“Molly” by Ratboys – A Song Understanding

     Song lyrics have a chameleon-like quality. Two people listening carefully to the same song might have very different interpretations of the message. The “correct” understanding is unimportant, because music is personal. If a person’s interpretation is meaningful or helpful in any manner, it’s the right one for that person.

    We encountered a corollary. We first heard “Molly” a few years ago. The song doesn’t fit comfortably within one of our preferred genres, but we found it intriguing. The lyrics were about a protective and loving big sister to Molly. But this week, a person we loved passed. “Our” Molly was big hearted, but her demons were more pronounced than the ones that most of us carry. Coincidentally, another blog posted the song yesterday (thank you Chicago Reader). Listening to “Molly” brought a very different interpretation. Of course, the song hasn’t changed. But now we choose to listen to the lyrics as the adult Molly talking to her childhood self.

     According to the lyrics, adult Molly wrote a song to her younger self. The song begins at 3:18, after the guitar-driven bridge quiets:

How many times have I fallen victim?

Gave myself the answers but never the questions

Do you ever feel as I do?

Shake your head, and breathe if you want to

I just want to love my family

Hold my shelter and lie in the symmetry

I just want to hold my family

I just want to love my family

Hold my shelter and lie in the symmetry

I just want to hold you, Molly

     “Molly” by Ratboys 

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Lyrics of “Molly” by Ratboys

Molly cries in the middle of the ice rink

Her friends are paying her no mind

The blades are spinning awfully close to the side

So I speed to offer her embrace

She says, ‘Where’d you learn to go that fast?’

It’s not like I was moving all that quickly

But to her, I was on a rocket

Passing galaxies of light and wonder

And free is what I want to be with her next to me

We laid down in the grass one day

Speaking nothing, feeling late

The clouds were magnets for our sister eyes

And then Sue Palumbo swung a club

And dragons came and challenged us

So I stood up straight, and I offered her this song

But, how was I supposed to make

A piece of art with that at stake?

And what without at least a pen and paper?

I am sure that she sees me well

Her heart is huge, everyone can tell

The days are passing, and there’s no stopping it at all

How many times have I fallen victim?

Gave myself the answers but never the questions

Do you ever feel as I do?

Shake your head, and breathe if you want to

I just want to love my family

Hold my shelter and lie in the symmetry

I just want to hold my family

I just want to love my family

Hold my shelter and lie in the symmetry

I just want to hold you, Molly