Operation: Drewing Around. Installment Four: Let it Lie
Operation: Drewing Around
Installment Four: Let It Lie.
The Song:
No, I have no idea what the video is about. But they used Let it Lie so I'm linking to it! ^^
In one sentence, what's going on?
He knows he made a mistake because she reacts by shunning him/clamming up, but he doesn't understand why she's so mad, and she just doesn't want to talk about it.
Why do you love it?
I love how Drew clues us on on who is talking (the girl or the guy) using pitch and tone. Also, isn't this such a universal theme? Something ticks you off and you get so mad just thinking about it that you definitely do NOT want to talk about it... and your significant other can't figure out why you're so pissed off and keeps prodding wanting to know. Now flip the roles: your girlfriend/boyfriend is mad, and you know it's your fault, you just can't talk it over with them to get past it.
I really like the remix version of this song, up to the point where he repeats the chorus a couple of times, because the vocalizations there on the original acoustic version are better in my opinion. This was the first song my brother learned after Rescued.
Drew uses some neat turns of phrase in this song that you don't usually hear.
So explain.
Flying alone in row Z
I see her ten in front of me*
sleeping peaceful
a million miles from the present madness of things
Cultural Note: When someone says they are “flying solo” it means that they are single. Also, which you probably know, row Z is the back of the plane. The whole idea of a plane in this song is just a metaphor for social standing. Sitting at the very back of the plane, not in a relationship, he sees “her” (the girl) in front of him.
I originally heard this line as “I see her ten in front of me”, that is, ten seats in front of him. In the social metaphor, she is out of his reach. She is higher class. My brother insists the line is “I see a 10 in front of me” which leads me to my next Cultural Note. “A 10” is a guy's way of saying a beautiful woman; a perfect 10/10 on the attractive scale. Both of them get the same point across: he has noticed, is in love with, someone that he considers to be “above his station”. (An aside here. Drew is so sweet. He would think this about his girl.)
She is “sleeping peaceful”, unlike him, caught up in the “present madness of things”.
but Sister Sadness came
and drew my pen to paper
gotta write me out of this
My brother understands this line as “I, by my own hand, put myself into this situation” (drew my pen to paper). “Sister Sadness” you can understand as a way of saying 'unfortunate circumstance'. We haven't learned yet what that is. He tells us in the second half. The last line is something he says to himself: “I wrote myself into this situation, I have to write myself out of it!”
Poetry geek moment: pen to paper, as well as Sister Sadness, are too great examples of alliteration.
not too long ago
she'd have been back here kissing me
Now we learn what he messed up. They used to be together; now they are in very different places. He is dealing with the aftermath.
tonight she says
I don't wanna talk
so let the truth lie
I don't wanna speak
'cause coming clean just makes you cry
I don't wanna try
to get anywhere else tonight babe
let me say my goodbyes and let it lie
This chorus is genius. Just listen to how Drew changes his voice between falsetto and headvoice. It lets you know who is talking - the girl or the guy. Whenever he sings “I don't want to talk” it's the girl; the lines “so let the truth lie” and “cause coming clean just makes you cry” are both him. The last three lines are also the girl.
So what is happening in this chorus? The situation is that he did something that annoyed or offended her, something that brought them to this break in their relationship. He doesn't know what it is, though, or at least, he doesn't understand why it makes her mad. He knows that if they don't talk it over, things will not improve between them; instead, they will get worse. He doesn't want that to happen; she is his life, and really pretty too. ;) At least in his eyes! So he wants to talk it over, to find out where he went wrong, to come to an understanding. To clear the air.
But she has no interest in talking about it because “coming clean just makes you [the girl] cry” - she will react emotionally and would rather ignore it. At least, for now. Maybe they can discuss it later but she doesn't want to “try to get anywhere else tonight”.
I'm not sure about the line “let me say my goodbyes”. Perhaps they were out for the evening at a party or a gathering; she is saying, “let's just leave, and no, I don't want to talk about it now.” That is the title of the song: let it lie.
Cultural note: let it lie references the line “let sleeping dogs lie” which is “don't talk about it if you don't have to.” Let it be.
water never looked so good
till you're down on the desert floor
scraping around for a taste of what you always took for granted
The basic premise here is “you don't realize how much you need something till you lose it.” In this case, it's his closeness with her, their relationship. He didn't realize how dependent he was on it, until their relationship is strained and he's fighting for just a little bit of the feeling from her he used to get all the time. What makes this section even more powerful is that he compares her to water. Just as humans can't live without water, he can't live without her.
from the back of this plane
the pressure of pain will drive us to the sea
unless you wake for God's sake and talk to me
The plane metaphor is back! What could be worse than being in the back of a plane, metaphorically speaking, in a relationship? Being “driven to the sea”.
English idiom time! To be “all at sea” is to be chaotic, disorganized, without direction. Unless she talks to him about whatever it is he did that pissed her off, this is the direction they're headed: straight into nowhere where they don't understand each other. (And, I imagine, break up.)
still she says
I don't wanna talk
so let the truth lie
I don't wanna speak
cause comin clean just makes you cry
I don't wanna try
to get anywhere else tonight babe
let me say my goodbyes and let it lie
Despite his (logical) argument, she hasn't changed her position. (Don't we all know what it's like to just not want to talk about it?)
Anything else?
Oh! Let and Lie both start with the L, so you've got alliteration right in the title and chorus. Also the repetition of the long “i” sound (lie, cry, try, bye, lie) always on an open note is good stuff!
