bare

[japanesebaby]

in the unofficial series of song analysis, this is one that Bloodflower and me once had planned to come next, yet somehow it got forgotten down the road... anyway, never too late to get up and go, so let's!

i think i've ultimately less to say about this than i had for instant about adonais/treasure complex. so this time someone else than me may start - Bloodflower would probably be the right "person of honor" to do it but i'm sure he'll come around sooner or later...
and let's not just categorize it in either "it's a great song" "naah it sucks" but see what we more can get out of it...

BARE

if you've got something left to say
you'd better say it now
anything but "stay"
just say it now
we know we've reached the end
we just don't know how
"well at least we'll still be friends"
yeah one last useless vow...

"there are different ways to live"
yeah i know that stuff
"other ways to give"
yeah all that stuff
but holding onto used to be
is not enough
memory's not life
and it's not love

we should let it all go
it never stays the same
so why does it hurt me like this
when you say that i've changed?
when you say that i've aged?
say i'm afraid...

and all the tears you cry
they're not tears for me
regrets about your life
they're not regrets for me
it never turns out how you want
why can't you see?
it all just slips away
it always slips away
eventually...

so if you've got nothing left to say
just say goodbye
turn your face away
and say goodbye
you know we've reached the end
you just don't know why
and you know we can't pretend
after all this time

so just let it all go
nothing ever stays the same
so why does it hurt me like this
to say that i've changed?
to say that i've aged?
say i'm afraid...

but there are long long nights when i lay awake
and i think of what i've done
of how i've thrown my sweetest dreams away
and what i've really become
and however hard i try
i will always feel regret
however hard i try
i will never forget

i will never forget

[Bloodflower]

Bare is an example of a song, for me, that has the rare distinction of being more than 'just' music. During a particularly... turbulent... time during my life, I started really listening to Wild Mood Swings. 'Bare,' as a song, encapsulates this relatively short period of my life perfectly.

It's the ultimate break-up song to me. Everything about it seems cynical and empty, both of which are demonstrated quite well by the last two lines of the first verse. These are the things everyone seems to say when a relationship is breaking down. They promise (uselessly) to remain friends nonetheless, but it's a rare thing for that to actually occur. For any two who shared a relationship of any measure of depth or intensity, the pain associated with seeing and interacting with the other person is too much. It's otherworldly.

Holding on to used to be is not enough / Memory's not life and it's not love is one of my favourite lines. There are too many people, and I have at times counted myself amongst them, who live for what they have done, rather than what they do. This applies not just to relationships (the way things used to be, but is no longer), but to many walks of life. Musicians whose best work is considered to be behind them (which I think might be what Robert was singing about), writers whose current works lack the intensity or importance of their previous works. It's a great 'has-been' line. I think a lot of us are guilty of living for the past, for something 'forever gone,' and I think this line really highlights that well.

We should let it all go / It never stays the same is kind of the logical thinking that one must stop now, that one is becoming less true and that whatever one is doing is just limping along. It's knowing that something can't be sustained, and that, from the current point, it's only going to get worse. It's euthanasia. There seems to be a reluctance, though, in the line We should let it all go. The narrator seems to know that it's wrong to keep going, but it's so difficult to draw the line and just end things. Because there always is that hope, that things will get better. And sometimes hope is a negative force.

And all the tears you cry / They're not tears for me / Regrets about your life / They're not regrets for me seems to be the narrator rejecting that the state of the other's life (the regrets) are the narrator's problem; it's the narrator rejecting the idea that he should care about all the tears s/he cries.

It all just slips away eventually is like trying to explain the euthanising of the relationship to the other. Trying to explain the motives. It's trying to justify things. Things are going to end, and if they keep going, they'll end more badly than if things were to be ended now. So let's just end it.

And you know we can't pretend after all this time reads like a defence against the other's objections. The narrator can't pretend, and neither can the other, that what they have now is equal to what they had. It's the "So why bother?" mentality.

But there are long, long nights when I lay awake
And I think of what I've done
Of how I've thrown my sweetest dreams away
And what I've really become

is probably the key verse for me. It's the process of wondering when and why the narrator allowed himself to throw away his idealism, his 'sweetest dreams.' I think everyone has these moments, when they feel disgust (or, more mildly, distaste) for what and whom they've become. Really, this verse is kind of out of place, or could be taken as such, within the context of the song. At least for me, it seems it could have fit elsewhere; because though the crumbling of the relationship spoken of in Bare could be part of this realisation of failure, it doesn't really seem dependent on the surrounding verses.

However hard I try / I will always feel regret / However hard I try / I will never forget is realising that certain things will just never go away. The narrator will always feel regret for things surrounding the events of Bare, and he won't forget them. It's in contrast to "Well at least we'll still be friends," because while the vow of friendship seems empty and made with the knowledge that it's untrue, none of that rings with the mournful vocalisation that the regret and memories will never be truly gone.

There are some songs that are more than just songs, and which are so intertwined with emotions and events, that one can't really step back and objectively critique it, because you can't separate the event from the music. For me, Bare is one of those songs.

[japanesebaby]

i think i have to receed  into listening to the song and then read this a few times more, to have something to add...

[mikmcc]

Whilst no in-depth analysis from me, Bare and How beautiful you are always seem similar to me, not lyrically (well a little bit - maybe the events in HBYA led to Bare!) or musically, but just how the music of each lends themselves to being such lovely feelgood songs, whereas the lyrics (whilst meaningful) make you realise that they are not so lovely after all.

I love the track, but not something you would play for a loved one except at a break up or a funeral - I wouldnt mind this at mine - hopefully the song will be a long long lost classic by then.

[Cure Freak]

Bloodflower said it all. It's the perfect break up song. So beautifully well versed.