Lyrics for Appels + Oranjes as interpreted by em0

Appels + Oranjes Lyrics
what if the sun refused to shine
what if the clouds refused to rain
what if the wind refused to blow
what if the sea refused to wave
what if the world refused to turn
what if the stars would hesitate
what if, what is isn't true
what are you going to do
what if, what is isn't you
does that mean you've got to lose
digging for a feel of something new
what if the silence let you dream
what if the air could let you breathe
what if the words would bring you here
what if the sound could bring you peace
what if, what is isn't true
what are you going to do
digging for the feel of something new
what if, what is isn't you
what are you going to do
it came from your thoughts
you dreams, and visions
ripped up from your weeks, and indecision
what if the sun refused to shine
what if the clouds refused to rain
what if the world refused to turn
what if the clocks would hesitate
what if, what is isn't true
what are you going to do
what if, what is isn't you
does that mean you've got to lose
digging for the feel of something new
does that mean you've got to choose
the feel of something new
does that mean you've got to lose
the thoughts you cannot lose
what are you going to do

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cutoffyourlegs
05-13-2002

Rated 0 
I love this song, I think it's about billy discovering himself, and and what he wants to do with his life. I think something may have changed drastically in his life and he had to figure out how to deal with it.

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cutoffyourlegs
05-13-2002

Rated 0 
I love this song, I think it's about billy discovering himself, and and what he wants to do with his life. I think something may have changed drastically in his life and he had to figure out how to deal with it.

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Nowhere_Girl
07-03-2002

Rated 0 
I think it's about a man that is in love with a woman... and she wants to break with him...
and he's asking her
if the sun refused to shine you've got to lose?

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zero00000
08-03-2002

Rated 0 
For me, it is about fantasy. The central idea is "what if what is isn't true", it scares me to death, I mean what if what is real isn't real, I feel that way often. The song has a semi-logical progression that I'll try to explain:

First part-
"what if the sun refused to shine
what if the clouds refused to rain
what if the wind refused to blow
what if the sea refused to wave
what if the world refused to turn
what if the stars would hesitate
what if, what is isn't true
what are you going to do
what if, what is isn't you
does that mean you've got to lose
digging for a feel of something new"

Ok, here on this part, he's in the "real" world, or logical world, but he doubts the reality asking those questions...

Second part-
"what if the silence let you dream
what if the air could let you breathe
what if the words would bring you here
what if the sound could bring you peace
what if, what is isn't true
what are you going to do
digging for the feel of something new
what if, what is isn't you
what are you going to do"

We're now on the author's fantasy world (or your fantasy world, if you like), he's just confused, he made his own little world inside his head and for example the air can't let you breathe, or the sound can't bring you peace... Of course we know he air CAN let you breathe and the sound can bring you peace, it is logical, but remember, we're in another world... and he's doubting again, just like in the other part... (note that this couln't mean he died, because he makes it back to the "real" world later on)

Third Part-
"it came from your thoughts
you dreams, and visions
ripped up from your weeks, and indecision"

Now we know from where all these questions and worlds came from, from your thoughts, dreams and visions; and now we see the indecision comming...


Fourth part-
"what if the sun refused to shine
what if the clouds refused to rain
what if the world refused to turn
what if the clocks would hesitate
what if, what is isn't true
what are you going to do
what if, what is isn't you"

We're now back into the "real" or logical world, see what's happening? We're just back and forth between these two worlds...

Fifth part-
"does that mean you've got to lose
digging for the feel of something new
does that mean you've got to choose
the feel of something new
does that mean you've got to lose
the thoughts you cannot lose"

Now, does it means you've got to lose (give up something) because you have to choose on which world you want to live? The feel of something new is pushing you, and you can't get rid of those thoughts, you just feel you're going to lose something if you choose... but, you have to.


And now, for the final part:
"what are you going to do?"