Installment Four: Let It Lie.
The Song:
Click to viewNo, I have no idea what the video is about. But they used Let it Lie so I'm linking to it! ^^
In one sentence, what's going on?
He knows he made a mistake because she reacts by shunning him/clamming up, but he doesn't understand why she's so mad, and she just doesn't want to talk about it.
Why do you love it?
I love how Drew clues us on on who is talking (the girl or the guy) using pitch and tone. Also, isn't this such a universal theme? Something ticks you off and you get so mad just thinking about it that you definitely do NOT want to talk about it... and your significant other can't figure out why you're so pissed off and keeps prodding wanting to know. Now flip the roles: your girlfriend/boyfriend is mad, and you know it's your fault, you just can't talk it over with them to get past it.
I really like the remix version of this song, up to the point where he repeats the chorus a couple of times, because the vocalizations there on the original acoustic version are better in my opinion. This was the first song my brother learned after Rescued.
Drew uses some neat turns of phrase in this song that you don't usually hear.
So explain.
Flying alone in row Z
I see her ten in front of me*
sleeping peaceful
a million miles from the present madness of things
Cultural Note: When someone says they are “flying solo” it means that they are single. Also, which you probably know, row Z is the back of the plane. The whole idea of a plane in this song is just a metaphor for social standing. Sitting at the very back of the plane, not in a relationship, he sees “her” (the girl) in front of him.
I originally heard this line as “I see her ten in front of me”, that is, ten seats in front of him. In the social metaphor, she is out of his reach. She is higher class. My brother insists the line is “I see a 10 in front of me” which leads me to my next Cultural Note. “A 10” is a guy's way of saying a beautiful woman; a perfect 10/10 on the attractive scale. Both of them get the same point across: he has noticed, is in love with, someone that he considers to be “above his station”. (An aside here. Drew is so sweet. He would think this about his girl.)
She is “sleeping peaceful”, unlike him, caught up in the “present madness of things”.
but Sister Sadness came
and drew my pen to paper
gotta write me out of this
My brother understands this line as “I, by my own hand, put myself into this situation” (drew my pen to paper). “Sister Sadness” you can understand as a way of saying 'unfortunate circumstance'. We haven't learned yet what that is. He tells us in the second half. The last line is something he says to himself: “I wrote myself into this situation, I have to write myself out of it!”
Poetry geek moment: pen to paper, as well as Sister Sadness, are too great examples of alliteration.
not too long ago
she'd have been back here kissing me
Now we learn what he messed up. They used to be together; now they are in very different places. He is dealing with the aftermath.
tonight she says
I don't wanna talk
so let the truth lie
I don't wanna speak
'cause coming clean just makes you cry
I don't wanna try
to get anywhere else tonight babe
let me say my goodbyes and let it lie
This chorus is genius. Just listen to how Drew changes his voice between falsetto and headvoice. It lets you know who is talking - the girl or the guy. Whenever he sings “I don't want to talk” it's the girl; the lines “so let the truth lie” and “cause coming clean just makes you cry” are both him. The last three lines are also the girl.
So what is happening in this chorus? The situation is that he did something that annoyed or offended her, something that brought them to this break in their relationship. He doesn't know what it is, though, or at least, he doesn't understand why it makes her mad. He knows that if they don't talk it over, things will not improve between them; instead, they will get worse. He doesn't want that to happen; she is his life, and really pretty too. ;) At least in his eyes! So he wants to talk it over, to find out where he went wrong, to come to an understanding. To clear the air.
But she has no interest in talking about it because “coming clean just makes you [the girl] cry” - she will react emotionally and would rather ignore it. At least, for now. Maybe they can discuss it later but she doesn't want to “try to get anywhere else tonight”.
I'm not sure about the line “let me say my goodbyes”. Perhaps they were out for the evening at a party or a gathering; she is saying, “let's just leave, and no, I don't want to talk about it now.” That is the title of the song: let it lie.
Cultural note: let it lie references the line “let sleeping dogs lie” which is “don't talk about it if you don't have to.” Let it be.
water never looked so good
till you're down on the desert floor
scraping around for a taste of what you always took for granted
The basic premise here is “you don't realize how much you need something till you lose it.” In this case, it's his closeness with her, their relationship. He didn't realize how dependent he was on it, until their relationship is strained and he's fighting for just a little bit of the feeling from her he used to get all the time. What makes this section even more powerful is that he compares her to water. Just as humans can't live without water, he can't live without her.
from the back of this plane
the pressure of pain will drive us to the sea
unless you wake for God's sake and talk to me
The plane metaphor is back! What could be worse than being in the back of a plane, metaphorically speaking, in a relationship? Being “driven to the sea”.
English idiom time! To be “all at sea” is to be chaotic, disorganized, without direction. Unless she talks to him about whatever it is he did that pissed her off, this is the direction they're headed: straight into nowhere where they don't understand each other. (And, I imagine, break up.)
still she says
I don't wanna talk
so let the truth lie
I don't wanna speak
cause comin clean just makes you cry
I don't wanna try
to get anywhere else tonight babe
let me say my goodbyes and let it lie
Despite his (logical) argument, she hasn't changed her position. (Don't we all know what it's like to just not want to talk about it?)
Anything else?
Oh! Let and Lie both start with the L, so you've got alliteration right in the title and chorus. Also the repetition of the long “i” sound (lie, cry, try, bye, lie) always on an open note is good stuff!