I always loved loved, LOVED this song. I actually sung it around the house for about a month straight. I never really bothered to really even try to understand it.

Especially the line "I'm in love with your daughter. I want to have her babies.. so can I please?"

Any takes on this would be lovely.

Oh I love this song... So much...

This is definitely one that I haven't tried too hard to understand, simply because of that seemingly-out-of-place "I'm in love with your daughter..." business... But I'll do my best.

Well on the surface, it seems to be about feeling out of place in one's own life: "Somedays aren't yours at all." I think this is a sentiment most of us can relate to, as the narrator realizes. That's something I like about this song: the narrator 'wisely' explains a situation he was too foolish to avoid. (I'm an irony lover...) Without stating it explicitly, the narrator uses second-person point of view to express regret over a certain experience in their life. (Oh how I love second-person point-of-view)

The narrator bitterly explains how such experiences can change a person for the worse: "someone else's face, and its colder than yours...")

These experiences are unexpected, and their impact is not fully realized until it is too late: "They come in all quiet, sweep up, and then they leave." They are more powerful than time itself, and "stronger than the friends you try to keep."

Then comes that emotion-wrought "Don't, don't..." I've always thought of this as the narrator refusing the sympathy of the listener. He has made himself a recluse, as the person he had been before no longer exists. Perhaps to protect those who had loved him, he hides and urges them to leave him alone and move on.

Hmmm and then there's "I'm in love with your daughter." This confuses me... Its pleading desperation could reveal mental fragility, heartbreak, or regret in the contemplation of past events. Maybe the line just exists to serve as an example of a source of this array of emotion... I have no idea.

Okay now that I've babbled like an idiot, someone say something intelligent, please. Haha.

quote:

Originally posted by ThisIsHowItWorks:
Okay now that I've babbled like an idiot, someone say something intelligent, please. Haha.

you didn't sound like an idiot. that was really interresting.

i personally have no idea what this song is about. it's never really been one of "my" songs. But looking at TiHiW's take on things, it sounds veeery specific. It's not just a story, it seems to be one of those personalized historical character stories (like Oedipus, Virgin Queen, 2.99 Cent Blues, and, imho, Mary Ann).

I don't have any specific character in mind, but i think this is a somewhat solid theory! (you're thinking: "obviously, since you posted it. " I know you were. so shut up.)

ya know, i had a slight epiphany about this song a couple days ago! it might just be something that's a personal thing, though.

in the past, i loved this song because to me, it conveys such a strong, specific emotion that everyone has felt. "somedays aren't yours at all..." it's just so TRUE. but that "i'm in love with your daughter", wtf?

but the other day i was singing it right before my grandfather was about to visit, and i thought about it in a new light. see, his wife (my grandma) died last summer. and i thought about what his reaction would be to the song.

do you think that the narrator could be reflecting on the loss of a spouse? then those seemingly random lines tie in, as a memory of making the decision to spend their lives together.

this is just how i think of it, now. what do you guys think?

What if the narrator is male? By the way, my all-time favorite reg tune...

quote:

Originally posted by andreseng:
What if the narrator is male? By the way, my all-time favorite reg tune...

I always just assumed the narrator was male as well. I love that Regina assumes these different characters, and if she wants to be a man in one of her songs, than who's stopping her?

It also seems to make the most sense in context, you know? Otherwise, if we assume the narrator is female, it seems a little out of the blue.

Actually, this makes me want to take it in a whole other direction. Perhaps the narrator is female, and is wistfully speaking of someone she is in love with, but simply cannot have. I mean, does the fact that the narrator says, "I'm in love with your daughter," necessarily make him/her male? Now I'm contradicting myself. Oh well.

This song always makes me cry. Especially the very last part. It's so mournful and wistful and somehow wise. Like the narrator is kind of world-weary, and just tired.

quote:

Originally posted by almostspotless:
does the fact that the narrator says, "I'm in love with your daughter," necessarily make him/her male?

Aaah, now we're getting somewhere. But shouldn't you have said does the fact that the narrator says, "I'm in love with your daughter," necessarily make him/her male/female?

quote:

Originally posted by andreseng:

quote:

Originally posted by almostspotless:
does the fact that the narrator says, "I'm in love with your daughter," necessarily make him/her male?

Aaah, now we're getting somewhere. But shouldn't you have said does the fact that the narrator says, "I'm in love with your daughter," necessarily make him/her male/female?

So in other words, it's is an it? Deeeep.



For the sake of lack of confusion, I think I will continually refer to the narrator as the narrator.

There you go again. Always thinking of horses. No I doubt it was a gelding...

quote:

Originally posted by andreseng:
There you go again. Always thinking of horses. No I doubt it was a gelding...

Damn, you caught me!

I really like what good>perfect is saying about the line "I'm in love with your daughter" being a memory. I tried to convey a similar idea in my first post of the thread but I couldn't quite word it correctly.

But yeah, the emotion of the line is very fitting for the recalling of a memory that was joyous at the time, but has become painful.

Perhaps this song is from the perspective of the husband, Charles, from the classic Madame Bovary? Here's the wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Bovary

Just a thought..

quote:

Originally posted by Be like the water, people.:
Perhaps this song is from the perspective of the husband, Charles, from the classic Madame Bovary? Here's the wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madame_Bovary

Just a thought..

I'm not at all familiar with the work (so thanks for directing me to the Wiki!) but based on that synopsis it seems like a plausible theory. Sounds like a lot of days weren't his at all. Lol.

Clever.