Swingset Chain Lyrics
The penny-drop that broke her arm
The monkey bars that you fell from
The swingset chain that stuck with my tongue
It's thirty below and we're far gone
If you plant yourself here I wouldn't miss you for long
But then comes the day when you leave town
I'm back to the way I was when you weren't around
I'll tell you first, it was way too quiet
It rained a hundred nineteen days of the year
I spent my time falling down the stairs
I know I can't tie you to a leash
But something tells me you'd go further than Greece
And then I'll have to figure out what to do
I'm kind of afraid I'm co-dependent on you
Before momentum picked up
Now all these doors are locked
The trees trick you 'cause they're always standing still
But time is really racing by - you can see it when you drive
A couple of bars where we're not allowed
The roller-skates that threw you on your face
The park on the hill which was our only space
The fog is fast and it rolls right in
About the time I struck my first fifth of gin
I really don't mean to complain too much
But this is turning me into quite the lush
But to do what?
Should I stop and think of that?
Is there something I could do to slow it down?
Live in a day for once
Instead of watch it screaming by
That flies through the air
And lands randomly
Then disappears
x2
Before momentum picked up
Now all these doors are locked
The trees trick you 'cause they're always standing still
But time is really racing by - you can see it when you drive
I think it's about a girl who grew up and spent her childhood with a guy. Eventually they got together and things were going great until he moved away (from the sound of it, he's one of those guys that needs to move to new places to 'discover himself').
The song picks up after he's left home and come back a few times. The narrator mentions how uneventful("I'll tell you first, it was way too quiet") and depressing ("It rained a hundred nineteen days of the year") her life becomes when he's gone and how she wishes she could make him stay permanently. However, she acknowledges that he will eventually travel to different parts of the world and knows she can't do anything about it.
All she knows is that whenever he's around they have an amazing time together and have all sorts of mischievous fun ("A couple of bars where we're not allowed"). It's so amazing that she wishes she could slow down time just to be together for longer.
However, she has reached the point in her life where she begins to wonder why she wants to stop time because she knows that he will inevitably leave again. But despite this fact, she is still committed to stop things from changing even though she acknowledges that while certain things seem stuck in time (trees) the fact is that time flows past us ("you can see it when you drive").
it almost sounds like a troubled relationship and she is reminiscing on the times where everything was fun and carefree, where they were happy together and that she’s happy with him but now something’s different, things have changed and the "moving away" is a metaphor for the distance that is becoming between them, she feels as though her boyfriend is as far away as Greece, and time is running out: possibly another metaphor for her patience or love. She tells him what it’s like when he’s not around she feels it’s raining all the time, nothings worth it and she realises she can’t “tie him to a leash” but she hates the distance that has been created, he is a part of her life now and she’s afraid of what she’ll do without him. There’s another use of metaphors in the second verse “now all these doors are locked” perhaps she’s locking the door to her heart? She’s closing herself off from him because she doesn’t want to hurt anymore. she calls him a dandelion seed, basically saying she doesn’t know where he’ll stop one moment he’s there for her the next he’s nowhere to be found perhaps he moves onto someone better For a very upbeat song it is quite the sad one, the burning out of a once fiery love.
this song makes me nostalgic. i'm guessing it's about having to grow up and going through changes..??
"I'm freaking out that we're running out of time But to do what?"
I like this line. It points out how we look forward to having time, free from work maybe. But when we finally get that time we want, we have no idea what to do with it.
"I'm freaking out that we're running out of time But to do what? Should I stop and think of that? Is there something I could do to slow it down? Live in a day for once Instead of watch it screaming by"
I like this part of the song, it basically says: You can never slow down time or whats to happen.
This song has lots of meaning in it, i mean...it sounds like -to me- that after being with someone for years, they finally move.. far away, and you dont know what to do because life wont be the same without this person... Im in a similar situation....someone i know is moving...and the chances of seeing him again are slim...because of his depression...so much shit...=[ anyway yeah. I LOVE this song right now...
I agree with the moving-far-away thing. So nostalgic, and so much melancholy in it.. This song is beautiful, I love it...
This song is basically about girl who's friend moved away just as it seemed that they were getting closer. So now she misses him so much she doesn't know what to do without him....she's a little lost s/o him.
I really like this song, for some reason it reminds me of my childhood, nothing to do with missing someone, just remind me of my childhood. Weird huh?
I think that bigspoon has the meaning pin-pointed pretty well. I love this song so much, and I hate that it's not very well-known. It's amaaazing.
"And then I'll have to figure out what to do I'm kind of afraid I'm co-dependent on you" That's probably my favorite line.
Dude.
I graduated from high school this June, and tomorrow I'm moving 3 hours away from the place I've lived my whole life to go to college. Today my best friend moved, yesterday another did, a week ago another did, a month ago another, etc. I'm going to miss my friends so much that, in the midst of other graduates screaming exclamations of excitement about college, I couldn't care less.
I'm freaking out that we're running out of time.
Kylee recently explained on the band's blog the story behind the song and what inspired her to write it.
"My best friend Kari lives in Minnesota. We grew up together in MN, three doors down from each other. When I moved to California, it broke both of our hearts a little. Then she moved to Chicago for college. We spent eight years only seeing each other maybe once or twice a year. And then, to my delight, she moved to San Francisco and lived right down the street from me again. But it was not to last. The pull was too great for her to go back to Minneapolis, and that's when I wrote this song, with a broken heart."
http://loquatisaband.blogspot.com/2010/02/time-for-some-show-and-tell.html