Paint by The Paper Kites Lyrics Meaning – An Eloquent Musing on Memory and Melancholy
Lyrics
It’s cold on the floor, cold on the floor
This house has never been the same as before
It’s never felt warm, never felt warm
There’s something moving through the windows and walls
I’ve seen it before, seen it before
You left me living with a lingering soul,
how little you know, how little you know
We were standing at the foot of a path
I had to go back, had to go back
I chose to travel as a lonely man
So much that I lacked, so much that I lacked
I’m always wishing I was walking that road
It’s something I hold, something I hold
I take it with me all the places I go
How little you know, how little you know
I only eat to fill me up
I only sleep to rest
I need a love just like you gave
I haven’t found it yet, found it yet
See where I am is where I’m wanting to be,
I know what I need, know what I need
And there are many different places to see
I know how to dream, know how to dream
Still there’s a wound and I’m moving slow
Though it don’t show, though it don’t show
I’ve got a hole where nothing grows,
How little you know little you know
I only eat to fill me up
I only sleep to rest
I need a love just like you gave
I haven’t found it yet, found it yet
Maybe we’d marry and we’d work it out fine,
In some other time, some other time
And we are happy when I’m walking that line,
It’s all in my mind, all in my mind
I paint the ceiling so that nobody knows
I cover it slow, cover it slow
It’s like you’ve never even met me before,
How little I show, little I show
The Paper Kites, an indie folk band known for their evocative storytelling and poignant melodies, strike a resonant chord with their song ‘Paint.’ As a hauntingly beautiful piece that delves deep into the troves of one’s psyche, the song delicately mirrors the maze of human emotions.
Through ‘Paint,’ listeners are carried along a stream of consciousness that explores themes of loss, longing, and the elusive nature of affection. It’s not just another forlorn ballad but a canvas where The Paper Kites intricately outline the complexities of the human heart.
The Lingering Soul of Disenchantment
The opening lines of ‘Paint’ reverberate with a chilling overtone of finality – ‘We were trying, but we’re trying no more.’ In the echoes of these words, The Paper Kites capture a stark cessation, the kind that follows a long fight against the irreparable. The cold floor is a stark metaphor depicting the remnants of warmth that once existed within the confines of a relationship, a warmth that has long dissipated, leaving behind a spectral hollowness.
The imagery painted is one of a dwelling transformed into a mausoleum of memories, with ‘something moving through the windows and walls’ suggesting the omnipresence of the past. It is the residue of presence, haunting in absence, and the ‘lingering soul’ that the protagonist struggles with – a constant reminder of what has been lost and the void that no amount of physical warmth can fill.
The Road Not Taken: Echos of Regret and Resignation
In the quest for understanding, the song presents a trail not followed, a path overshadowed by what-ifs. A touch of Robert Frost’s ‘The Road Not Taken,’ the second verse is a reflection of self-imposed solitude, a choice borne out of necessity or fear, ‘I chose to travel as a lonely man.’ Here, The Paper Kites may allude to the paradox of choice and the inevitable regret that accompanies the roads we leave untraveled.
‘I’m always wishing I was walking that road,’ is an admission of this regret. The path, both literal and metaphorical, haunts the protagonist. A constant companion in their wanderings, the road is a metaphor for the life they might have led, the decisions they could have made, and the love they might have fostered.
A Heart’s Unfulfilled Hunger: Love as Life’s Essential Sustenance
Within the lyrics of ‘Paint,’ a simple yet profound revelation emerges: the basic sustenance of love. Reducing existence to the mere acts of eating and sleeping underscores the narrators’ void – the hunger for an affection that is as sustenance, as essential as food or rest.
The repeated lines ‘I only eat to fill me up, I only sleep to rest’ draw attention to the mechanical nature of life devoid of love. These lines are an elegy to love lost; the kind of love that once energized the soul and made life more than just a series of motions. ‘I need a love just like you gave’ becomes the refrain of the starved heart, a heart that recognizes the intrinsic value of the love it once held and now pines for.
The Song’s Hidden Message: The Invisibility of Emotional Scars
At its core, ‘Paint’ is a masterful exhibition of camouflaging pain. As The Paper Kites sing ‘I paint the ceiling so that nobody knows,’ the act of covering one’s true feelings becomes an art. Much like the Sistine Chapel hides the rough stone above, the protagonist’s façade masks the internal turmoil.
Flaying layers of denial and pretense, this line reveals the lengths to which individuals go to obscure their emotional scars from the world. The desire to appear unscathed by the travails of love losses is poignantly captured here, as the protagonist chooses to shield the true extent of their despair.
Memorable Lines: The Poignancy of What Could Have Been
The lyrical gem, ‘Maybe we’d marry and we’d work it out fine, In some other time, some other time,’ crystallizes the essence of ‘Paint’ – it is a retrospective reverie on alternate endings. This line is the epitome of the song’s heartache, the reflection on a different outcome had circumstances been altered.
The dream-like state of ‘And we are happy when I’m walking that line, It’s all in my mind, all in my mind,’ showcases the thin boundary between happiness and its mere illusion. Reality dissolves into the mental canvas where the protagonist sketches the life that never was, but could have been – an illusionary solace.
