Corduroy?

To me it sounds alot like unresolved issues with a certain person.
Like maybe that person has done something to him and hes done putting up with it. Mostly cuz I've had that happen, and when I listen to that song it sounds alot like what a would say about it. But then that my interpretation.

take my hand, not my picture...

I always thought it was about the press getting to be too much.

The waiting drove me mad...you're finally here and I'm a mess
I take your entrance back...can't let you roam inside my head
I don't want to take what you can give...
I would rather starve than eat your bread...
I would rather run but I can't walk...
Guess I'll lie alone just like before...

I'll take the varmint's path...oh, and I must refuse your test
Push me and I will resist...this behavior's not unique
I don't want to hear from those who know...
They can buy, but can't put on my clothes...
I don't want to limp for them to walk...
Never would have known of me before...
I don't want to be held in your debt...
I'll pay it off in blood, let I be wed...
I'm already cut up and half dead...
I'll end up alone like I began...

Everything has chains...absolutely nothing's changed
Take my hand, not my picture, spilled my tincture

I don't want to take what you can give
I would rather starve than eat your bread
All the things that others want for me
Can't buy what I want because it's free
Can't buy what I want because it's free
Can't be what you want because I'm...

I ain't s'posed to be just fun
Oh, to live and die, let it be done.
I figure I'll be damned - all alone like I began...
It's your move now...
I thought you were a friend, but I guess I, I guess I hate you...



This is my take on the lyrics,It seems like its about a couple at the end of their ropes, but it's he who is the one who wants out knowing that it is very difficult.

"The waiting drove me mad...you're finally here and I'm a mess", He's waiting for an opportunity to tell her ... she's finally there and he doesn't know what or how to say it.

"I take your entrance back...can't let you roam inside my head", He's stunned when she enters and has to remind him self to say what he really wants to, not to let her affect his decision. "I take your entrance back" can also mean he wishes to take things back before they met.

"I don't want to take what you can give..." He doesn't want to accept what she has to offer, seems like they've entered a period of numbness.

"I would rather starve than eat your bread..." He would rather die then have her, lead him on to a life of what he thinks she has to offer, even though it sounds nurturing and enticing not to have to deal with all the pain.

"I would rather run but I can't walk..." He wishes he can move on with things, but he's drained emotionally and energy wise,he can barely survive.

"Guess I'll lie alone just like before..." He sees "life" without her and "alone".

"I'll take the varmint's path...oh, and I must refuse your test" So he refuses what she has insisted they do, even though it is so hard for him. He decides to take the way thats wilder and less secure, but he's anxious as well.

"Push me and I will resist...this behavior's not unique"
He tells her the more she persists, the more he becomes firm. That it's common "rebel" law.

"I don't want to hear from those who know...
They can buy, but can't put on my clothes...
I don't want to limp for them to walk..." Most likely there are some who have advised him what to do and are trying to make his decision based on their wisdom, but he wants to learn from his own experience. most likely there will be also people, who will even judge but they dont know how it is to be in his skin everyone is diffrent and handles situations diffrently.

"Never would have known of me before...
I don't want to be held in your debt...
I'll pay it off in blood, let I be wed...
I'm already cut up and half dead..." Obviously he feels that he owes her to the point he might have to pay in blood (marriage) and severing it something really hard or something he never thought he would ever do, where it cuts him to the point of being half dead

I'll end up alone like I began...

"Everything has chains...absolutely nothing's changed
Take my hand, not my picture, spilled my tincture"
" Every action has a reaction type thing, one thing leads to another all for a reason. Take me for what I am, not for what you imagine me to be, my blood is spilled for this cause already.


I don't want to take what you can give
I would rather starve than eat your bread

"All the things that others want for me
Can't buy what I want because it's free
Can't buy what I want because it's free
Can't be what you want because I'm... " All the things he wants come free in life which I'm assuming is LOVE and HAPPINESS, and what others want for him might not offer that.

I ain't s'posed to be just fun
Oh, to live and die, let it be done.

"I figure I'll be damned" whatever path he chooses he'll regret so let it be it.

- all alone like I began...
It's your move now...
I thought you were a friend, but I guess I, I guess I hate you

I'm glad you liked it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liR8Vpof3E4
This version of the song is very nice, I have cried sometimes while listening to it. I know...

By the way literal meaning of corduroy is a path built on marshes using sticks that cris cross. I'm assuming like a narrow path, rigid that is kinda weak and very easily to fall off.

rmc1981 wrote:

Whats this song about is it about fame?

That is the common interpretation, and my interpretation.

I agree, changed. Definately. The other doesnt make sense to me.
"The waiting drove me mad...you're finally here and I'm a mess
I take your entrance back...can't let you roam inside my head
I don't want to take what you can give...
I would rather starve than eat your bread...
I would rather run but I can't walk...
Guess I'll lie alone just like before..."

that verse is definately speaking to "fame" (as well as the rest of the song, but this definately introduces it).

"Everything has CHANGED...absolutely nothing's changed"
to me, its the "I am the same dude but the shit surrounding me is totally fucked up". IMO, this attitude is what caused PJ to want to make themselves "disappear" so to speak (to the mainstream anyway). After vitalogy, they were never the same popularity wise.

here is this down to earth, chilled out guy, pumping gas and playing clubs because he is passionate about music, and suddenly his passion changes his life forever so that he can never lead it the way he did before. That must be pretty hard to deal with in about 5 mintues time.

always presumed "take my hand not my picture" was about Beth staying with Eddie

this song is about a brown jacket

Beth and Eddie were together and fine in 1994 when the song was penned. On SNL Eddie even changed the lyrics for Not 4 You to "Small my table seats just two, me and Beth.." They separated in 2000 or so..when Parting Ways was written.

Not to discount the other interpretations in the slightest, but I've always thought this was definitely one of Ed's more straight forward.

The "fame sucks!" meaning has always been pretty clear to me, just as in Blood or Not For You, and I think it's one of Ed's greatest songs.

And no question about it, the lyric is "everything has CHAINS, absolutely nothing's changed". It makes much more sense that way, I have no idea why people don't grasp the meaning in that line. I've always taken it this way: when Ed was a nobody, he was wracked with feelings of self-doubt and worthlessness from time to time...and now he's a SOMEBODY, guess what? It's fuckin' worse!

The chains are those that restrict his ability to trust those around him and feel good about where and who he is...and they only got tighter now he's a famous rock star, absolutely nothing has changed.

I don't really see the "relationship gone bad" angle too much, though it's awesome if it means something to you in that sense. Ed and Beth were newlyweds when this song was recorded, you'd hope that they weren't already falling apart...