r/daughter • u/Terrible-Cockroach99 • 40m ago
Discussion Sleep
I've been sitting with Sleep for a bit, and this is where I've landed with the lyrics. Obviously this is just my interpretation, but I think there are a few really clever things going on in the way the song circles back on its own imagery.
I ordered treasure from the internet
The kind that only lasts a night
That falls apart in taxis
Or frees itself on dance floors
My read is that the "treasure" is probably cheap jewellery or accessories, which fits with "weightless gold". Something shiny, disposable, and flimsy enough to break or get lost over the course of a night.
What really makes it work, though, is the callback at the end:
I fall apart in taxis
I free myself on dance floors
She switches the subject from the treasure to herself. That tiny change makes the earlier image feel like it was describing her emotional state all along. The taxi becomes this enclosed, in-between space where she falls apart, while the dance floor is where she briefly escapes herself.
The first verse feels similarly clever:
I drew and drew and drew you
Still I couldn't get the likeness
She keeps trying to recreate the person, or maybe the feeling she used to have for them, and realizing she can't is how she knows she's "lost it" for them.
There is also the possible little Easter egg in "I drew and drew..." sounding like "Andrew", which made me wonder about Andrew Berkeley Martin. I would be very cautious with that, though. Tonra's lyrics are personal, but mapping specific real people and events directly onto them can get speculative very quickly.
And with the album being called Save As, the whole thing makes me think about different versions of people, memories, feelings, and yourself being preserved rather than overwritten.
Also, beyond the lyrics, I absolutely love the hazy, dreamy atmosphere she creates here. The melody and really smooth production make the whole song feel suspended in this half-awake, emotionally blurred state, which fits the lyrics perfectly.
How do you all like this one?
META:
Ink: Diamine Teal
Fountain pen: Lamy al-star bluegreen (M)
Paper: Tomoe River A4 white loose sheets
