The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Blue Valentines" by the artist "Tom Waits"

Contents

1. The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Blue Valentines" by the artist "Tom Waits"
2. The original lyrics of the song - "Blue Valentines"

The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Blue Valentines" by the artist "Tom Waits"

In Tom Waits' "Blue Valentines," the blue valentines sent from Philadelphia represent a painful past that the lyrical protagonist tries to escape.

Received annually, they serve as a stark reminder of a past love and broken promises. They haunt him like a "warrant for his arrest," forcing him to constantly look over his shoulder and change his name.

The "ghost" of his former lover is described as a "stone in his shoe" and a "thistle in a kiss"— a constant irritant preventing him from moving on. Despite the protagonist's desire "to stay free," the memories, like a "dead weight," pull him back. He acknowledges that he can never "wash away the guilt" and "the bloodstains from his hands."

"Blue Valentines" is a bitter admission of the inability to outrun the past and forgive oneself. The protagonist is doomed to relive the pain repeatedly, "dying a little each Valentine's Day."

The original lyrics of the song - "Blue Valentines"

She sends me blue valentines

All the way from Philadelphia

To mark the anniversary

Of someone that I used to be

And it feels like a warrant

Is out for my arrest

Baby, you got me checkin' in my rearview mirror

That's why I'm always on the run

It's why I changed my name

And I didn't think you'd ever find me here

To send me blue valentines

Like half forgotten dreams

Like a pebble in my shoe

As I walk these streets

And the ghost of your memory

Baby, it's the thistle in the kiss

It's the burglar that can break a rose's neck

It's the tatooed broken promise

I gotta hide beneath my sleeve

I'm gonna see you every time I turn my back

Oh, you send me blue valentines

Though I try to remain at large

They're insisting that our love must have a eulogy

Why do I save all this madness

Here in the nightstand drawer

There to haunt 'pon my shoulders

Baby, I know I'd be luckier

To walk around everywhere I go

With this blind and broken heart

That sleeps beneath my lapel

Instead these blue valentines

To remind me of my cardinal sin

I can never wash the guilt

Or get these bloodstains off my hands

And it takes a whole lot of whiskey

To make these nightmares go away

And I cut my bleedin' heart out every night

And I'm gonna die just a little more

On each St. Valentine's day

Don't you remember I promised I would write you

These blue valentines

Blue valentines

Blue ValentinesShe sends me blue valentines

All the way from Philadelphia

To mark the anniversary

Of someone that I used to be

And it feels just like there's

A warrant out for my arrest

Got me checkin' in my rearview mirror

And I'm always on the run

That’s why I change my name

And I didn't think you'd ever find me here

To send me blue valentines

Like half forgotten dreams

like a pebble in my shoe

As I walk these streets

And the ghost of your memory

Is the thistle in the kiss

And the burglar that that can break a roses neck

it's the tattooed broken promise

That I hide beneath my sleeve

And I see you every time I turn my back

She sends me blue valentines

Though I try to remain at large

They're insisting that our love

must have a culogy

Why do I save all of this madness

In the nightstand drawer

There to haunt upon my shoulders

Baby I know i'd be luckier to walk around everywhere I go

With a blind and broken heart that sleeps beneath my lapel

She sends me blue valentines

To remind me of my cardinal sin

I can never wash the guilt

Or get these bloodstains off my hands

And it takes a lot of whiskey

to make these nightmares go away

And I cut my bleedin' heart out every nite

And I die a little more on each St. Valentine Day

Remember that I promised I would write you these blue valentines

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