Imogen Heap: Hide and Seek Meaning

Hide and Seek Lyrics

where are we? what the hell is going on?
the dust has only just began to fall
crop circles in the carpet, sinking, feeling
spin me around again and rub my eyes
this can't be happening
when busy streets a mess with people would stop to...

1. anonymous

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   Feb 2nd 2008 !⃝

   I know its a love song about breaking up with someone.
   but I can't help but wonder a second double meaning about the past, about the 19th century in America.
   
   Where are we?
   (where are we in this world, things are so different)
   what the hell is going on?
   (whats going on with this world. out country)
   the dust has only
   
   just begun to fall
   (the dust as in the dust bowl in the west, the tragedy is only beginning)
   Crop circles in the carpet
   Sinking feeling
   (we no longer rely on farms. where farms used to be, carpet, or housing now lay)
   
   Spin me round again
   and rub my eyes
   this can't be happening
   when busy streets a mess with people
   would stop to hold their heads heavy
   (talking about the urban life, the city)
   
   Hide and seek
   Trains and sewing machines
   All those years
   They were here first
   (the transcontinental railroad of the west finished close to the 19th century, and sewing machines, textile mills of the south were here before urban life)
   
   Oily marks appear on walls
   Where pleasure moments hung before.
   The takeover, the sweeping insensitivity of this
   still life.
   (the oil industry (Rockefeller), the discovery of oil in the U.S. Is taking over and is insensitive about the world)
   
   **thats all I have that supports my argument. I know it's about love since the rest of it supports a breakup as opposed to politics
2. lisajlisaj

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   Feb 1st 2008 !⃝

   I think it’s about September 11th, 2001 here is my interpretation of the song. I will tell you before hand some of the phrases stumped me. However, the main thing is from what Imogen said about what the song meant when she wrote it, she her self referred to 9/11 too.
   
   Hide and Seek
   By: Imogen Heap
   
   Where are we?
   What the hell is going on?
   (People asking where are we at and what the hell is going on? they ask here are we because it’s so unreal that they can’t see them being where they thought they were, like they think it’s a dream, if that makes sense.)
   
   
   The dust has only just begun to fall
   (The dust meaning the ruble and the debris from the buildings (sp?)
   
   
   Crop circles in the carpet
   (This one stumped me)
   
   
   Sinking feeling
   (Just how some people would be feeling at that moment. like there heart just sinks when they saw what as going on and saying there were so many feelings at the moment like I said)
   
   
   Spin me round again
   And rub my eyes,
   (Like clear my eyes of the tears and make sure that I’m seeing this right.)
   
   This can't be happening
   (Pretty self explanatory that it’s just so unreal.)
   
   
   When busy streets a mess with people
   Would stop to hold their heads - heavy
   (The streets outside the buildings are filled with on lookers and people that where in the building or rescue workers. (people in general) and just saying that people were stopping to hold hands and hold each other while they cried heavily.)
   
   Hide and seek
   (Hide and seek meaning they were still looking for people either after the collapse or before I don’t think that maters though.)
   
   Trains and sewing machines
   All those years
   They were here first
   (trains and sewing machines talking about how much tech. Has improved and how old that stuff is now, but we wouldn’t be where we are today without that stuff. "all those years they ere here first" meaning that this building has been here along time as well as the people and it/the people were here before them.)
   
   Oily marks appear on walls
   Where pleasure moments hung before the takeover,
   The sweeping insensitivity of this still life
   (Talking about memories and still life being that it felt like a goast town after it all happened)
   
   Hide and seek
   Trains and sewing machines (oh, you won't catch me around here)
   Blood and tears (hearts)
   They were here first
   (Same thing talking about all the blood and the tears that had been shed that day.)
   
   Mmmm whacha say,
   Mmmm that you only meant well?
   Well of course you did
   Mmmm whacha say,
   Mmmm that it’s all for the best?
   Because it is
   Mmmm whacha say?
   Mmmm that it's just what we need
   You decided this
   Whacha say?
   Mmmm what did she say?
   (Talking about the war and the decision to go to war and the attitude of the President when he was told the news.)
   
   Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
   Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut outs
   (The things the President said on the camera to make it seem that he was a good Guy. and the things put in the paper were always the good words pretty much cut out)
   
   Speak no feeling no I don't believe you
   You don't care a bit,
   You don't care a bit
   (The reaction of the people towards president bush and saying that he doesn’t even care.)
   
   (Hide and seek)
   Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
   Mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut outs
   (Same)
   
   (Hide and seek)
   Speak no feeling no I don't believe you
   You don't care a bit,
   You don't care a (you don't care a) bit
   (Same)
   
   (Hide and seek)
   Oh no, you don't care a bit
   Oh no, you don't care a bit
   (Same)
   
   (Hide and seek)
   Oh no, you don't care a bit
   You don't care a bit
   You don't care a bit
   (Same)
   
   
   I hope that is understandable, and sorry about spelling I know I suck at it ha-ha.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
3. austinandvanessa

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   Dec 27th 2007 !⃝

   We think this song is about...people who just broke up, and are dealing with moving on. and the person is remembering all the times they had together. when oily marks appear on walls, where pleasure moments hung before is her remembering the sex they experienced together. The crop circles is about her looking at the empty house where the furniture used to be.
4. anonymous

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   Dec 4th 2007 !⃝

   I also believe it is about the Native Americans and the overtake of their homeland by the white man. It fits perfectly.
5. anonymous

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   Nov 26th 2007 !⃝

   This song is undoubtedly about the massacre of the native peoples of america at the hands of western expansion... "all those years they were here first"
6. anonymous

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   Nov 19th 2007 !⃝

   I believe the song is about the "other woman" side of an affair. She comes to find out the man she loves and has built her life around already has a family and kids and a house somewhere else, she is just that "other woman"
   
   Where are we?
   what the hell is going on?
   the dust has only
   just begun to fall
   Crop circles in the carpet
   Sinking feeling
   
   (realizing what is going on, confused, crop circles = lines in carpet from moving and getting rid offrniture)
   
   
   Spin me round again
   and rub my eyes
   this can't be happening
   when busy streets a mess with people
   would stop to hold their heads heavy
   
   (self explanatory, sadness)
   
   Hide and seek
   Trains and sewing machines
   All those years
   They were here first
   
   (trains couldbe the trains he took to go see his other family suposedly on business or something... "they were here first as in the other family)
   
   oily marks appear on walls
   where pleasure moments hung before
   the takeover
   the sweeping insensitivity
   of this
   still life
   
   (pictures on her walls that hung representing their happy moments before the whole downfall)
   
   Hide and seek
   trains and sewing machines (you won't catch me around here)
   Blood and tears
   They were here first
   
   mm what d'cha say?
   mm that you only meant well
   well of course you did
   mm what d'cha say?
   mm that it's all for the best
   of course it is
   mm what d'cha say?
   hmmm that it's just what we need
   and you decided this?
   ooh what d'cha say?
   mmmm what did she say?
   
   (shes bitter and sad because he is saying now that they should end it because its for the best, but it was him calling the shots all along, betraying. "what didd she say" aout his other wife)
   
   Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
   Mid sweet talk newspaper word cut outs (paper word cut outs)
   Speak no feeling no I don't believe you (no I don't believe you)
   you don't care a bit
   you
   don't care a bit
   
   (Hide and Seek)
   Ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
   Mid sweet talk newspaper word cut outs
   
   (Hide and Seek)
   Speak no feeling no I don't believe you
   you don't care a bit
   you don't care a bit
   
   (about his fake apologies)
7. anonymous

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   Nov 18th 2007 !⃝

   The song is expressive of the notion that men and women should stop playing "hide and seek" from one another. This idea is conveyed through a timeless situation: there is a breakup or some sort of relationship breach between the artist and her significant other. The significant other is hiding (Mmmm whacha say...that you only meant well...
   well of course you did...it's just what we need...you decided this...) The boyfriend insinuates that his distance (hiding)is "all for the best", etc. "The sweeping insensitivity of this still life" refers to the crudely painful stillness necessary to maintain an effective hiding spot- the artist alludes to the pain of erecting an indifferent facade in order to pretend not to care about a significant other. In the opening of the song, the "trains and sewing machines" as well as "blood and tears" are stereotypical relations to males and females, respectively. (Proverbially, the men would be affiliated with the trains, cars, etc., whereas women manned the sewing machines at home. Blood and tears- men shed blood in wars; women cried over the losses.) "They were here first" just explains that these associations are historic. Even the first line is exemplary of Heap's message. "Where the hell are we?"-We, as in both boys and girls collectively. Well, hiding, of course.
8. anonymous

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   Nov 3rd 2007 !⃝

   I think there are some very good interpretations here. I agree with the break-up theme and I will expand on it via the title of the song. If you think about the game itself and relate those terms to a relationship it gives insight to the title.
   
