What do you think Cumbersome means?

Seven Mary Three: Cumbersome Meaning

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Album cover for Cumbersome album cover

Song Released: 1996


Cumbersome Lyrics

She calls me Goliath and I wear the David mask
I guess the stones are coming to fast for her now
You know I'd like to believe this neverous will pass
All the stones that are thrown are building up a wall

I have become cumbersome to this...

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  1. anonymous
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     Sep 23rd 2020 !⃝

    In no way do I tend my response / interpretation to imply that men or women can’t serve both roles in this song. I believe the message applies either way to either party. This is a song about self awareness and coming to terms with what can and cannot be done in a relationship. Acknowledging that it takes two to fight, two to reconcile, two to be willing to walk through life together as a couple.

    She calls me Goliath and I wear the David mask

    >>She sees me as a monster larger than I really am or even as I present myself in the mask of a young boy approaching a larger opponent… I present no visual danger... it is her perception of me as a giant vs. my own intention of being vulnerable.

    I guess the stones are coming too fast for her now

    >>I am hurling my only weapon, small stones, but I am persistent in my attempts to penetrate the layered shields of her fortress
    also, metaphorically the same as the stones Jesus encouraged the first one without sin to throw… stones are earliest weapons of human… but somehow I bet the first weapons were words,,, stones.. we are no better than each other,, we are both wrong

    You know I'd like to believe this nervousness will pass

    >>Anxiety, when it happens we’re always told,, this will pass… and it's a terrible way to live,, nervous and not at peace. no peace.

    All the stones that are thrown are building up a wall

    >>Nothing works. Even David’s stones hit the mark and ended the fight… my stones,, just pile up without ending the fight.. so much so that the stones become a wall between us,,,,

    I have become cumbersome to this world

    >>Self-awareness… I feel defeated,, realization,, this is not working even with all reason, logic and effort. Too much, to handle for what it can ever be… cumbersome

    I have become cumbersome to my girl

    >>I’m obviously not the right person for her, everything about me seems to be a chore for her

    I'd like to believe we could reconcile the past

    >>I have hope for us despite all the ugly past…I remember why I’m here… I love you…

    Resurrect those bridges with an ancient glance

    >>It would be so easy for me to be whole again with you, if you would only smile at me again and remember you loved me… the ancient glance we shared of love…

    But my old stone face can't seem to bring her down

    >>She no longer sees me as human.. she sees me as nothing more than a stone wall to talk at. Something so heavy and cumbersome that it’s not going to move with ease as she’d like.

    She remembers bridges, burns them to the ground

    >>Even when I want to connect again,, all you want to do take any connects we had in the past and kill those too. Not even the things that were standing after all the fires and fights are ever safe from being revisited with a hammer and a match.


    Too heavy too light, too black or too white, too wrong or too right, today or
    Tonight
    Cumbersome
    Too rich or too poor, she's wanting me less and I'm wanting her more
    The bitter taste is cumbersome

    >>It’s a terrible feeling when you realize that no matter what you do, you will be unacceptable to another person that love… you realize that your efforts are just in vain and will never result in the reward you’re looking for… the return of the love you’ve given and so desperately need and want in return… you’ll never have a safe, peaceful place.


    There is a balance between two worlds
    One with an arrow and a cross
    Regardless of the balance life has become
    Cumbersome

    >>Angel on one shoulder, warrior on the other… you try to be a good,,,. but your ‘fighter’ wins out at times,, you realize.. no matter what I do, no matter how good, I’m the enemy to the other person…when I try to give and compromise to show my willingness to bond it’s of no use and only causes me more pain and sadness…. and when I let the warrior side of me take control and fight for what I believe in, I feel no better,,, regardless of the balance,, it’s all too heavy to handle and doesn’t work,,, cumbersome

    Last line of the song stays in first person by saying… ‘you’re life is cumbersome’ letting her know that he’s directly talking to her and saying you’re not immune to the same life once I’m gone…




  2. anonymous
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     Jan 2nd 2020 !⃝

    I think the anonymous March 18 2019 interpretation was well thought out and spot on except the arrow and the cross part. Think of the symbols that represent male and female..... Man is the arrow, woman is the cross.

