☝️ Key Points
- The song is about a lonely woman waiting for her memories to fade away.
- She claims to have a self-created messiah.
- The woman is confused and disoriented, waiting for the Grim Reaper to come and take her away.
- It is speculated that she is either already dead or just an empty shell.
- The song describes her loneliness, confusion, and emptiness in her life.
Interpretation
The lyrics of the song "Bones" by
Tiger Lillies are about a lonely woman sitting in her village, waiting for her memories to fade away. She claims to have a messiah, but it's one she has already created herself.
The woman no longer takes shortcuts and no one is home in her village. At the end of summer, she suddenly disappears. When someone passes by her, she smiles and looks somewhat frightened. Daffodils bloom in her garden, but her mind is confused and disarrayed.
On good days, she can see clearly, but on bad days, she is barely conscious. She is waiting for the Grim Reaper to come and take her away.
Her doormat has been flipped up since Wednesday, since someone came to clean her apartment. Maybe she is now in a nursing home, or maybe she is just a bone.
The chorus repeats over and over again "Or perhaps she is just bone", which means that the woman may already be dead or just an empty shell. The lyrics of the song describe her loneliness, her confusion, and the emptiness in her life.