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February 1, 2006

Under the Weather and Interpreting

I thought I'd try something a little different for the next few posts. Instead of putting up some long, rambling piece, I'm going to break down the interpretive process and go step-by-digressive-step. Besides, I'm feeling a tad sickly, and I just don't have it in me to do a lengthy post right now.

Might be crap. Might be fun. Won't know until we try.

So. I mentioned a post or 2 back that I'd spend some time thinking about the connections (or the lack thereof) between the Wintergreen song, "When I Wake Up," and the video for the song (directed by Keith Schofield), which features the tragic tale of the ill-fated E.T. game for the Atari 2600.

Here goes. You can play along at home!

Step 1: Assemble materials. I already posted links to the video, but I don't have the song lyrics. And, since Wintergreen is a relatively new band (their first EP was only recently released), Googling turns up no lyrics online. Which means listening to the song in snippets and taking dictation. Ugh.

Step 1a: Realization of daunting task. Hmm. At first glance, it seems that the lyrics really don't have anything at all to do with gaming, E.T., Atari, the year 1982, or landfills in Alamagordo, New Mexico. This suggests to me that I'll probably have to treat the video and the lyrics and the music separately, and then try to find some sort of commonality.

Step 1b: Post transcribed song lyrics. Since I'm going to have to dive into the lyrics, I would normally print them out and then scribble all over them. In the interest of legibility, however, and to help the folks playing the fabulous Home Version, I'll post them here. Okay, done.

Wintergreen -- "When I Wake Up"

At 10 past 9,
A feeling that's hard to define
I pass you by
And wonder what you have to hide
So I
Get drunk
Enough
To care
I stare and I'm waiting to find her

At 10 till 1
And I've lost track of everyone
My friends are gone
There's no one here to rely on
And all that
We share
We breathe
The same air
You take my hand
And there's no turning back now

And when I wake up
You're wearing makeup
You are leaving everything that we had behind
It doesn't make sense
But it makes no difference
The way you looked at me made it feel alright

So I lay in bed
Knowing I've been so misled
Just let it go
Tomorrow I won't let it show
It's never
Too soon
To meet Again
In the wind I am floating like paper
It's 10 to 1

And when I wake up
You're wearing makeup
You are leaving everything that we share behind
It doesn't make sense
But it makes no difference
The way you looked at me made it feel alright

When I wake up
You're wearing makeup
You are leaving everything that we share behind
It doesn't make sense
But it makes no difference
The way you looked at me made it feel alright

Step 1c: Begin pondering the song lyrics. Hmm... seems like one of those "upbeat-depression" songs I like so much. (Bonus for me!)

NEXT: Annotating the song lyrics. (Ooooh, ahhh!)

Posted by reparent at February 1, 2006 5:53 PM

Comments

Posted by: Liam at February 2, 2006 10:37 AM