Andrea Robinson

This is actually a sad song. It sounds like one of those relationships where your energies just don’t sync up. They both know it’s over: “I’m gonna miss you,” and “I wish you well,” but one just won’t allow the other to be powerful (the lion), perhaps because the strong, decisive, rather wild one wants to inject new thoughts and ideas into an otherwise rote and established routine. “No, we won’t let it into the house.” The wild one is trying to figure out how to make amends, “trying to get back to the start,” but it’s not happening. In the meantime, the other, perhaps more self-assured one has a direction and can’t be stopped, moving fast along life’s journey. I’ve been in relationships like this before, which is possibly why my eyes popped out of the socket when I saw the words (oh, well). But the one who knows what he’s doing is never going to let a lion into the kitchen. Not the second time, anyway.

I think the song/music video is a masterpiece in playing with what's hidden and what is shown. It points to the mysteries we're confronted with every day because we don't have the full picture. The same background posters reveal completely different messages and pictures depending on whether they are shot with a green tint or a red tint. I think this makes us examine whether or not we're getting the whole story in the media, whether we're consuming news or popular culture. The lyrics, like the background posters, alternate messages. Sometimes "I'm" trying to figure it out, and sometimes "you're" trying to figure it out; or, "I said I'd come, I promise I won't show." There is a constant, deliberate interplay of conflicted statements that shadow the truth. The video editing underscores that idea, revealing scenes and details out of sequence, removing and replacing the blood stains and weaponry at various times and purposefully ignoring the continuity issues that generally rule filmmaking. Ultimately, we'll figure out what's going on in our lives with or without the truth being revealed. Whether we're right or wrong, that's what we have to do.

To me, this song is about surrendering to love. Champagne is an interesting analogy, because it's a high-class drink enjoyed by the wealthy, but it also gives you an instant buzz and lets you release inhibitions in a spirit of celebration. She's saying that she is always thinking and dreaming about him, and gives into his advances (and into her feelings for him) all the time because his love is so complete and delicious that literally, the whole world fades away: "...leave it all tonight," and ""When there's nothing left except you and this..." I think it's a beautiful song, and speaks to the contentment of feeling so completely free with someone that you literally fall asleep counting his kisses.