"Giving this shakey voice some shade"

[AnotherHeartbreak]

The line in I have learned "I would love to live with giving this shakey voice some shade", what does this mean? Is Ed referring to his own voice, or whats the deal with that?

[McGerkey]

Well when he sings a bit higher his voice gets a bit shaky.

So the only thing this could possibly mean is that he wants to sing in a quivering falsetto into a bottle, quickly cap it, then place it somewhere on a beach, in the shade of a palm tree.

That is what the song is about.

You're welcome.

[Shardith]

You have totally clarified the meaning of this line, thank you thank you!! ;)

[IWakeUpStrange]

The song is pretty confrontational, so I think the meaning of the line depends on who he's confronting.

My interpretation leans towards it being another song about Steve's departure, and the line refers to giving his voice a break on stage when Steve would sing lead.

If you don't look at it being directly about Steve (which is entirely possible), it may just be about the desire to give his voice a rest from the fighting he seems to have been doing with whomever he's singing about.

:) elise

[AnotherHeartbreak]

Well when he sings a bit higher his voice gets a bit shaky.

So the only thing this could possibly mean is that he wants to sing in a quivering falsetto into a bottle, quickly cap it, then place it somewhere on a beach, in the shade of a palm tree.

That is what the song is about.

You're welcome.
Do you mean like the "cry" near the end of You Run Away? Because I honestly thought that was him riffing, and I think it sounds quite nice.

[designerfox]

Hmm, I was wondering about this one, too. I do love McGerkey's interpretation, though :D

[Shardith]

My first impression of the word shade is in terms of light and dark. A voice that's darker, more mature, with the weight of years and sad experiences that have transformed it. That's what I hear in this line.

[Suebee42]

I'm more confused by the "waving your candle sticks and your burnt hands" line. LOL!

[Shardith]

We might never know what the true meaning is in these mysterious lines ;)

[ProudMommy77]

We might never know what the true meaning is in these mysterious lines ;)

Which is the beauty of it all. Keeps us all wondering...

[Appleblossom28]

I'm more confused by the "waving your candle sticks and your burnt hands" line. LOL!

I thought that line was about steve holding his smokes in his hands. Or at lease that's my take on it.

[Suebee42]

I thought that line was about steve holding his smokes in his hands. Or at lease that's my take on it.

But how does that impress one's fans? LOL!

[Appleblossom28]

Wasn't that line after the spare me the parlor tricks? which I guess what his darker more brouder side. I dunno that song is confusing me;)

[Suebee42]

Yes, it's:

Spare me the parlor tricks
that impress your fans.
Waving your candlesticks
and your burnt hands...

[Amicustoall]

Isn't it WITH your burnt hands?

[designerfox]

Isn't it WITH your burnt hands?That's what I thought, too. I don't have any of my copies of AIGT here to check for sure. I did think, though, that whole part was talking about maybe trying too hard to impress "someone's" fans, and burning themselves on the metaphorical candles that they have been burning at both ends.

[AnotherHeartbreak]

Isn't it WITH your burnt hands?
In the AIGT booklet it says "Waving your candlesticks in your burnt hands".

[Amicustoall]

in makes sense too

[Otter]

When you (supposedly) live in someone's shadow, perhaps that person begins to look a lot like Lumiere...

http://disney-clipart.com/Beauty-Beast/characters/lumiere.gif

[Super Dave]

I'm more confused by the "waving your candle sticks and your burnt hands" line. LOL!

My interpretation is that the burnt hands indicate the tricks are not that good, get old quickly or have been done over and over again.

Dave

[designerfox]

My interpretation is that the burnt hands indicate the tricks are not that good, get old quickly or have been done over and over again.

DaveAh, good one. That makes sense.

[Cynful1]

My interpretation is that the burnt hands indicate the tricks are not that good, get old quickly or have been done over and over again.

Dave

Ah yes, you are brilliant! I don't care what the others say, I like you. :)

[Appleblossom28]

My interpretation is that the burnt hands indicate the tricks are not that good, get old quickly or have been done over and over again.

Dave

That's what I was thinking too. Makes sense to me.

[garyrulez]

Good analysis, Dave. How about the "your fans" line? I'm curious about the distinction between BNL's fans and fans of JUST Steve.

I speculate Ed may have been referring to a very small group of specific people with that comment.

[gottobethere]

I think this song is definately about Steve and the line about "known unknowns" is from Donald Rumsfelds weapons on mass destruction speech before invading Iraq, we all know Steve was completely against this and wrote about it in his songs which drew the band some slack.

[Kawltie]

Good analysis, Dave. How about the "your fans" line? I'm curious about the distinction between BNL's fans and fans of JUST Steve.

I speculate Ed may have been referring to a very small group of specific people with that comment.

I was thinking about this too. I think after the drug arrest and all the publicity surrounding it, BNL fans and others were divided on whether or not Steve was a bad person. I remember people reacted either with, "Oh it was just a mistake, people have ups and downs" or "He's a horrible person, how could he do such a thing?" Also, after the split, of course there were people saying that BNL couldn't go on without Steve. So, maybe he meant the fans that were there to take "his side" when everything went down?

[JaneInANutshell]

I always thought she "shaky voice" line implied a need to speak out about being wronged, i.e. he wishes he could just let it be and move on, but feels he can't live with himself unless he "gets it off his chest", so to speak.

[WeedMage]

This is my favorite song on AIGT. I think it's all about Steve and Ed's relationship. I think it's in part, Ed admitting he misses Steve.

No, don't know everything
There's known unknowns
Opens the song - just as a statement to set it up as - Ed saying "here's my opinion"

Spare me the parlor tricks That impress your fans
Waving your candlesticks In your burned hands
How 'bout getting burned from burning the candle from both ends? And playing with fire?

I have learned to live with livin' with Every choice we made
But I would love to live with giving this Shaky voice some shade
They've made alot of decisions together - good and bad - and whether or not you regret them you learn to live with them. Including the choice to go forward without Steve. But going forward without Steve is not without consequence.

I don't think you're comfortable Until you're not
When things get wonderful You get hot
An opinion on Steve being bored with things until things get uncomfortable?

Can you forgive me for What I had to do?
I'd use a metaphor But I'm done with you
Whatever it was that forged the split - I've heard them talk about songwriting together and how hard they worked at clever lyrics - and that it was likely fairly competitive to impress each other - this seemed like a release from that. Not that either one, on their own, won't still work hard at song writing (and do it quite well),

Same sun Same fun Whole new World
This is ALL about moving forward with the four member BNL

Ok, so there's my opinion - take it or leave it :)

[ProudMommy77]

WeedMage, I think that was a brilliant take on the song. "I Have Learned" is one of my favourite songs on the album, too, quite possibly tied with "Four Seconds".

I always love to hear people's interpretations of what the song is about!

[EdsGal]

The song is pretty confrontational, so I think the meaning of the line depends on who he's confronting.

My interpretation leans towards it being another song about Steve's departure, and the line refers to giving his voice a break on stage when Steve would sing lead.

If you don't look at it being directly about Steve (which is entirely possible), it may just be about the desire to give his voice a rest from the fighting he seems to have been doing with whomever he's singing about.

:) elise

That's exactly what I think it means. I really love that song!

[Threedaughters]

Isn't it WITH your burnt hands?

I think it's IN YOUR BURNT HANDS Don't have my liner notes right now but I'm pretty sure that's it. Right now, it's my favorite song on AIGT. How about "THERE'S KNOWN UNKOWNS", great line. Just a gritty rock song with a great guitar lick.