I had such a hard time interpreting this for some reason but now that I've worked it out (I think), here's the analysis (with summary below):
This is about a woman trying to get back together with her former lover. First, she says to him that though she left him and scarred him, he should really just get over it. She says he'll be okay if he just toughs it out. She has changed into a better person, supposedly:
"If I represent the one that did this to you
Then can away the part that represents the thing that scarred you
I say, Get up, stand up, get up, stand up, get on it
Yessir, I am no longer who you thought this one would be"
She left him before but is now back to talking with him, saying that they can still work. They can still do 'the business' which is either the act of having sex or of settling in a relationship (the word 'business' threw me for a loop, but it's actually, cleverly, describing the transactional nature of their relationship; i.e. she's a user and so sees relationships as a user):
"We end up around the mountain that I climb to lose you
I said, I said give me the business that business could work through"
But when he confronts her on her reasoning, she falters because she doesn't really know why she wants him back (she doesn't know what she wants, or doesn't want to admit it):
"I say, Ask me but all my wisdom departed"
And she doesn't listen to him, either. So they have communication problems.
"Tell me but all my wisdom departed"
The chorus is the narrator's demand that they still maintain the relationship. Within this demand, she is 1) guilt-tripping him by telling him that 'you're the reason I'm living', 2) claiming that anything that went wrong is not her fault, and 3) revealing that she's addicted to something (sex? him? Is she just plain needy? or maybe she's literally a drug fiend.):
"But help please at least answer me this, Answer me, answer me What's the business, yeah
Don't take my life away / From a distance, yeah / I'm a victim, yeah / I'm addicted, yeah / Don't take my life away"
She says to look at everything from her perspective, but knows that doing so would 'lift up' and 'dig up' the past and doing so would hurt him:
"If you just press your fingers down under my skin (Go on and do it)
Lift up, dig up, lift up, dig up and bleed for me"
And she says she'll try to see things his way too but waits for him to ask. This tells me that she cares little for him and won't take the initiative to soothe him.
"I say, I'll bleed if you ask me
I'll bleed if you ask me"
That's when he says no to everything she offered. It's all bullshit and he's had enough,
"That's when, that's when, he said no"
TL;DR The narrator tries to convince her former lover to take her back (either to bed or into a relationship). He was hurt when she left him but she tries to convince him anyway. She's a user who clearly hasn't changed from before, and so he says no.
Sorry to tell you that you are completely and wholeheartedly wrong here.
You can get a good idea for the albums theme if you really listen to what she says in "My Country"
This is an album of activism not emotions and songs of lost love. Pretty basically stated throughout the whole album too if you just pay attention to the mood and all of the songs.
Sorry to tell you that you are completely and wholeheartedly wrong here.
You can get a good idea for the albums theme if you really listen to what she says in "My Country"
This is an album of activism not emotions and songs of lost love. Pretty basically stated throughout the whole album too if you just pay attention to the mood and all of the songs.
I had such a hard time interpreting this for some reason but now that I've worked it out (I think), here's the analysis (with summary below):
This is about a woman trying to get back together with her former lover. First, she says to him that though she left him and scarred him, he should really just get over it. She says he'll be okay if he just toughs it out. She has changed into a better person, supposedly: "If I represent the one that did this to you Then can away the part that represents the thing that scarred you I say, Get up, stand up, get up, stand up, get on it Yessir, I am no longer who you thought this one would be"
She left him before but is now back to talking with him, saying that they can still work. They can still do 'the business' which is either the act of having sex or of settling in a relationship (the word 'business' threw me for a loop, but it's actually, cleverly, describing the transactional nature of their relationship; i.e. she's a user and so sees relationships as a user): "We end up around the mountain that I climb to lose you I said, I said give me the business that business could work through"
But when he confronts her on her reasoning, she falters because she doesn't really know why she wants him back (she doesn't know what she wants, or doesn't want to admit it): "I say, Ask me but all my wisdom departed"
And she doesn't listen to him, either. So they have communication problems. "Tell me but all my wisdom departed"
The chorus is the narrator's demand that they still maintain the relationship. Within this demand, she is 1) guilt-tripping him by telling him that 'you're the reason I'm living', 2) claiming that anything that went wrong is not her fault, and 3) revealing that she's addicted to something (sex? him? Is she just plain needy? or maybe she's literally a drug fiend.): "But help please at least answer me this, Answer me, answer me What's the business, yeah Don't take my life away / From a distance, yeah / I'm a victim, yeah / I'm addicted, yeah / Don't take my life away"
She says to look at everything from her perspective, but knows that doing so would 'lift up' and 'dig up' the past and doing so would hurt him: "If you just press your fingers down under my skin (Go on and do it) Lift up, dig up, lift up, dig up and bleed for me"
And she says she'll try to see things his way too but waits for him to ask. This tells me that she cares little for him and won't take the initiative to soothe him.
"I say, I'll bleed if you ask me I'll bleed if you ask me"
That's when he says no to everything she offered. It's all bullshit and he's had enough, "That's when, that's when, he said no"
TL;DR The narrator tries to convince her former lover to take her back (either to bed or into a relationship). He was hurt when she left him but she tries to convince him anyway. She's a user who clearly hasn't changed from before, and so he says no.
Sorry to tell you that you are completely and wholeheartedly wrong here. You can get a good idea for the albums theme if you really listen to what she says in "My Country" This is an album of activism not emotions and songs of lost love. Pretty basically stated throughout the whole album too if you just pay attention to the mood and all of the songs.
Sorry to tell you that you are completely and wholeheartedly wrong here. You can get a good idea for the albums theme if you really listen to what she says in "My Country" This is an album of activism not emotions and songs of lost love. Pretty basically stated throughout the whole album too if you just pay attention to the mood and all of the songs.