So You Are Tired
Echoes of Love Lost: Unraveling the Meaning in Sufjan Stevens' 'So You Are Tired'
Lyrics
So you are tired of us
Expressing weariness or fatigue with the speaker
So rest your head
Suggesting the listener to find solace and relaxation
Turning back fourteen years
Reflecting on events from fourteen years ago
Of what I did and said
Contemplating actions and words from the past
So you are breathing disaster
Acknowledging a current state of turmoil or chaos
I did what I was told
Complying with instructions or societal expectations
But I was a man born invisible
Describing a feeling of invisibility or being overlooked
Was it something I said or some kind of joke?
Pondering if a remark or action caused a negative reaction
So you are tired as the sun
Comparing weariness to the setting sun
Are you with or without a friend?
Asking about the listener's current state of companionship
Bring me back everything caught in your shield
Requesting the return of everything protected by a shield
Let everything else descend
Allowing the descent of everything else
So you are seething with laughter
Expressing intense laughter or amusement
Was it really all just a joke?
Questioning if past experiences were merely a joke
I was a man indivisible
Portraying a sense of indivisibility in the past
When everything else was broke
Remaining whole when everything else was broken
So you are tired of even my kiss
Conveying weariness even of intimate gestures like a kiss
So go back to your den
Advising the listener to retreat or withdraw
Throwing out everything left in your field
Discarding things left in one's metaphorical field
When there was nothing left to defend
When there was nothing left worth defending
So you are dreaming of after
Indicating a focus on what comes after a current situation
Was it really all just for fun?
Questioning if past experiences were for mere enjoyment
I was the man still in love with you
Asserting love even when the outcome was known
When I already knew it was done
Acknowledging the realization that it was over
So you are tired of me
Repeating weariness with the speaker
So rest your head
Reiterating the suggestion to find rest
Turning back all that we had in our life
Looking back at the entirety of the shared life
While I return to death
Indicating a return to a state resembling death
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