Thanks to the Locals

[Yosemite]

This poem is my fav from Violet. Thought it could be here

 

Thanks to the Locals

Spoiler

I ran away from you to Lake Arrowhead

I didn't tell you where I was going

I knew I had a 24 hour grace period before you were done making

your film

I went to an aa meeting

And my share read like a tale of a battered housewife

 

I felt everyone's eyes on me

The rehab kids in the back row stopped throwing spitballs at

each other and stared at me

I fucking hate my life.

 

I waited after the meeting in the parking lot for any of the

local ladies

to come up to me

Only one did, Kira.

"I don't really have much advice for you" she said

 

I was in over my head

out of my league

In the wrong place wrong season wrong time wrong face

and I knew it

But I din't know what to do

 

You asked me to marry you

You said your mother was dying and you couldn't fathom your

life without a woman in it.

 

I was tempted but it didn't seem like a good enough offer

I wanted more than that

even though I've never had anything.

Not one person to call if I changed my dollar in for quarters to

ask what they thought about it.

 

But there's always been just a little tiny piece of me inside

the size of a small slice of angel cake that knew

somewhere somehow

That I deserved better than someone like you.

 

So I got back into my truck in the dark

my little yellow pamphlet with two numbers on it that I would

never call crumpled up

Kira with her local area code and gratefully also her

sponsor, Gail from Palmdale.

 

I didn't feel better and I didn't use the numbers but I thought

that I had been very brave that I did the best I could, sharing

in a big room, tears streaming down my face in my high school

flannel

just to say

 

"The man that I love hates me.

But it would be easier to stay."

 

As the last person's lights flooded over my windshield

the night became very quiet

and I thought-

 

If I go back and I end it

How would I handle driving down your street and it becoming a

distant memory

not reality

no longer sweet.

Sweet the way it tastes in my mouth to say your name

sweet like when I was young, driving down those roads before we

were done

before any big battles were lost or won

unbeknownst to everyone

except for you and me.

 

As Sweet as a junkie's limited concept of love can be.

I thought cause u were clean u were a lot like me

wanting to be closer to something big and free.

But some people need their secrets

 

And now my greatest battle will be

this unchained melody

In my heart

From not having you next to me.

To shut the door on the past and step

blindly

into the abyss

no destination intact

the only direction set in the Compass - to move forward.

 

So I drove

back and forth

on the Rim of the World Hwy

and the beauty of its name reminded me

 

That I was beautiful

That some things are beautiful for no reason.

Not everyone needs to pretend to love their girlfriend just

because their mother is dying

or because they're afraid of a change in season...

 

Anyway

I don't have a pretty couplet to give resolution to this poem

nothing very eloquent to say

 

except that I was brave

and it would've been easier to stay

 

 

(exactly as seen as in 'Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass')

[Doll Harlow]

So I assume she's talking about Chase?  nvm

[Doin Time]

Me when the locals streamed Doin' Time:

[Rorman Nockwell]

Quote

You asked me to marry you

You said your mother was dying and you couldn't fathom your

life without a woman in it.

What a dick, seriously. Who the fuck says that?

Anyway, I actually think this is about Francesco because his mother died after a long illness in 2016, and he actually is a creative director for a film production company (which, incidentally, helped make the NFR 3-part mv).

Chase has only ever been in two movies or something and afaik his mother is alive and well.

[Doll Harlow]

4 minutes ago, RormanNockwell said:

What a dick, seriously. Who the fuck says that?

Anyway, I actually think this is about Francesco because his mother died after a long illness in 2016, and he actually is a creative director for a film production company (which, incidentally, helped make the NFR 3-part mv).

Chase has only ever been in two movies or something and afaik his mother is alive and well.

 

Good catch. I thought it may have been about Chase because he's an actor but this makes sense. Francesco also got engaged fairly quickly after he and Lana separated.

[Blue Ink]

4 minutes ago, RormanNockwell said:

What a dick, seriously. Who the fuck says that?

Anyway, I actually think this is about Francesco because his mother died after a long illness in 2016, and he actually is a creative director for a film production company (which, incidentally, helped make the NFR 3-part mv).

Chase has only ever been in two movies or something and afaik his mother is alive and well.

Exactly my thoughts. Idk why this just made me see him in a different (slightly better) way...

Although this portrayal of him isn't really flattering it seems like he isn't just an arrogant rich guy (as I thought) but he also had his demons when he was with Lana. 

[Rorman Nockwell]

8 minutes ago, Doll Harlow said:

 

Good catch. I thought it may have been about Chase because he's an actor but this makes sense. Francesco also got engaged fairly quickly after he and Lana separated.

 

Just now, BlueINK said:

Exactly my thoughts. Idk why this just made me see him in a different (slightly better) way...

Although this portrayal of him isn't really flattering it seems like he isn't just an arrogant rich guy (as I thought) but he also had his demons when he was with Lana. 

