You'll fight and you'll make it through...
Ok, so I was looking around at the lyrics to songs by Rilo Kiley, and I came across this "Song Meanings" site... so I started reading what people wrote... wasted away my evening... didn't agree with what they had to say... and ended up writing out my own interpretation of the song...
Lyrics:
A Better Son/Daughter by Rilo Kiley
Sometimes in the morning I am petrified and can't move
Awake but cannot open my eyes
And the weight is crushing down on my lungs
I know I can't breathe
And hope someone will save me this time
And your mother's still calling you insane and high
Swearing it's different this time
And you tell her to give in to the demons that possess her
And that god never blessed her insides
Then you hang up the phone and feel badly for upsetting things
And crawl back into bed to dream of a time
When your heart was open wide and you love things just because
Like the sick and dying
And sometimes when you're on
You're really fucking on
And your friends they sing along
And they love you
But the lows are so extreme
That the good seems fucking cheap
And it teases you for weeks in its absence
But you'll fight and you'll make it through
You'll fake it if you have to
And you'll show up for work with a smile
And you'll be better
You'll be smarter
More grown up and a better daughter or son
And a real good friend
And you'll be awake
You'll be alert
You'll be positive though it hurts
And you'll laugh and embrace all of your friends
And you'll be a real good listener
You'll be honest
You'll be brave
You'll be handsome and you'll be beautiful
You'll be happy
Your ship may be coming in
You're weak but not giving in
To the cries and the wails of the valley below
Your ship may be coming in
You're weak but not giving in
And you'll fight it you'll go out fighting all of them
Meaning:
A lot of people on the site said the song was "obviously" about depression or being bi-polar. I totally disagree. So yeah... I changed it a little and added some stuff, but this is pretty much what I said:
First, the beginning to this song is a dead on description of sleep paralysis. Your brain becomes alert while you are falling asleep (or waking up), but your body is paralyzed, like it is in REM. [If you want to know more: Wikipedia on Sleep Paralysis] ...Anyway, I have sleep paralysis a lot (unfortunately). It was these beginning lyrics that really pulled me into the song the first time I heard it.
Anyway, back to the song meaning...
To me this song is about losing your innocence and growing up. Your mom calls you on the phone, for the whatever-ith time, she has depression or mental health issues or abuses drugs or is an alcoholic or chronically bites her nails (whatever problem or habit you can relate the best), and she's wants your help... and promises she'll change, she'll be better if she gets one more chance. Up until then, you believed her, but over time she just hasn’t changed. You finally realize: she probably never will. You tell her that you can't do anything and she needs to give in and get help... Then you hang up and go back to bed. She’s still your mother and you still care about her, but you realize it's not your responsibility to look out for her anymore, she is beyond the level of help that you can provide.
Then the song moves on...
Everyone has days when they feel invincible, when they are on top of the world. Then again, there also seems to be a whole lot more days when it feels like the world is collapsing on them and they can’t do anything right (this can be depression, but it can also just be life) ..."But you’ll fight and you’ll make it through," and knowing that you are fighting and battling your torments (whatever they may be), "not giving in", will make you "better... smarter... more grown-up... a good friend... awake... alert... positive (even through the pain of the struggle)... a good listener... honest... brave... handsome... beautiful... happy." Even if you "fake it" and don’t "make it through", "you’ll go out fighting."
Life is an endless current of forces that you have no control over tugging and pulling at you...and these greatly outweigh the few forces you can control. If you give in, they will certainly pull you into the stream, but if you push back and battle upstream long enough, your "ship" will have more to get to you, or you might just reach your destination all on your own. And if you don't make it... atleast you'll be closer than when you started. The struggle is what makes you a better person...it's what makes you stronger.
To me, this song isn’t about being depressed, or being bi-polar, or illness... it’s just about life. Everyday.
Listening to it inspires me and makes me happy.
...Of course, when my mom heard it for the first time the first thing she said was, "You didn’t tell me you were going to play me a sad song. That was depressing." ...I didn’t know I had played her a sad song. haha. At the same time, she really like it, and wanted to listen to it again...
So maybe the beauty of the song and these lyrics is that everyone can relate to it, regardless of how they interpret it or how it makes them feel. ...It isn't a good song because it makes people feel a certain way. It's a good song because it makes feel.