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buffy
08-16-2002

Rated 0 
this song is wonderful. to me it's about finding the real you in your fantasies. and the real you isn't what you are trying to be. so you go and try to dig up another fantasy version of yourself. i hope that make sense. i try to get things out fast before i forget what i am meaning to say in the first place.

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bloodtears
04-18-2003

Rated 0 
Wow... zero00000, that's spiffy. Puts a whole new spin on the song, and I can really identify with that. Makes me like it even more! ^.^

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Duiel
11-18-2004

Rated 0 
this song reminds me of how everyone seems to ask "what if?" i remember those games i used to play when i was little asking my friends "what if this happened?" and always wondering "what if something happened to the word?" i'm not sure if billy really intended to mock the question "what if," but that's how i felt when i first heard the song.

what if what if isn't true?

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BFeeder
12-27-2004

Rated 0 
The first SP song i heard and one that will always have a special place...

The way i see it, he's challenging everything. What if the sun didnt shine? What if there was no rain? I think he sees the world like its "living too easily" and depending too much on things taken for granted (like the sun and rain).

What if what is isn't true what are you going to do? Its like he's assuming we would react if we found out we'd been living a lie. Its like the world is defining who we are as opposed to us defining ourselves (which is how we rightfully should).

An irony in itself because if we were living by other peoples rules and not living how we want to live isn't that the same as living a lie? Very clever of billy if this is what it means.

Its almost and extension of how i think he thinks of love (ie. why do people suppress and deny their own thoughts and feelings of love). People are being told how to live and how to love, perhaps this is his way of expressing such thoughts (albeit ambiguously).

Sry if it sounds confusing but it makes sense to me :)

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Jack 88
01-24-2005

Rated 0 
Hmmm.
I always see this song as a way of questioning the situation he is in. Obviously, the place he is in is far from perfect and he dreams of a better world. Obviously this better world is complete fantasy and:

it came from your thoughts
you dreams, and visions
ripped up from your weeks, and indecisions

Basically, he desires another world, without the events happening around him, and he could find a way to deal with them.
what if, what is isn't true
what are you going to do

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ghostchild
04-08-2005

Rated 0 
I think there is a lot to think about in zero00000's post, but I have to question if air can "let" you breath. It's just air.
Anyway, one thing that comes to my mind when I hear the line 'what if this sound could bring you peace' is that maybe "you" was really Billy and "this sound" was this song. From what I have heard, Billy's was going through a rough time (yet again, which made the music better) with the death of his mother, Jimmy not being in the band and still not being over his divorce ( he still wears the wedding band). but what do I really know. Sorry about the length of the post for those who are still reading this.

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DZiemba
03-02-2006

Rated 0 
I think the irony of this song is that it is posted in a song meanings webpage, with everyone's interpretation of the song to be presented to the world viewing it; Even this could be wrong. How would I feel? Am I prepared to accept that I HAVE BEEN WRONG ABOUT THIS FROM THE BEGINING?!

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mandarin_502
03-11-2006

Rated 0 
it think much about the world and what we are doing to it when i hear this song...we should be ashamed, we ask for too much...we live a good life, but its not enough we want the best! and thats how we stop caring about whats really happening to this world and everything that lives here. i could keep on writing about this but i think you understand what i mean. i get scared when i listen to this song because this is what i think of it...i still love the song, its one of my favourites. // Heidi

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chinosoma
08-03-2006

Rated 0 
I think most have got it down meaning wise..
but am I the only one who noticed "oranges" is spelt wrong here.. I don't remember it being "oranjes" on the album but then again its easy to look over so maybe..

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MaddAddams
05-08-2007

Rated 0 
I've thought for a while that this song is about suicide.

The opening portion of the song lists a lot of things that inherently do something, and their refusal. "What if the sun refused to shine? What if the clouds refused to rain?" Billy (or the narrator character) seems to be drawing a comparison, as suggested by the title. He's admitting it's a faulty comparison, as in "I know it's like comparing apples and oranges, but..." and then proceeds to talk to someone who's been let down by life. It's kind of a pep talk, suggesting the primary action of a person is to live, and dream, and continue on.

