Wish You Well
Wish You Well: Echoes of Love and Loss in Mark Lanegan's Melodic Tale
Lyrics
He wrote a name
Expressing that someone wrote a name.
With the needle gun
Describing the act of using a needle gun.
In black and blue
Depicting the colors black and blue.
Your eyes are stone she said
Quoting someone describing another person's eyes as stone.
Beautiful and dead
Characterizing the eyes as both beautiful and lifeless.
And I wish you well
Expressing good wishes towards someone despite previous context.
I took a turn on this carousel
Reflecting on a turn taken on a carousel.
How long ago now, I never can tell
Uncertainty about the duration of past events.
I never stopped to wonder
Not pausing to contemplate or question things.
Maybe a morning, maybe, a thousand years
Reflecting on the passage of time, from a morning to a thousand years.
I only walk high wires
Metaphorically walking on high wires, suggesting a precarious situation.
Attend a needing
Attending to a need or desire.
The magnolia's dying
Describing the deterioration of a magnolia.
Long coarse and primitive
Characterizing something as long, coarse, and primitive.
I wish love, lord
Expressing a desire for love.
I wish love could live, forever
Wishing for the endurance of love.
What I once saw burning bright as hell, now here comes that weird chill
Contrasting a past bright experience with a current strange, unsettling feeling.
I don't stop to wonder
Reiterating a lack of contemplation or wonder.
Threaded a name
Describing the act of threading a name.
Through the needle's eye
Passing a name through the eye of a needle.
As a frame
Using the name as a frame.
Tied the ends and stitched it up
Tying and stitching the ends together.
And hung my head down and wept
Bowing down in sorrow and tears.
But I wish you well
Despite the previous context, wishing well for someone.
Who'll pray for the killer's sake
Pondering who will pray for the sake of the killer.
I used to be so wide awake
Reflecting on a past state of heightened awareness.
Like certain mornings
Comparing alertness to certain mornings lasting a long time.
That last a thousand hours
Continuation of the comparison from the previous line.
Long coarse and primitive
Reiterating the description of something as long, coarse, and primitive.
I wish love, lord
Expressing a wish for love.
I wish love could live forever
Wishing for the longevity of love.
I'm burning bright as hell, here comes that weird chill
Repeating the contrast between a past bright state and a current strange feeling.
But I wish you well
Despite the unsettling feelings, expressing good wishes for someone.
Your eyes are stone she said, truly beautiful and dead
Repeating the description of someone's eyes as beautiful but lifeless.
I wish you well
Reiterating good wishes despite the melancholic tone.
I want to ride on this carousel
Expressing a desire to experience a carousel ride.
But, I never really stopped to wonder
Reiterating the lack of contemplation or wonder.
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