The Day Our Voices Broke
Whispers of Love and Loss: The Day Our Voices Broke
Lyrics
State your age, your first and your second name
Asking for personal information: age and names.
Kvetch as we make up
Complaining while reconciling.
Then fill the loving cup
Celebrating by filling a cup with sawdust and hazelnuts.
With sawdust and hazelnuts
Symbolic elements suggesting a peculiar celebration.
The more you struggle the less you know
Struggling leads to less understanding, with a caveat.
(Unless you don't)
A parenthetical note on exceptions to the struggle.
Your dum-dum Italian gaze will shape my day
An Italian gaze affecting the speaker's day.
I paint the cellar walls with cowboys and animals
Creating imagery on cellar walls with cowboys and animals.
I never wanted to go!
Expressing reluctance about leaving.
And though the distance grows
Noting the increasing distance between two individuals.
Now we're both living on our own
Both individuals now living independently.
When the morning's dark I pull you to my heart
Seeking comfort in dark mornings by holding the other.
Night might make us bold
Night encourages boldness, contrasting the day of a significant event.
But we choked the day our voices broke
Choking signifies a crucial moment when their voices broke.
And with an elbow and a knee we part
Physical separation with an elbow and a knee.
By the light of the stove you take me down
Descriptive scene lit by the stove, depicting intimacy.
With the lines of your pen and collarbone
Exploring intimacy through pen lines and collarbones.
We're softer than our words
Softness and lightness emphasized in their connection.
We're lighter than the birds
Comparing their lightness to birds, possibly caged in a roost.
That I would trap in the roof where we would roost
Reflecting on a shared space and trapping birds.
Ma douce
Addressing someone affectionately as "ma douce" (my sweet).
Your dum-dum Italian gaze will shape my day
Reiteration of the impact of an Italian gaze on the day.
I paint the cellar walls with magpies and matadors
Cellar walls painted with magpies and matadors, introducing new imagery.
I never wanted to go!
Reiteration of not wanting to leave.
And though the distance grows
Repeating the theme of increasing distance.
Now we're both living on our own
Confirmation of both individuals living independently.
When the morning's dark I pull you to my heart
Seeking solace in the dark morning by pulling the other close.
Night might make us bold
Night brings boldness but contrasts with the day of their voices breaking.
But we choked the day our voices broke
Reiteration of the pivotal moment when their voices broke.
And with an elbow and a knee we part
Physical separation with an elbow and a knee.
And though the distance grows
Repeating the idea of increasing distance.
Now we're both living on our own
Reiteration of both individuals living independently.
When the morning's dark I pull you to my heart
Continued seeking of comfort in dark mornings.
Night might make us bold
Night encourages boldness, echoing the contrasting day.
But we choked the day our voices broke
Reiteration of the significant day when their voices broke.
And with an elbow and a knee we part
Final physical separation with an elbow and a knee.
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