I tend to think it's specifically to a character currently contemplating suicide, or already gone because of two reasons. First and foremost is that the whole album, Adore, is heavily about death. Look at Tear, For Martha, The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete... Second is the very haunting lyric in the middle "What if the air could let you breathe." All the other what if's are things that can't happen, therefore it follows the subject is no longer with the living.

As to Appels + Oranjes beings spelled wrong, I heard this was in homage to the completely different early-era Pink Floyd tune. This sounds likely.

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nightwolf
05-12-2007

Rated 0 
it was always spelled "Appels + Oranjes"

and yeah it's a play on the Pink Floyd song "Apples and Oranges"

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IheartSP
07-01-2007

Rated 0 
Idk if this makes sense but I think the song is about questioning the reality of everything..questioning himself even. Escaping reality and believing something in our own world-digging for the feel of something new. What if you dont see the world as it is, but in a different way-what if what is isnt you. You don't feel right here, you make a different way of seeing things. Do you lose in believing this because it's "unreal", but back to the question, is anything real? Do you have to choose which to believe in-the way YOU see things, or "reality"?

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seaniboi77
10-09-2007

Rated 0 
i think the speaker is questioning god. all the what if statements are definitely about reailty and such but if you connect it to "what if what is isn't true, what are you going to do?". think about it: what if what is(god) isn't true(god isn't real), what are you going to do(you'd have nothing)...just my take. i mean i think god is neccesary for everything to exist so if he didnt, youd be left in a pretty bad situation.

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kitty.
11-22-2007

Rated 0 
i like zero's opinion. i see it as a questioning of existence, a never-ending search for life's answers which are never really there. this means we will be waisting so much time looking for answers that we will miss out on life. the sooner we realise we will never know the answers for sure we can let go and enjoy our existence to the utmost.

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xx open season
02-03-2008

Rated 0 
This song is about the questioning of existence and the pondering of life actually being what it appears to be.

Is all we wittness actually what it appears to be, or is there another demension in this life we all have yet to discover?

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simonhoyos
04-26-2008

Rated 0 
Although I think the part of "What if the sun refused to shine" is a bit of a cliché, I think this song is beautiful and is definitely in my top five of Adore which is my pumpkin's favorite album... Nice feeling for a Saturday night

can somebody explain me "does that mean you've got to lose"

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blockinshotsftw
06-14-2008

Rated 0 
"As to Appels + Oranjes beings spelled wrong"

It's not spelled wrong, it's in Dutch.

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PenileHyperbole
06-17-2008

Rated 0 
In response to simonhoyos:

To me, the line "does that mean you've got to lose," coming after the line "What if what is isn't you?," is in a way an answer to that question. Assuming that you have no connection to what is (life, reality, society, family, etc) that does not mean it's the end of the line for you. The next line, again, to me, seems to be contemplative and instills just a tad bit of hope into me:

"Digging for a feel of something new."

Keep going and find something you can connect with. Keep digging untill you feel something! That something is a new thing. Kinda makes me want for new experiences. Like the kind that mark you indelibly.

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PenileHyperbole
06-17-2008

Rated 0 
At any rate, when I first listened to the album, only three songs really got my attention. This is one of them. One of the greatest joys of my life is asking questions, of everything, even if the questions themselves don't make sense. When lost, I've found myself by doing that very thing.

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jamey22
08-07-2008

Rated 0 
pretty trippy kind of reminds me of a tool song as far as lyrical content but not Musicly.
[[ get a new get a new free yourself from yourself ]]!!!

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ChrisOfSpades
10-07-2008

Rated 0 
This song seems like it's about doubt, and the uncertainty of life. Can you be confident about anything?

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