Buoy Don’t Float

So I spent the last few hours trying to interpret this song after I told Camellia and Tram that this is the song I want for my funeral. (This or All My Friends, which is also amazing.)

If you don’t know, the song is “Someone Great” by LCD Soundsystem. It–and the other songs on the CD–are pretty slow, but its amazing if you give it a chance.

Anyway, here are the lyrics:

I wish that we could talk about it,
But there, that’s the problem.
With someone new I couldn’t start it,
Too late, for beginnings.
The little things that made me nervous,
Are gone, in a moment.
I miss the way we used to argue,
Locked, in your basement.

I wake up and the phone is ringing,
Surprised, as it’s early.
And that should be the perfect warning,
That something’s, a problem.
To tell the truth I saw it coming,
The way, you were breathing.
But nothing can prepare you for it,
The voice, on the other, end.

The worst is all the lovely weather,
I’m stunned, it’s not raining.
The coffee isn’t even bitter,
Because, what’s the difference?
There’s all the work that needs to be done,
It’s late, for revision.
There’s all the time and all the planning,
And songs, to be finished.

And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
And it keeps coming,
Till the day it stops
(Repeat x3)
And it keeps coming,
(Repeat x7)
Till the day it stops.

I wish that we could talk about it,
But there, that’s the problem.
With someone new I could have started,
Too late, for beginnings.
You’re smaller than my wife imagined,
Surprised, you were human.
There shouldn’t be this ring of silence,
But what, are the options?

When someone great is gone.
(Repeat x8)

We’re safe, for the moment.
Saved,
For the moment.

I’m pretty sure it is about a loved one dying and the music video seems to agree. A lot of people think that the loved one is a mistress from an affair, but seeing how that detracts form its greatness I’m going to say that is wrong. =)

OK in the course of writing this I’ve changed my mind. I think it’s worth interpreting yourself, although feel free to ask me for my thoughts in person.