Okay so, I know this song is a little bit straight forward and probably doesn't need much interpreting, but I love this song and wonder what everyone else makes of it.

So yeah, post away!

P.S. Mod, you freakin rock!

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Obviously, the song is a new perspective on a museum. The narrator feels that the exhibits are 'imprisoned,' and deserve to escape and serve a less passive purpose.

So since its such a straightforward song, here's a question to keep discussion going:

Do you agree with the narrator (as I've interpreted her)? Do you think our masterworks should be preserved for prosperity, or used on a more personal level at the risk of their deterioration?

I love this song.
The line
"But the most special is the most lonely. God I pity the violins"

It's so true and the song just makes me think. I dont think I'll look at a museum the same. The comparison is just great.

I never really saw the song having a literal meaning. I always felt like shes making a comparison/metaphor to human nature.

That's an interesting idea, tallchick. So what do you think the statement about human nature is? I totally see how it could be argued that the song represents the way we as a society react to those things and people that we find most beautiful. Our attempts to honor them leave them imprisoned. However, this is one of the few songs where I actually prefer the literal meaning over the metaphor. I'm not sure why, but I do.

Edit: I was just listening to the song, this time focusing more on the tone than the lyrics, and I noticed that the urgency in regina's voice is really unusual. She's applying emotions to inanimate objects, and showing an almost unhealthy concern for their well-being. Maybe there's a point to be made there? Just a thought.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ThisIsHowItWorks,

quote:

Originally posted by ThisIsHowItWorks:
Edit: I was just listening to the song, this time focusing more on the tone than the lyrics, and I noticed that the urgency in regina's voice is really unusual. She's applying emotions to inanimate objects, and showing an almost unhealthy concern for their well-being. Maybe there's a point to be made there? Just a thought.

about the emotions being applied to inanimate objects: this always just struck me as a Regina-y thing to do. But, come to think of it, are there any other songs that do this?

i really love this song (awesome piano!). i've never thought much past the literal interpretation. i like the idea of the artwork being metaphorical, but i'm having trouble wrapping my head around the idea of that metaphor pertaining to human nature. i can't offer any brilliant alternative, but human nature, while certainly not out of characteer for Reg to write about (80% of her songs are just that lol), that's just not the vibe i get from this song.
But maybe i'm just missing it, because like i said, i've not put much thought into a deeper meaning for this piece.
Come back and enlighten me, Tallchick!

that's interresting, TiHiW, about the urgency. which actually leads me to further believe that this song is about something more, well, urgent than human nature... but what? who knows. maybe i'm just being picky...

i'm excited to follow this thread and see what everyone thinks of ATR!

quote:

Originally posted by Be like the water, people.:
i like the idea of the artwork being metaphorical, but i'm having trouble wrapping my head around the idea of that metaphor pertaining to human nature.

I know what you mean... It seems like there is some greater meaning, but I really don't know what it could be...

I'm starting to like the idea that the song is a character study of an individual who's extreme sensitivity has led them to develop an unnatural concern for the artworks. I'm sure that sounds like an over-the-top interpretation, but the vocal performance definitely lends itself to the idea, as do the lines about touching the sculpture. When I first heard those lines I thought of the end of Lord of the Flies, when Piggy shudders upon being touched by Ralph, as he has become so unaccustomed to something as natural as the human touch. The narrator of AtR is worried that the sculpture will suffer the same fate.

Wow that sounded really stupid and I'm surprised that I'm actually going to hit "Post Now."

^^not at all! i think it's an interresting idea, too. And it fits with Regina's catalogue: mentally disturbed (quirky, to say the least, nuts to say the worst) main character, speaking in first person, lacking someone else's perspctives on their behavior, so that it's presented as normal, and can, on a surface level, be written off as such.

anyway, i agree that that touching the sculpture could be an attempt at keeping the work "human", or "healthy".

quote:

Originally posted by Be like the water, people.:
i think it's an interresting idea, too. And it fits with Regina's catalogue: mentally disturbed (quirky, to say the least, nuts to say the worst) main character, speaking in first person, lacking someone else's perspctives on their behavior, so that it's presented as normal, and can, on a surface level, be written off as such.

anyway, i agree that that touching the sculpture could be an attempt at keeping the work "human", or "healthy".

Oh that makes me feel better! I really like what you're saying about the illusion that the behavior is normal... This wouldn't be the only song based around this concept. "The Flowers" comes to mind.

quote:

Originally posted by ThisIsHowItWorks:
Oh that makes me feel better! I really like what you're saying about the illusion that the behavior is normal... This wouldn't be the only song based around this concept. "The Flowers" comes to mind.

oo! good catch. i was thinking about Mermaid (naming houseplants), or even Fidelity, though i guess the "sounds" in the character's mind could just represent general confusion/white noise we all have kinda floatin' around in there. But the lines, "i hear in my mind all these voices/i hear in my mind all of these words..." while romantic, are still... a little disturbing. actually, it's strange to the point of making the desire to come into physical contact with a sculpture seem normal!

i hope someone contributes another idea. this song is so intriguing!

quote:

Originally posted by Be like the water, people.:

oo! good catch. i was thinking about Mermaid (naming houseplants), or even Fidelity, though i guess the "sounds" in the character's mind could just represent general confusion/white noise we all have kinda floatin' around in there. But the lines, "i hear in my mind all these voices/i hear in my mind all of these words..." while romantic, are still... a little disturbing. actually, it's strange to the point of making the desire to come into physical contact with a sculpture seem normal!

i hope someone contributes another idea. this song is so intriguing!

