Hide and Seek

Hide and Seek, by Imogen Heap, is one of my favorite songs of all time. It is incredibly beautiful and powerful. If you haven't heard it before, I strongly suggest listening to it with headphones turned up a bit- it's quite an experience. If you have heard it before, I would still encourage you to watch the video, as it has the lyrics, which are hard to decipher from just the audio.

I've listened to this song a lot, but I have never understood the lyrics before. Once I looked up the lyrics, I found them to be meaningful and well-written. So what is this woman singing about anyway?

Of course there are different opinions on the lyric's meanings, but, for me, she is singing about a new beginning after breakup of some sort, and sometimes uses the analogy of a new house. She is very upset about this turn of events, and she blames her ex-partner for it. This story is nothing unusual, but the poetry that she uses to tell us the events and her feelings is beautifully written.

If you want a line-by-line analysis, I've done a basic one below, though I can't decipher all of the lines.



Where are we? --Where are we in our relationship?
What the hell is going on? -- How did we get to this point?
The dust has only just begun to form -- Our relationship has recently ended, and I am just beginning to get over it
Crop circles in the carpet -- (Furniture being moved around) You have moved out of my thoughts/heart
Sinking, feeling
Spin me around again
And rub my eyes -- Try to wake me up, as this feels like a dream
This can't be happening -- How could our relationship have ended?
When busy streets
A mess with people
Would stop to hold their heads heavy -- Even strangers would find this situation so depressing that it would make them stop in their tracks

Hide and seek
Trains and sewing machines -- (I honestly have no idea)
All those years
They were here first -- Before this emptiness that now occupies my soul, we spent years together
Oily marks appear on walls
Where pleasure moments hung before -- The places in my mind/heart where happy memories of times with you were stored have now been cleared out and those memories have been put away
The takeover
The sweeping insensitivity of this
Still life
Hide and seek
Trains and sewing machines

(You won't catch me around here)
Blood and tears
They were here first -- Before this emptiness that now occupies my soul, we bled and cried together (meaning we were very close)
Mm, what'd you say?
Mm, that you only meant well
Well of course you did -- I know you were well-intentioned, but that doesn't change that you hurt me
Mm, what'd you say?
Mm, that it's all for the best
Of course it is -- I know you think this is better for both of this, and that may be true, but it still hurts
Mm, what'd you say?
Mm, that it's just what we need
You decided this -- You were the one who decided that we needed to end our relationship- I was ready to try and fix it and continue our lives together
Mm, what'd you say?
Mm, what did she say? -- (Possibly hinting at an affair)

Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth --You keep trying to take things from me (breaking my heart?)
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cutouts --(I am not sure on this one)
Speak no feeling, no, I don't believe you
You don't care a bit, you don't care a bit
Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cutouts
Speak no feeling, no, I don't believe you
You don't care a bit, you don't care a bit

(You don't care a bit)
Oh, no, you don't care a bit
Oh, no, you don't care a bit
Uh-uh, you don't care a bit
You don't care a bit
You don't care a bit