A lullaby for those sleeping alone tonight

This week’s lyric lullaby is a little ditty called "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" which is preformed by the ever-soothing Postal Service. I know I know, the last post was similar, very dark and sad and filled with anger. But the melody to this song isn't as saddening, it is slow but the Postal Service has a way to make a slow song get your heart beat going, they have a way to get you revved up whether you realize it or not.

When I first heard their cd Give Up, I was immediately put into a state of sadness and heartbreak. I am guilty of what I expect is a common crime: I would sing this song without really realizing what the lyrics were about. I had guessed and just assumed that it was about breaking up, about an end to a relationship. Upon researching I found that most people supported my first impression of the lyrics but when I was faced with the lyrics on paper it hit me. It is about loss but I don't think it’s about a failed love but rather a family relationship that has ended due to death.

Smeared black ink... your palms are sweaty
And I'm barely listening to last demands
I'm staring at the asphalt wondering what's buried underneath
Where I am
Where I am

I'll wear my badge... a vinyl sticker with big block letters adherent to my chest
That tells your new friends I am a visitor here...
I am not permanent
And the only thing keeping me dry is
Where I am
Where I am
Where I am

You seem so out of context in this gaudy apartment complex
A stranger with your door key explaining that I am just visiting
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving
Why I was the one worth leaving

D.C. sleeps alone tonight

Where I am
Where I am
Where I am

You seem so so out of context in this gaudy apartment complex
A stranger with your door key explaining that I am just visiting
And I am finally seing
Why I was the one worth leaving
Why I was the one worth leaving

Where I am
Where I am
Where I am

The district sleeps alone tonight after the bars turn out their lights
And send the autos swerving into the loneliest evening
And I am finally seeing
Why I was the one worth leaving
Why I was the one worth leaving
Why I was the one worth leaving
Why I was the one worth leaving

We are introduced to this story by the line "Smeared black your palms are sweaty and I'm barely listening to last demands." This line becomes important to my theory, in that last demands refers to listening to a will and the division of a person’s estate and final wishes. The next line about staring at the asphalt is quite telling -- I think naturally when someone is buried you find yourself wondering about what’s “buried underneath”. “Where I am” is then echoed in the back as if a ghost is singing them, which leads us to "I"ll wear my badge a vinyl sticker with big block letters…that tells your new friends I am a visitor here I am not permanent." This line conjures up the image of having one of those 'Hello, my name is' stickers assigned to you. I think in this situation someone might wear one of those only because they're at a place where they have to check in, like a nursing home or maybe a senior living resort. The singer is separated from a loved one because of a falling out or neglect. The only thing “keeping [him] dry” or not crying is because he is in a public place (aka where [he] is). Then follows the best line in the song “You seem so out of context gaudy apartment complex.” Here is what I feel as a flood of remorse ---to have someone you love put in reduced circumstances and you haven’t been able to save them. Maybe it’s a biker dude uncle stuck with uppity senior living home with nurses writing cheesy notes on the doors. The singer realizes what most of us have difficulty admitting that someone could be better off without us –maybe the family member left as a result of the falling out, maybe it’s worth passing on to whatever lies beyond, maybe the family member died out of spite even. “D.C. sleeps alone tonight” automatically suggests the city is now one less of an important figure, unless D.C. are the initials of the singer now alone. The district or the singer is drinking alone after the death until he is kicked out of the bar. He leaves drunk and in this state, the singer blames the deceased causing him to drink and drive because he has just suffered through the “loneliest evening.” Intoxicated, the singer realizes on these streets that he may have a drinking problem, and “why he was the one worth leaving.”