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The Thing About Things

from There Will Be No Intermission by Amanda Palmer

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lyrics

I have loaned a lot of things to a lot of friends
Like dresses, and records, and books
And a lot of the time, I never see them again
And in a weird way I think that that works

Cos the thing about things is they start to turn evil
When you start to forget what they’re for
So if you’re not sure what you did with my sweater
I’ll just have to love you a little bit more

I had a ring that belonged to my grandfather
He was a Mason and gay
And he was distant and bitter for all of my childhood
We never had much to say

He wasn’t the type to give tokens of affection
So I stole the ring when he died
And then twenty years on, when I lost it in a bar
I thought “That’s fine, I don’t want him in my life”

Cos the thing about things is that they can start meaning things
Nobody actually said
And if he couldn’t make something mean something for me
I had to make up what it meant

I can carry everything I need in one collapsing suitcase
I can carry everyone I love in one phone application
Built to maximize the face time
Of the friends I’m bent on making

Actually, I want to be alone
To mourn the loss
Of what it cost

I think it’s a poem, and I think it keeps going
And I’ve borrowed and loaned lots of things
And three nights ago, in the bar where I lost it
The bartender gave me the ring

And I lay in bed with my phone in my hand
Thinking “What can I fix with which app?”
And I call my grandfather, but he doesn’t answer
And I have to make peace with that fact

Cos the thing about things is that they can start meaning things
Nobody actually said
And if you’re not allowed to love people alive
Then you learn how to love people dead

The thing about things is that they can start meaning things
Nobody actually said
And if you’re not allowed to love people alive
Then you learn how to love people dead

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from There Will Be No Intermission, released March 8, 2019

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Amanda Palmer Boston

performer, writer, giver, taker, listener, love-lover, rule-hater and co-founder of the Brechtian punk cabaret duo, The Dresden Dolls.

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