Me too! I love where this discussion is heading.

Your comments about Fidelity make me want to start a discussion of it. It sounds like your interpretation of the chorus differs ever-so-slightly from mine... I'll start that thread tomorrow if no one beats me to it because right now I should be getting ready for work.

i suppose i'll get on that thread now, unless you had your heart set on creating it.

EDIT: arrite, nevermind. i think someone more emotionally involved with this song should do those honors. I really don't have anything to say to kick things off. not much at all. i'll just join in the discussion once everyone else has started contributing. Any takers?

Hey guyss. haha

Okay I have to be honest. I knew I was meaning to reply to this thread but I couldn't quite come up with the words to communicate the way I deciphered this song so I avoided it for a little while..*ahem* a week.

Okay so I'll try today. I always loved the literal meaning as well but I always thought she was using personification in the song in some way.

I always seem to think of famous people/glorified people in our world when I hear this song. The way everyone is so fascinated by them and want to give them so much attention (put them in a museum for everyone to see) but in reality, they usually just want to be free from all of that. I don't want to use any specific examples but I'm sure we all can come up with a few dozen.

the way the song describes how "the most special are the most lonely" reminded me of that a lot. And the part where its like

"Masterpieces serving maximum sentences
It's their own fault for being timeless
There's a price to pay, and a consequence"

Kind of like. it's there own fault for being talented and releasing that but there is a price to pay which is being trapped. They keep trying to run away from all of the fascination the world has with them but it's too late.

Basically, sometimes when everyone is so fascinated with someone, it can drive them crazy. They kind of feel like they are in a museum "They're just public mausoleums--"

But in reality, while everyone thinks that they are so special, they really are the most lonely and the one with the most problems.


I know im going to read this over and be like "thats not exactly what I meant"

but oh well. I tried haha. I also really like the literal meaning and almost never think of the metaphorical meaning but every once in a while, when I feel like it, I kind of think of it this way. especially after MJ died or something like that.

quote:

Originally posted by tallchick:

but oh well. I tried haha. I also really like the literal meaning and almost never think of the metaphorical meaning but every once in a while, when I feel like it, I kind of think of it this way. especially after MJ died or something like that.

Yeah I thought of MJ the whole time I was reading your post! I really like what you're saying. Congratulations on successfully tying the song to a metaphorical meaning!

Not to sound like a jerk, but I'm curious as to where the description of the masterpieces as "the living dead" fits in. Maybe I'm just missing something obvious...

quote:

Originally posted by tallchick:
I always seem to think of famous people/glorified people in our world when I hear this song. The way everyone is so fascinated by them and want to give them so much attention (put them in a museum for everyone to see) but in reality, they usually just want to be free from all of that.

!!!!!

Bravo! you're brilliant! brilliant, i tell you!
i love this take on it! it fits so well!

And, in keeping with your thoughts (or your representation of them through a self-proclaimed flawed post), perhaps the different types of art represent the different types of celebrities!
"the most special/most lonely" are the violins. In glass coffins, the only sounds they make is coughing because they've forgotten how to sing.
Musicians are kind of the cream of the crop, celebrity-wise. Actors would be first, but it'd be hard for Jennifer Aniston or Denzel Washington to create a strong Japanese following (language barriers). Easily the most idolized are the musicians, considering fanbase, reactions, and mass appeal of their work.
"glass coffins".. (basically reiterating what Tallchick said) In our efforts to take what we want from the musicians/violins, we've forced them into a place of easy, albeit superficial, access. The musicians are in the public eye. the violins are also on display. But you can't make them be accessible while still allowing them to do what you loved them for in the first place. If you force a musician to be a celebrity, you're usurping their ability to produce anything genuine. at least having it come from the same place as the music that made them famous. And you can't lock a violin in a case without first separating it from the one who plays it, and therefore gives it the meaning you're displaying it /for/.
"they keep coughing": Sad attempts at doing what they're "meant" to do. (easier application to a violin, because people are more complicated. But we're thinking of the people in terms of their musicianship (lol).)
"they've forgotten how to sing"
Self explanitory lol

THIS IS TOO LONG! so irritating...
oh, and idk about the other forms of art mentioned, but the violins were the main ones, and i like the sudden similarity between Musicbox and All the Rowboats (assuming Musicbox is about musicians and "The Industry". Should i start the Musicbox thread? or has it "been done"?)

^ OMG yay i made sense!

i was so scared you guys were going to be like "whatt?" haha.

I totally see what you mean with the painting representing people perhaps

quote:

"glass coffins".. (basically reiterating what Tallchick said) In our efforts to take what we want from the musicians/violins, we've forced them into a place of easy, albeit superficial, access. The musicians are in the public eye. the violins are also on display. But you can't make them be accessible while still allowing them to do what you loved them for in the first place. If you force a musician to be a celebrity, you're usurping their ability to produce anything genuine. at least having it come from the same place as the music that made them famous. And you can't lock a violin in a case without first separating it from the one who plays it, and therefore gives it the meaning you're displaying it /for/.

Wow, This interpretation adds on to what I just said great. Especially the part about the glass coffins.

quote:

"they keep coughing": Sad attempts at doing what they're "meant" to do. (easier application to a violin, because people are more complicated. But we're thinking of the people in terms of their musicianship (lol).)
"they've forgotten how to sing"

wow I didn't even catch that. "they keep coughing" does reference to them sadly continuing to do what their meant to do even though they have lost the feeling.

I feel like everything kinda ties together now.

quote:

I feel like everything kinda ties together now.

yay! i was kinda scared i'd, like, piss you off by messing up your explanation lol