"A friend of mine grows his very own brambles
They twist all around him 'til he can't move"
are opening lines of pure poetic brilliance. His friend doesn't just walk into the brambles, he grows them himself, gets himself into trouble. Eventually they twist around him and stop his movement entirely. And I guess the narrator just wishes he could cut them (though that obviously isn't a line).
"Beautiful, quivering, chivelrous shambels"
is simply a great description of the shambling movements of someone who is drunk, of course.
"What is my friend trying to prove"
seems something of an odd line to me, because I doubt alchoholics are trying to prove annoying, the narrator is questioning why the hell his friend is doing this.
"The booze turns a tall, gentle boy to a terrible totem"
of course means that the narrator's friend becomes a dark totem, a looming and ugly object that is a horrible transformation from the original "tall, gentle boy".
"And the kids gather round trying to see what's inside"
probably means that the narrator's friend has become low, so obsessed with alchohol that children are now making fun of him as he shambels around, completely drunk and a wreck of his former self.
"What is my friend trying to hide?"
I guess is once again asking why he is drinking, what it is that he is hiding from the narrator that has made him into this alchoholic.
"Cause it's breaking my heart, it's breaking my heart"
is a quite obvious lyric, and that bit always tugs at my heart-strings, for it's so simple and yet so powerful. Guy's voice compliments it brilliantly.
"And it's breaking my heart to pull on the reigns"
is the correct version, according to the album, and it seems to mean that the narrator is trying to pull on the reigns to command his friend, but it's incredibly hard, not working, and simply breaking his heart even more.
"Brother of mine, don't run with those fuckers"
is the narrator telling his friend that he can do better, that he doesn't have to go around with these "fuckers" and get drunk, he can be perfectly happy without alchohol, as he once was.
"When will my friend start singing again?"
is a reference to Bryan Glancy, who was a singer, and died in 2006, but in the context of the song it may just mean when his friend will finally be a happy man and not a slave to alchohol.
I love this song, and it is one of my favourite Elbow have ever written. Continue being BLOODY AWESOME, even if you never get fame your fans still love you.
"What is my friend trying to prove?"
When you drink like this it does feel like you are trying to prove something to yourself. For me it was like I was trying to prove that I didn't need something. Most of the time you don't even know what it is, it's been pushed so far into your emotional recesses that you can't see it.
But you can still hear it.
"What is my friend trying to prove?"
When you drink like this it does feel like you are trying to prove something to yourself. For me it was like I was trying to prove that I didn't need something. Most of the time you don't even know what it is, it's been pushed so far into your emotional recesses that you can't see it.
But you can still hear it.
"A friend of mine grows his very own brambles They twist all around him 'til he can't move"
are opening lines of pure poetic brilliance. His friend doesn't just walk into the brambles, he grows them himself, gets himself into trouble. Eventually they twist around him and stop his movement entirely. And I guess the narrator just wishes he could cut them (though that obviously isn't a line).
"Beautiful, quivering, chivelrous shambels"
is simply a great description of the shambling movements of someone who is drunk, of course.
"What is my friend trying to prove"
seems something of an odd line to me, because I doubt alchoholics are trying to prove annoying, the narrator is questioning why the hell his friend is doing this.
"The booze turns a tall, gentle boy to a terrible totem"
of course means that the narrator's friend becomes a dark totem, a looming and ugly object that is a horrible transformation from the original "tall, gentle boy".
"And the kids gather round trying to see what's inside"
probably means that the narrator's friend has become low, so obsessed with alchohol that children are now making fun of him as he shambels around, completely drunk and a wreck of his former self.
"What is my friend trying to hide?"
I guess is once again asking why he is drinking, what it is that he is hiding from the narrator that has made him into this alchoholic.
"Cause it's breaking my heart, it's breaking my heart"
is a quite obvious lyric, and that bit always tugs at my heart-strings, for it's so simple and yet so powerful. Guy's voice compliments it brilliantly.
"And it's breaking my heart to pull on the reigns"
is the correct version, according to the album, and it seems to mean that the narrator is trying to pull on the reigns to command his friend, but it's incredibly hard, not working, and simply breaking his heart even more.
"Brother of mine, don't run with those fuckers"
is the narrator telling his friend that he can do better, that he doesn't have to go around with these "fuckers" and get drunk, he can be perfectly happy without alchohol, as he once was.
"When will my friend start singing again?"
is a reference to Bryan Glancy, who was a singer, and died in 2006, but in the context of the song it may just mean when his friend will finally be a happy man and not a slave to alchohol.
I love this song, and it is one of my favourite Elbow have ever written. Continue being BLOODY AWESOME, even if you never get fame your fans still love you.
"What is my friend trying to prove?" When you drink like this it does feel like you are trying to prove something to yourself. For me it was like I was trying to prove that I didn't need something. Most of the time you don't even know what it is, it's been pushed so far into your emotional recesses that you can't see it. But you can still hear it.
"What is my friend trying to prove?" When you drink like this it does feel like you are trying to prove something to yourself. For me it was like I was trying to prove that I didn't need something. Most of the time you don't even know what it is, it's been pushed so far into your emotional recesses that you can't see it. But you can still hear it.