and countless eyes--The Germans constanly watching them/ no connection to the outer world:”blind”
A trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running--Elie’s trek through the snow with a bloody foot
Feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch Sun--could be the furnace burning Jews until they become free. Nazi swastika is a symbol of the sun
Loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.--Elie’s doing the same task everyday and thinks about if God really loves them. Constant questioning of God
Your name on my cast and my notes on your stay
Offer me little but doting on a crime.
We've turned every stone and for all our inventions
In matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all.--God is not going to help them
Blind to the last cursed affair pistols and countless eyes
A trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
Feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch
Loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love.
"As someone sets light to the first fire of autumn
we settle down to cut ourselves apart.
cough and twitch from the news on your face
and some foreign candle burning in your eyes."
Autumn is also fall, so setting light to a fall means that it
has just begun. The poetic voice is evidently introducing
the context for the rest of the song, as ~they "cut" themselves
apart; this metaphorizing verb implies blood, suffering, something
usually followed by a fall. Meaning that they're no longer "they",
as they are now apart.
Coughs and twitches are involuntary reactions of the body, caused, in
this case, by news from a face with distracted eyes, eyes that now see
from other source of light. We could interpret this as the companion
of the poetic voice, whose mind was stolen by "someone" who set light
to this fall, involuntarily, perhaps.
"Held to the past too aware of the pending
chill as the dawn breaks and finds us up for sale.
enter the fog another low road descending
away from the cold lust, your house and summertime."
After the cutting news, this mind goes through a period of analyzing
what that relationship was, whatever was, and now is conscious about
the future of thoughts and experiences that awaits him.
Now dawn has caught them apart and plans to "sell" them to the world,
this means that time, represented by dawn, will be the only thing
responsible for their future being.
"Into the fog", just extends this sloped uncertainty, a blurry unknown descending path, far away from the warmth that comes with the companion's house in which the poetic voice laid and now sees it as something good, something that provided him with comfortness.
"Blind to the last curse of the fair pistols and countless eyes
a trail of white blood betrays the reckless route your craft is running
Feed till the sun turns into wood dousing an ancient torch
loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love."
I'm not sure about the first line of the chorus.
The poetic voice is telling us about how it's blind to the last curse,
it cannot see anything but "fair pistols", which could be the image
of the inner fights scrutinized by countless eyes, the many points of view
of this situation.
Now it finds a discordance in its companion's behavior, which is leaving the poetic voice with a trail of wounds by following a reckless route. The thought of the companion is apparently confusing.
The sun was a common source of light and warmth, and now it's turned into a lightless, lifeless volatile object, which ironically turns off their own torch, a doused memory of fire.
And now he spends his time "dissecting love", and we're brought to the final
consequence of the initial cut; by dissecting something we're acknowledging
its death for further analysis of its parts, searching for internal causes of death. This is done by writing this song, dissecting this love with words and thoughts.
"Your name on my cast and my notes on your stay
offer me little but doting on a crime.
we've turned every stone and for all our inventions
in matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all."
This is the final moment. Now our guy it's in the stage of bearing with
the break-up. The poetic voice is fading and it says that keeping the
memory of the loving past just dotes on the crime of hurting himself:
thinking about it and being held to the past just feeds his increasing
sadness.
Turning every stone means that he's been searching ways to cope with
his love loss, but it cannot be helped, there's no invention that helps
us all with love losses. We've no recourse at all.
I enjoy this song very very much though it's deeply sad and reflexive. It
talks about a very common feeling, love loss, which includes any form of losing a loved one. From simple causes of divergence to complex ones: from having a fight, finding another one to love, or cheating; to great fights, separation by distance, and death, the most complex one. I love how poetic the stages of love loss are described here. And I love The Shins and the marvelous way James uses the only tools he has to directly communicate his feelings, music and lyrics.
note: my analysis never discriminates the factor of death, and if you think about it, it can be very shocking; oh, how I love The Shins.
The song opens up with a reference to autumn. Autumn is generally associated with old age and decline, with the coming of winter as death. "We settle down to cut apart" refers to the the act of preparing to say goodbye. The specific scenarios I imagine the song being applicable to would be something like other family members sitting by the bedside of a terminally ill relative, or simply an aged couple settling down, mulling the how quickly life has passed and becoming anxious about their remaining time together.
"Cough and twitch from the news on your face" means the sudden realization of regrets, and the inevitability of death now that it is so close at hand. "Foreign candle burning in your eyes" - you know that saying, "Oh that person has a faraway look in his eyes?" When someone is so caught up and lost in their thoughts, it's like they're gazing into the distance...like they're looking into the foreign lands of their mind. This ties in nicely with the "Lose yourself in lines dissecting" part, as I will mention later.
"Held to the past too aware of the pending." You want to cherish the times spent together. But the fond act of remembrance is tainted by the dark certainties of the future. It's always something at the back of your mind, that someday it'll all end.
"Your name on my cast and my notes on your stay." Those left behind, they suffer as broken people. And the cast they wear during the healing process bears the name of their lost loved one. The "notes on your stay" simply mean memories of time together--the only thing left.
"We've turned every stone and for all our inventions, in matters of love loss, we've no recourse at all." Pretty self-explanatory. We live in modern society, with apparent solutions to a formidable amount of technological, scientific, and rational problems. Nonetheless, each of us as an individual can be utterly crippled by the emotions of sorrow due to lost love. It is absurdly easy how vulnerable we are in some respects, despite how far we've come intellectually.
And of course the most poignant line: "Loiter the whole day through and lose yourself in lines dissecting love..." The way Mercer repeats it and softly fades out, you literally get lost in the song... And you'll notice a nice scene in the music video of the freeway overpasses interlacing as "lines dissecting" the sky. Anyway, this relates to my earlier interpretation of "foreign candle." Just thinking so much, having that lost look, dissecting and analyzing the situation, mulling over the past, whatever. It's that flurry of thoughts and thinking and overthinking things that makes you lose time without even knowing it.
I wasn't able to do a complete line-by-line analysis, but I think the rest of the song kind of falls into place. Plus if you watch the music video (youtube.com/…), it seems to be about a grandson and his grandfather spending quality time together. The grandson is taking pictures, "being held to the past." Perhaps because they are both "too aware of the the pending," no words are ever exchanged between the two during the video.
The theme of this song is the transience of the people we love in our life. Eventually we all have to say goodbye, whether it be a temporary one or the final goodbye. I know I've focused on the final goodbyes in this analysis, but the song is consistent with milder interpretations. So something even about a student going off to college, leaving their best friends and family--that goodbye is applicable as well.
A most impressive line for any song. A very, very favorite line of mine for any song, ever. Huge kudos, James.
To me there is no way to see this line representing anything but how we reflect, from every conceivable angle (hence, the "lines dissecting") on the "what could've beens" when things don't go as we thought they could or should in the matters of love.