Fresh Strawberries Lyrics
Fresh burst of red strawberries
Ripe, turning riper in the bowl
We will soon be rotten
We will all be forgotten
Half remembered rumours of the old
Something to believe in that could
Give us more
Than here’s my work
So where’s my pay
To buy what I don’t need?
Wouldn’t it be easy to believe?
Everybody steals
I believe there’s nothing to believe
But I’d love the manual
The instruction manual
Oh, liars
Swear that they never lie
Something to believe in that could
Give us more
Than here’s my years
So now they’re gone
It’s time for me to leave
Wouldn’t it be easy to believe?
Fresh burst of red strawberries
Ripe, turning riper — so…
Something could give us more
But I don’t know
No I don’t know
I don’t know what I need
Wouldn’t it be easy
Couldn’t it be easy
Shouldn’t it be easy
To believe
I think it's about aging. With "fresh strawberries" perhaps representing children and the following paragraphs describing aging and thus being unimportant.
@Hgaudguad I'll buy that. I think you're onto something. I don't know if you're familiar with the album that this song is on. "Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action." If you are then maybe you've heard Alex Kapranos mention the "repair manual" in the song "Treason! Animals." He uses that phrase when he's explaining to his friends that "something has really really gone wrong." He tells them to come over and bring the "repair manual." In "Fresh Strawberries" he mentions the "instruction manual." Maybe it's just me but could he be talking...
@Hgaudguad I'll buy that. I think you're onto something. I don't know if you're familiar with the album that this song is on. "Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action." If you are then maybe you've heard Alex Kapranos mention the "repair manual" in the song "Treason! Animals." He uses that phrase when he's explaining to his friends that "something has really really gone wrong." He tells them to come over and bring the "repair manual." In "Fresh Strawberries" he mentions the "instruction manual." Maybe it's just me but could he be talking about the Bible? I think your interpretation may well be pretty accurate but I'd like to know what you think about the 2nd verse. The stuff about thieves and liars and the instruction manual.
I agree with what you're saying about the aging thing but the lyrics, "wouldn't it be easy to believe" should be addressed. I think he may be talking about the majority of people in the civilized world who wake up each day, go to work, get paid, buy stuff, pay bills, repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I don't know if he's speaking for himself, or if he's speaking for the mass work-a-day multitudes, but a lot of these people want something more out of life than a job they hate. Yet, maybe it's not so easy for them to believe in a higher power like God. There are lyrics to other songs by Franz Ferdinand, like "Evil Eye" that make me think they don't believe in God. So is Alex Kapranos projecting his personal opinion into the personalities of these people who want more out of life?
Am I even close? Does anyone have Alex's number?
Interesting interpretation. I'm a big fan of the band so I'm familiar with the album. Hm... the bit about the manual is very strange, and that's something I couldn't really figure out with this particular set of lyrics. I think you've hit it bang on with the repair manual being the Bible. Then that verse practically means: "Thieves and liars believe they've done nothing wrong. I have no opinion on that, but I'd love to see the Bible's say on the matter."
Interesting interpretation. I'm a big fan of the band so I'm familiar with the album. Hm... the bit about the manual is very strange, and that's something I couldn't really figure out with this particular set of lyrics. I think you've hit it bang on with the repair manual being the Bible. Then that verse practically means: "Thieves and liars believe they've done nothing wrong. I have no opinion on that, but I'd love to see the Bible's say on the matter."
I disagree with your second paragraph, though. I assume " Wouldn't it be easy...
I disagree with your second paragraph, though. I assume " Wouldn't it be easy to believe?" is him saying that he'd like there to be a heaven, but he doesn't believe in it. "Something to believe in that could Give us more Than here's my years" He's lived his life and then there's nothing afterwards.
I wish I had Alex's number!
@Hgaudguad Lyrics, like the ones in "Fresh Strawberries," are sometimes hard to figure out because they're so short. They have to be short, especially in a 3-5 minute long song. Usually they're a little easier to understand though. I guess that's what makes a website like this attractive to some people. Speaking of this website, I wonder if there are many songs/lyrics by bands like Nirvana or Beck whose lyrics, for the most part, are just words strung together in an almost random manner.
@Hgaudguad Lyrics, like the ones in "Fresh Strawberries," are sometimes hard to figure out because they're so short. They have to be short, especially in a 3-5 minute long song. Usually they're a little easier to understand though. I guess that's what makes a website like this attractive to some people. Speaking of this website, I wonder if there are many songs/lyrics by bands like Nirvana or Beck whose lyrics, for the most part, are just words strung together in an almost random manner.
It reads to me as though how religion makes it easier to accept your own mortality, but the author doesn't believe it's true, though he wishes it was.
@dancj I agree. I think instruction manual refers to religious texts like the Bible. There are also undertones about how the religious are willing to trade away their lives doing work they don’t care about, because they believe life on earth doesn’t matter compared to heaven.
@dancj I agree. I think instruction manual refers to religious texts like the Bible. There are also undertones about how the religious are willing to trade away their lives doing work they don’t care about, because they believe life on earth doesn’t matter compared to heaven.