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First we'd climb the tree
and maybe then we'd talk
or sit silently
and listen to our thoughts
with illusions of someday
casting a golden light
no dress rehearsal,
this is our life
that's where the hornet stung me
and I had a feverish dream
with revenge and doubt
tonight, we smoke them out
You are ahead by a century
Stare in the morning shroud
and then the day began
I tilted your cloud,
you tilted my hand
rain falls in real time
and rain fell through the night
no dress rehearsal, this is our life
That's when the hornet stung me
and I had a serious dream
with revenge and doubt
tonight, we smoke them out
You are ahead by a century
but this is our life
and disappointing you's gettin' me down
and maybe then we'd talk
or sit silently
and listen to our thoughts
with illusions of someday
casting a golden light
no dress rehearsal,
this is our life
that's where the hornet stung me
and I had a feverish dream
with revenge and doubt
tonight, we smoke them out
You are ahead by a century
Stare in the morning shroud
and then the day began
I tilted your cloud,
you tilted my hand
rain falls in real time
and rain fell through the night
no dress rehearsal, this is our life
That's when the hornet stung me
and I had a serious dream
with revenge and doubt
tonight, we smoke them out
You are ahead by a century
but this is our life
and disappointing you's gettin' me down
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
Track duration: 03:45
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I couldn't help but notice that he - Pot-head - was turned toward the girl and they were both staring down at ? when Ph was stung by the hornet. Ph saw her laugh and it shocked the heck out of him - revenge & doubt. With physical and emotional pain Ph runs home in bewilderment. For the first time he realizes that they are profoundly different - loss of innocence and low self esteem - but remains close to her; possibly because they live in a small community.
As they get older they remain friends in spite of their differences and use (pot?) to overcome those and other differences in their lives. Inside he feels that she is ahead of him or better than him or more evolved than his family is or whatever difference he notices. This is demonstrated by the comparison of the two homes at the start of the video and the different state of mind on the sofa.
The morning is 'shrouded' with guilt as they awake from their affair. She is living on the edge and he is her first sexual experience so goes to him when she is in need of - ?. He keeps a watch on the window for her husband and sneaks out the back door as her husband arrives with a few friends. The tough part is trying to understand why the car arrives at her childhood home but he runs out of his own childhood home. Could be that the other home had no rear door so it was good for video production purposes.
He remembers her as he did in his childhood and may be wondering why she would want to change when all he wanted was to be himself - innocent. There is a juxtaposition of her worldly self - ahead by a century - and his own reluctance to leave the comfort of his own self - innocence. The disappointment comes due to Ph's reluctance to change or live up to her expectations.
This composition seems like a real life situation whether he lived it or witnessed it. In the end Ph remains himself and goes off to become a singer in a rock band - why evolve beyond reason? This is a great and profound moral to a real life tragedy.
Cheers
12-24-2009
For me, this song is about a man being nostalgic about the early part of his relationship. Now, however, he is no longer happy. His wife is consistently disappointed with him. The hornets represent the realities of life in the paradise dream of sitting in a tree. Reality produces regret and doubt and a want to get out.
Not really sure what smoking the out is about. Not sure if he wants to clear the air (smoking out revenge and doubt), or he is realizing that they're headed for another fight (smoking the hornets out of the nest so they can be stung again).
Song lyrics can mean many things and each may identify differently with them depending on their life experiences. Redhawk has described my situation. My wife has this song as the alarm on her phone. She will often let it play in its entirety when it goes off in the morning. She doesn't pay much attention to song lyrics, and I think it is lost on her that it describes exactly where I think we are at in our relationship. The last line "Your disappointment is getting me down." has become my the byline of my life. We are in counselling, but I don't know that I can ever overcome her disappointment...We are a blended family...some of the hornets are her kid and my kids...but other things as well...too much work and not enough money or time such that the illusions of someday are just that...illusions.
But I love her more than anything.
My interpretation...
This song is about a couple who is living & coping with a drug/alchohol addiction.
// 1st verse
The early stages of the relationship was innocent. Being together is all they needed, and they had bright ambitions for the future.
// 2nd verse
the hornet stinging him, is his addiction.
he's having thoughts of anger/revenge towards something in his past, and hoplessness/uncertainty of the future
.. on one hand the anger LEADS to his addiction, and on the other hand his feelings of doubt are mostly CAUSED by his addiction.
the "feverish dreams" suggests that all of this is being looked at from a clouded state of mind.
"tonight we smoke them out"
.is the couple trying to clear the air about the addiction in an attempt to "smoke it out" and get past it.
// 3rd verse
the "morning shroud" symbolizes comming out of whatever dark place he was in. (ie sobering up)
not sure about the "tilted cloud/tilted hand" part... Perhaps something to do with the impact that each other has had on their dreams & the outcome of their actual lives
"rain falls in real time/ rain fell through the night"
.. is about the world moving on around him during the dark period of his addiction, and his mistakes & their consequences continued to build.
but there's no going back. it's their life & they have to deal with it.
// 4th verse
similar to the 2nd, except the "serious dream" suggests this time he's looking BACK on his mistakes from a clearer perspective. (ie, sober)
Yet he still has the same anger & doubt as before, so the couple continues to "smoke them out", to prevent him from slipping back into the addiction
// final verse
she's been a pillar for him. "ahead by a century". Pulling him through his troubles.
he has obvious regrets for the problems/dissapointment he's caused her, but she's chosen her life with him
The visuals in the Music video really solidifies these ideas for me....
as they sing the "feverish dream" line, the sky is cloudy & the camera gets flipped upside-down as he begins to run from something.
The woman has a clear theme of stress/worry throughout. Often looking around shifty-eyed and concerned about something.
She clutching her wedding ring to suggest she's possibly regretting their marriage, but is still hanging onto the hope.
She carries the pot of water that's about to spill over. She places her cup of coffee teetering on the edge of the table.
These are metaphors that she's barely holding things together & consumed with worry (anyone who's had an addict close to them can relate to this feeling)
Yet at the end, she's still looking out the window for the black car approaching, as if to show she's still watching out for him.
To me, the black car represents his fears coming back to haunt him. You don't know why the car is pulling up to the house, yet he runs from it anyways.
And as he runs out the back door, the men are gone & it turns out to be his younger self coming.
Suggesting that HE is the cause for his own fears. (or more accurately, his choices/mistakes made as a child).
Also, the jar of hornets make an appearance several times in the video implying that he may get "stung" again at any moment.
Personally, I think it's a personally story, probably about him and his wife in their younger years. Probably just burning and discussing/arguing/talking/thinking about life in general.
I'd say the hornet is stuff that happens in life like deaths of those close or even a child breaking a leg or something mildly traumatic, but at the end of the day, they always have eachother to smoke away the problems with (whether it's burning them away or just being there for eachother in whatever ways different couples are there for eachother)
This is a couple who have known each other since childhood, and have always been been fond of each other, resulting in their getting married as adults. In this process, one of them has "found" their self, and ultimately success (successful career, personal life, whatever). The singer of our song being the other person in this couple, has had a set back in his personal life, and is trying to overcome it. In the meantime, he is in a funk while trying to find himself, and can feel how disappointed his partner is in him. This is his last ditch attempt to put those feelings into words, to ask for help and understanding, and support instead of disapproval.