I don't think it's about a lover at all. Everything about the song, from the music box beginning to the nursery rhyme ending are screaming CHILDHOOD. Not only that, but specifically neglected childhood. First of all, "You don't want to hear about my good day." What's the first thing mom says when you get home from school? "How was your day sweetheart?"
Her mom never asked how her day was. She was probably depressed or something, and chose to wallow in her "bad day" rather than pay any attention to her daughter. So the narrator never had a chance to talk about her good day. And the song grows with her. When she's young "I took out the trash today" is a representation of her trying to please her mother, to get some recognition, by doing chores, because that's what the simple mind of a child would come up with.
As she gets older the general neglect continues. "Success is in the eye of the beholder" could be continuing with the theme of trying to please the mom and not being enough, but it could also be blaming the mom. Perhaps the narrator doesn't try to be successful because it's in "the eye of the beholder" which is the "truth and consequences" of the mom's neglect.
And now the narrator is realizing that the mom is just a bitch. And the next stanza is the narrator saying she's accepted it(ish) and is moving on (sort of). And the "I'd love to have you up to see the place" makes way more sense if she's talking about her mom. She's resentful at this point of everything her mom has put her through, and she wants to rub her success in the face of that adversity in her moms face.
The ending nursery rhyme not only ties back to her trashed childhood, but also her resentment of what her mom did.
Just my thoughts. Would love to hear your feedback!
I do agree with you, Girl Anachronism. First time I listened to this song I thought about my mom, haha. But anyway, I think it definitely IS about chilhood and something related to her mother.
I do agree with you, Girl Anachronism. First time I listened to this song I thought about my mom, haha. But anyway, I think it definitely IS about chilhood and something related to her mother.
I don't think it's about a lover at all. Everything about the song, from the music box beginning to the nursery rhyme ending are screaming CHILDHOOD. Not only that, but specifically neglected childhood. First of all, "You don't want to hear about my good day." What's the first thing mom says when you get home from school? "How was your day sweetheart?"
Her mom never asked how her day was. She was probably depressed or something, and chose to wallow in her "bad day" rather than pay any attention to her daughter. So the narrator never had a chance to talk about her good day. And the song grows with her. When she's young "I took out the trash today" is a representation of her trying to please her mother, to get some recognition, by doing chores, because that's what the simple mind of a child would come up with.
As she gets older the general neglect continues. "Success is in the eye of the beholder" could be continuing with the theme of trying to please the mom and not being enough, but it could also be blaming the mom. Perhaps the narrator doesn't try to be successful because it's in "the eye of the beholder" which is the "truth and consequences" of the mom's neglect.
And now the narrator is realizing that the mom is just a bitch. And the next stanza is the narrator saying she's accepted it(ish) and is moving on (sort of). And the "I'd love to have you up to see the place" makes way more sense if she's talking about her mom. She's resentful at this point of everything her mom has put her through, and she wants to rub her success in the face of that adversity in her moms face.
The ending nursery rhyme not only ties back to her trashed childhood, but also her resentment of what her mom did.
Just my thoughts. Would love to hear your feedback!
I do agree with you, Girl Anachronism. First time I listened to this song I thought about my mom, haha. But anyway, I think it definitely IS about chilhood and something related to her mother.
I do agree with you, Girl Anachronism. First time I listened to this song I thought about my mom, haha. But anyway, I think it definitely IS about chilhood and something related to her mother.