   In the game "Hide and Seek", as the "hider" you are not there when the game is being played, but the pleasure, the excitement from this game comes in knowing you are being sought. A good hiding place allows you to see the "seeker" and enjoy watching them try to find you. There is a degree of satisfaction present. In "hide and seek" the feeling of aloneness is accompanied by bodily separation yet you feel connected by the chase.
   
   Now think of the horror and betrayal you feel (or felt, as the case may be)when the "seeker" didn't come (or no longer came) to find you. Or worse, as a group, the other players all stopped looking for you. You are hiding from no one. You are the joke. That is ageless pain.
   
   Think of those emotions and relate it to the phases of a relationship. (This is how I viewed the scene) A person sitting on the windowsill peering into a recently semi-empty room, complete with carpet crop circles and dust frames on the walls, while outside, through rain streaked windowpanes, the world continues on. If they only knew of my pain..would they not hang their heads in sympathy? And your ransom words are meaningless because even if I gave you something more you could not return what was mine. It is gone. I am the joke. I'm glad you feel it is for the best.
   
   Just the way I felt.
   M
9. anonymous

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   Nov 2nd 2007 !⃝

   I think that the song is based on betrayal. Perhaps and friend or lover broke your heart and told you that it was all for the best and what we need and never come around again. Ransom notes that fall out of you mouth are the words that end your love. Oily marks appear on walls where we use to get along and now its tarnished with hate and revolt.Where are we??We are lost we both have no clue what happened and now as the dust falls it become clearer. We start to feel and see what happened. Spin me around an pinch me this isn't happening and no on cares. They just hold their heads heavy. Hide and seek....where are you will I ever find you? All those years they were wasted but they were there first. You don't care a bit...you don't care a bit.
10. anonymous

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    Oct 31st 2007 !⃝

    OMG I listen to this everyday
    
    The best was the SNL digital short
    It was great
    it made fun of the OC
    
    But the song is creepy and I wouldnt doubt that it is all about politics and death and stuff

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
11. anonymous

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    Oct 30th 2007 !⃝

    I don't know why, but this song reminds me of World War 2. Look over it. Or maybe somewas
12. anonymous

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    Oct 30th 2007 !⃝

    Rather than focusing on what "Hide and Seek" is about, one should discover what it means to them. Yes, this song was written relating to some situation she went through, but it is not specific at all allowing one to find even more comfort in it because there are a wide variety of intriguing explanations.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
13. anonymous

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    Oct 30th 2007 !⃝

    And further to my previous comment about it being related to a break up - and a slightly different interpretation to MPete77317 - the tough one 'trains and sewing machines' I believe to be fairly simple metaphors: 'trains' being about the journeys you took both physically and emotionally together, and 'sewing machines' referring to the careful construction - or even fabrication of your relationship - this perhaps makes further sense when you consider 'they were here first' they were what created the relationship - long before it's final dissolution...
14. anonymous

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    Oct 30th 2007 !⃝

    I find the end of the song provides the key to interpretation, where she repeats "ransom notes keep falling out your mouth" this is a perfect description of the emotional blackmailing and attempts to direct guilt or blame on a partner either following or during a breakup. I agree with other people's assumption about crop circles in the carpet being removed furniture - and this is further reinforced by the 'oily marks from pleasure moments' - obviously being photographs taken off walls. A stunning concept and delivery of a song! It will rank in my all time favourites for all eternity.
15. anonymous

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    Oct 23rd 2007 !⃝

    Well, this could be any loss in my opinion! I think it is open.
    It could be the divorce of her parents? (You don't care a bit?) Her leaving for a boarding school? Loss of a loved one?
    
    I guess the best line that explains it is "What the H___ is going on?"

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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