So yeah... 500 words on what this songs means to me. ...If only writing about the culture of India and China was so easy... maybe I should get back to work.
Always,
Sarah
Lyrics:
A Better Son/Daughter by Rilo Kiley
Sometimes in the morning I am petrified and can't move
Awake but cannot open my eyes
And the weight is crushing down on my lungs
I know I can't breathe
And hope someone will save me this time
And your mother's still calling you insane and high
Swearing it's different this time
And you tell her to give in to the demons that possess her
And that god never blessed her insides
Then you hang up the phone and feel badly for upsetting things
And crawl back into bed to dream of a time
When your heart was open wide and you love things just because
Like the sick and dying
And sometimes when you're on
You're really fucking on
And your friends they sing along
And they love you
But the lows are so extreme
That the good seems fucking cheap
And it teases you for weeks in its absence
But you'll fight and you'll make it through
You'll fake it if you have to
And you'll show up for work with a smile
And you'll be better
You'll be smarter
More grown up and a better daughter or son
And a real good friend
And you'll be awake
You'll be alert
You'll be positive though it hurts
And you'll laugh and embrace all of your friends
And you'll be a real good listener
You'll be honest
You'll be brave
You'll be handsome and you'll be beautiful
You'll be happy
Your ship may be coming in
You're weak but not giving in
To the cries and the wails of the valley below
Your ship may be coming in
You're weak but not giving in
And you'll fight it you'll go out fighting all of them
Meaning:
A lot of people on the site said the song was "obviously" about depression or being bi-polar. I totally disagree. So yeah... I changed it a little and added some stuff, but this is pretty much what I said:
First, the beginning to this song is a dead on description of sleep paralysis. Your brain becomes alert while you are falling asleep (or waking up), but your body is paralyzed, like it is in REM. [If you want to know more: Wikipedia on Sleep Paralysis] ...Anyway, I have sleep paralysis a lot (unfortunately). It was these beginning lyrics that really pulled me into the song the first time I heard it.
Anyway, back to the song meaning...
To me this song is about losing your innocence and growing up. Your mom calls you on the phone, for the whatever-ith time, she has depression or mental health issues or abuses drugs or is an alcoholic or chronically bites her nails (whatever problem or habit you can relate the best), and she's wants your help... and promises she'll change, she'll be better if she gets one more chance. Up until then, you believed her, but over time she just hasn’t changed. You finally realize: she probably never will. You tell her that you can't do anything and she needs to give in and get help... Then you hang up and go back to bed. She’s still your mother and you still care about her, but you realize it's not your responsibility to look out for her anymore, she is beyond the level of help that you can provide.
Then the song moves on...
Everyone has days when they feel invincible, when they are on top of the world. Then again, there also seems to be a whole lot more days when it feels like the world is collapsing on them and they can’t do anything right (this can be depression, but it can also just be life) ..."But you’ll fight and you’ll make it through," and knowing that you are fighting and battling your torments (whatever they may be), "not giving in", will make you "better... smarter... more grown-up... a good friend... awake... alert... positive (even through the pain of the struggle)... a good listener... honest... brave... handsome... beautiful... happy." Even if you "fake it" and don’t "make it through", "you’ll go out fighting."
Life is an endless current of forces that you have no control over tugging and pulling at you...and these greatly outweigh the few forces you can control. If you give in, they will certainly pull you into the stream, but if you push back and battle upstream long enough, your "ship" will have more to get to you, or you might just reach your destination all on your own. And if you don't make it... atleast you'll be closer than when you started. The struggle is what makes you a better person...it's what makes you stronger.
To me, this song isn’t about being depressed, or being bi-polar, or illness... it’s just about life. Everyday.
Listening to it inspires me and makes me happy.
...Of course, when my mom heard it for the first time the first thing she said was, "You didn’t tell me you were going to play me a sad song. That was depressing." ...I didn’t know I had played her a sad song. haha. At the same time, she really like it, and wanted to listen to it again...
So maybe the beauty of the song and these lyrics is that everyone can relate to it, regardless of how they interpret it or how it makes them feel. ...It isn't a good song because it makes people feel a certain way. It's a good song because it makes feel.
So yeah... 500 words on what this songs means to me. ...If only writing about the culture of India and China was so easy... maybe I should get back to work.
Always,
Sarah