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ATC's Lyrical Discussion: Week 4


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Here's this weeks lyrics.

"Round Here" - Counting Crows

Step out the front door like a ghost

Into the fog where no one notices

The contrast of white on white.

And in between the moon and you

The angels get a better view

Of the crumbling difference between wrong and right.

I walk in the air between the rain,

Through myself and back again.

Where? I don't know

Maria says she's dying.

Through the door, I hear her crying

Why? I don't know

Round here we always stand up straight

Round here something radiates

Maria came from Nashville with a suitcase in her hand

She said she'd like to meet a boy who looks like Elvis

She walks along the edge of where the ocean meets the land

Just like she's walking on a wire in the circus

She parks her car outside of my house

Takes her clothes off,

Says she's close to understanding Jesus

She knows she's more than just a little misunderstood

She has trouble acting normal when she's nervous

Round here we're carving out our names

Round here we all look the same

Round here we talk just like lions

But we sacrifice like lambs

Round here she's slipping though my hands

Sleeping children got to run like the wind

Out of the lightning dream

Mama's little baby better get herself in

Out of the lightning

She says, "It's only in my head."

She says, "Shhh...I know it's only in my head."

But the girl on the car in the parking lot

Says: "Man, you should try to take a shot

Can't you see my walls are crumbling?"

Then she looks up at the building

And says she's thinking of jumping.

She says she's tired of life;

She must be tired of something.

Round here she's always on my mind

Round here I got lots of time

Round here we're never sent to bed early

Nobody makes us wait

Round here we stay up very very late

I can't see nothing, nothing

Round here

Catch me if I'm falling

Catch me if I'm falling

Catch me cause I'm falling down on you

I said I'm under the gun

Round here

Oh man, I said I'm under the gun

Round here

I can't see nothing, nothing

Round here

Okay, so I know it's mainstream, but it's a wonderful song and it's not in the Songfacts listing.

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This song always meant alot to me. Partly because i can relate to the song so eerily well, and partly because my name is Maria. (I've always loved my name, sheerly because it's been used in so many songs.)

I live in a small town. A VERY small town. But i used to live in Boston with my older sister when i was very young. I moved back in with my parents, back to small town America, when i was about 4, because my sister moved up to NH for a job opportunity. The "'round here" in the first part of the song makes me think of the small town i live in, and the surrounding area, which is also composed of small towns. the line "'Round here, we always stand up straight" makes me think of how when i was growing up, my family and most of my school used to get upset with me, because everyone knew everyone, and we were expected to act a certain way, but i never did, never could. people still expect me to act a certain way, and live a certain way. and i still can't.

"She says, "It's only in my head."

She says, "Shhh...I know it's only in my head."

But the girl on the car in the parking lot

Says: "Man, you should try to take a shot

Can't you see my walls are crumbling?"

Then she looks up at the building

And says she's thinking of jumping.

She says she's tired of life;

She must be tired of something."

i've been diagnosed with chronic depression for the past 2 1/2 years, but i've had it for about 7 years. this part of the song sort of epitomizes the breakdown i had right before i was diagnosed.

sometimes it feels like this song was written for me. i can almost hear my best friend sing this to me. the "round here" in the second part of the song makes me think of him, and how he was my escape from the "round here" of standing up straight and looking the same.

this is an awesome song. i love it.

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Great song, ATC! I never listened to the lyrics that closely so it was interesting to re-discover this song. I agree with the interpretations everyone else has: feeling different and not wanting to conform to what society wants. I love the line "Round here we talk like lions, but we sacrifice like lambs". Before I knew all the lyrics, I thought it was a clever line, but now I take it to mean that everyone talks about changing the way things are, but no one actually does it. It's something we're all guilty of, I guess.

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