Also she says, "the man I love hates me" and it's very common to blame yourself when your partner cheats ... idk I just think it really has the Francesco vibe.

[Blue Ink]

Thanks for sharing the poem @sweetlikecinnam0n, I really liked that one. Something about Lana writing down her thoughts so unfiltered is very interesting. Definitely have to get that book soon

[Platinum Greenwich]

"not everyone needs to pretend to love their girlfriend just because their mother is dying"

 

i... have gone through something kind of similar to Lana here, which I have never given myself time or space to really think about in this perspective

 

so this hits different, for sure

[Anthony]

On 10/5/2020 at 2:25 PM, sweetlikecinnam0n said:

You asked me to marry you

You said your mother was dying and you couldn't fathom your

life without a woman in it.

 

How can a guy be so stupid as to say something like that?  

This poem is one of my favorites, although it is extremely sad.

[PARADIXO]

oh my god   

[Liz Taylor Blues]

Damn..... this is my favorite of the poems

[Creyk]

We needed this in audio format. This has so many powerful and hard-hitting lines. With her emotional delivery, it would be on the level of sportcruiser.

[Yosemite]

Still my favorite poem from Violet, really wish it was on the spoken-word record 

[Yosemite]

The last reply on this was mine but either way- this poem is so so so good!

It hit me right in my feelings. I kinda see why she might NOT want to have this on the spoken record but it really deserved to be there.

[WhiteHydrangea]

Wow, I really need to get the poetry book

[Dominikx4]

"thanks to the locals" - Ben & Ed when the Summertime Sadness remix hit #6 on the BB 100

[Yosemite]

This is still so good- never gonna forgive her for not adding this one to the spoken-word record

[American Whore]

On 8/27/2021 at 3:51 PM, Yosemite said:

This is still so good- never gonna forgive her for not adding this one to the spoken-word record

 

Maybe it was a bit too personal, not that the others weren't, but she just wasn't feeling this one being spoken? Idk lol

[bigspender]

On 10/5/2020 at 1:25 PM, Yosemite said:

This poem is my fav from Violet. Thought it could be here

 

Thanks to the Locals

  Hide contents

I ran away from you to Lake Arrowhead

I didn't tell you where I was going

I knew I had a 24 hour grace period before you were done making

your film

I went to an aa meeting

And my share read like a tale of a battered housewife

 

I felt everyone's eyes on me

The rehab kids in the back row stopped throwing spitballs at

each other and stared at me

I fucking hate my life.

 

I waited after the meeting in the parking lot for any of the

local ladies

to come up to me

Only one did, Kira.

"I don't really have much advice for you" she said

 

I was in over my head

out of my league

In the wrong place wrong season wrong time wrong face

and I knew it

But I din't know what to do

 

You asked me to marry you

You said your mother was dying and you couldn't fathom your

life without a woman in it.

 

I was tempted but it didn't seem like a good enough offer

I wanted more than that

even though I've never had anything.

Not one person to call if I changed my dollar in for quarters to

ask what they thought about it.

 

But there's always been just a little tiny piece of me inside

the size of a small slice of angel cake that knew

somewhere somehow

That I deserved better than someone like you.

 

So I got back into my truck in the dark

my little yellow pamphlet with two numbers on it that I would

never call crumpled up

Kira with her local area code and gratefully also her

sponsor, Gail from Palmdale.

 

I didn't feel better and I didn't use the numbers but I thought

that I had been very brave that I did the best I could, sharing

in a big room, tears streaming down my face in my high school

flannel

just to say

 

"The man that I love hates me.

But it would be easier to stay."

 

As the last person's lights flooded over my windshield

the night became very quiet

and I thought-

 

If I go back and I end it

How would I handle driving down your street and it becoming a

distant memory

not reality

no longer sweet.

Sweet the way it tastes in my mouth to say your name

sweet like when I was young, driving down those roads before we

were done

before any big battles were lost or won

unbeknownst to everyone

except for you and me.

 

As Sweet as a junkie's limited concept of love can be.

I thought cause u were clean u were a lot like me

wanting to be closer to something big and free.

But some people need their secrets

 

And now my greatest battle will be

this unchained melody

In my heart

From not having you next to me.

To shut the door on the past and step

blindly

into the abyss

no destination intact

the only direction set in the Compass - to move forward.

 

So I drove

back and forth

on the Rim of the World Hwy

and the beauty of its name reminded me

 

That I was beautiful

That some things are beautiful for no reason.

Not everyone needs to pretend to love their girlfriend just

because their mother is dying

or because they're afraid of a change in season...

 

Anyway

I don't have a pretty couplet to give resolution to this poem

nothing very eloquent to say

 

except that I was brave

and it would've been easier to stay

 

 

(exactly as seen as in 'Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass')

i can’t help but think this is the poem version of cinnamon girl.