josephine

josephine, by jakob dylan, has been on repeat in my car. i believe this is what the kids these days would call "my jam". at any rate, i am going to break it down for you.

you can see the complete lyrics HERE and i believe THIS is a video of the song, although at 7+ mins, it's too long.

so. back to breaking down the jam.

I feel pretty good.
I feel all right.
And I've been thinkin' maybe
I could spend the night.

hmm. okay, jakob. feeling pretty good and whatnot, but right away you can see what he's doing. he's "been thinking" that "maybe" he could have a sleepover. obsessive, much? see, normally, one would not "be thinking" about a "maybe". he's trying to be all casual, throw this on the table, but he's been thinking about it, so that negates the casual. creepy.

I know you've been sad.
I know I've been bad.
But if you'd let me
Make you ribbons from a paper bag.

so, this girl has been sad and jakob's been bad, and the construction here implies it's jakob's fault. sad -> bad. he concludes here with another creepy statements about cutting a paper bag to ribbons in her honor. yikes.

Josephine,
You're so good to me,
And I know
It ain't easy.
Josephine,
You're so sweet,
You must taste just like sugar & tangerines.

this is the chorus, and he starts with a pleasant, somewhat country-song reminiscent, apologetic thanks for her being good to him even though it's difficult. aww, how sweet. and speaking of sweet, here's where he gets creepy again: she "must" taste like sugar and tangerines. you MUST, not you DO. so what? HE DOESN'T KNOW. he doesn't know her taste, he's just guessing based on her sweetness, which is of course his perception (!!). what the hell, why is he wanting to spend the night with someone of whom he doesn't know the flavour?? creeeepy.

I won't make a sound.
Sleep on the ground.
When you wake I will
Drive you into town.

see? he's really getting his creep on now. he wants to spend the night... ON THE FLOOR. and, he won't make a sound? so, he's trying to spend the night, be unobtrusive, quiet, on the ground... why? because he's not supposed to be there! that thing about driving her into town confuses me a bit... maybe he's kidnapped her? haven't quite gotten that one yet, but i think maybe he's holding her against her will.

I missed your smile.
Your schoolgirl style.
But I never had much fun,
Maybe the very first mile.

okay, now he's throwing in the schoolgirl thing. she's a schoolgirl? that's pushing the creepy envelope. he missed her smile, didn't have fun... i am thinking he went to jail for a while. i don't get the whole "first mile" reference, but yeah, definitely locked up. or maybe locked up in himself? intriguing. creepy, sure, but... intriguing.

Josephine,
You're so good to me,
And I know
It ain't easy.
Josephine,
You're so sweet,
You must taste just like sugar & tangerines.

chorus again. still creepy.

Don't you know,
I watched you walkin' home from school.
Your friends on the old playgrounds.
You never looked so down.

this verse is harder, louder. jakob pushes the rhythm and the volume. he's angry. doesn't she know he's been watching? doesn't she know that he saw what her friends did to her, how they bullied or left or mocked or hugged (??) her on the old playground? he saw how sad they made her. doesn't she know??

Won't you come and help me with these cuts of mine?
I've disconnected my heart
And cut myself on the wires.

he immediately calms down, asks her to help him. he's cut, probably bleeding, from what he claims is a self-heartectomy. creepy, again. now, i do admire the poetry here - the image of him disconnecting his wired-up, robot heart, and then cutting his human hands on the wires. so, he's human with a robot heart, and he disconnected this robot heart, this heart that is not a true part of him... but in doing so, he's hurt himself. he's confused because he knows he has to turn off these feelings he's had for josephine, but doing so is painful. he's distanced himself a bit... he sees the cuts, but doesn't claim any pain from them. sociopath, much?

Josephine,
I know I was wrong.
I knew all along.
But I got so far from my home.
I never thought I'd be so lonesome.

here's the final apology. he admits wrong, admits knowing he was wrong. "but," he says.... "i got so far from my home." i'm thinking home as in home-self, home-base, not home as in place-i-grew-up. he moved too far from his home-self, moved out into the crazyplatz, and got terribly lonesome out in the crazy. a lonesome so great, he never thought possible. he couldn't stand the lonely... then he spotted her, with her friends, saw them pushing her into the lonely, too. so, even though he knew it was wrong, he obsessed over her until the point that crossed over into action. he kidnapped her, and now here they are - jakob, josephine, a paper bag, and a pair of scissors.

yikes.

Josephine,
You're so good to me,
And I know
It ain't easy.
Josephine,
You're so sweet,
You must taste just like sugar & tangerines.

...tangerines.