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
     Mar 18th 2019 !⃝

    I'm an English teacher who is very familiar with the use of metaphors and idioms in written and verbal language. I tend to use them along with analogies a lot for some odd reason. (I understood these lyrics plus live my love life with my Goliath in a David's mask. Boy, these lyrics are getting sent to him after our next fight. 35 years and he still breaks every promise and compromise we make but puts on that he's the good guy)

    "She calls him Goliath"
    (a much larger or stronger opponent; URBAN DICTIONARY- "a big dick" or a dude whose girlfriend just wants to be friends bc he's a nice guy but a little bitch)
    "but I wear a David mask"
    (David was not a weak little boy in the Bible. He knew the real way to win a battle are sometimes obscured by misconceptions and insecurities. The singer wears a David mask because he pretending to understand her, acts like he tries harder than is expected but he's pretending he has no insecurities and actually is a pitiful immature man. He does have misconceptions about their relationship)

    "All the stones that are thrown are building up a wall"
    (David had a sling shot and a rock when he took Goliath down in the bible. Killed him in one shot. The singer is obviously putting her down w/ insults and picking on the girl so much (throwing stones), that there's a huge barricade between them and their love now.) He's accepting it's his fault.

    "I have become cumbersome to this world
    I have become cumbersome to my girl" (he's a burden and pain in the ass)

    "I'd like to believe we could reconcile the past
    Resurrect those bridges with an ancient glance
    But my old stone face can't seem to bring her down
    She remembers bridges, burns them to the ground" (He wants to make up and forget about the past arguments and fights but quickly and easily. "His old stone face" = tough guy persona that really not him. "Can't bring her down" (he is still disillusioned that he needs to be in control which by doing so has already inadvertently killed the relationship. Also bring her down means he thinks she's better than him and won't come deal w/ this break up on his level)This is exactly why he throws stones; he wants to bring her down through his criticism. "She remembers bridges and burns them to the ground" (the bridges = times they made peace or even better when they compromised and made up. Burning them = she wants to forget him and the relationship 100%.He broke his promises and their compromised peace, so she's fed up and saying goodbye to their history as a couple.

    "Too heavy too light, too black or too white, too wrong or too right, today or
    Tonight
    Cumbersome
    Too rich or too poor, she's wanting me less and I'm wanting her more
    The bitter taste is cumbersome"
    (She never could decide and always wanted the opposite of what he wanted. He's getting angry now. Now he feels he cannot do anything right bc she's too self-centered. He wants her more; she wants him less is bc it is human nature to want what you can't have. She loathes him at this point and wants to be left alone. She is bitter which has become a burden to her but now it has also become a burden to HIM bc he thinks he can't do anything that pleases her and never could. So now he is also bitter and thinks she's the burden. Both see each other as a burden. The opposition between them, he thinks is not all his fault. It's also her fault bc nothing was ever good enough or copacetic.

    "There is a balance between two worlds
    One with an arrow and a cross
    Regardless of the balance life has become
    Cumbersome"
    (He now doesn't think he's the burden but their life together was a burden. Two people, man, the cross and woman, the arrow, could live life in harmony but these two are out of sync bc she'll never forget all he's done or not done that hurt her. Promises he broke, times he hurt her and knew it hurt and ignoring her needs. After all of the years of him not appreciating her, she's finally had it. However, now, he is trying to turn the table. He thinks he could have never made her happy bc in his mind he was always kissing her ass. The lack of balance in their relationship is her wanting more than he can give her in his opinion. In her opinion, it's because he never followed through with promises or truly worked out their differences. *Whether true or he's making it up in his head, it is a fact that people feel better when they can believe or blame the other for the relationship's failure, and he's alluding that he gave everything he had but it was never good enough for her and maybe he's not the burden) So now he's bitter towards her bc she's actually the burden.

    "No, yeah I know now, know
    Know now, know yeah
    Your life has become cumbersome:

    Wait a minute, he thinks. Oh yeah, I understand now. You and your life is the burden, not me. You projected your burdens onto me which caused me to think I was your burden. However, you are your own burden,

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
     Nov 14th 2012 !⃝

    Clearly the song is about a relationship gone bad and the singer(the man) feels his transgressions have become too much for his girl to handle. In the chours( too heavy too light)etc. he seems to be saying that no matter what he does she finds something else wrong. With the writers clever use of metaphors one can get a glimpse into the relationship. For example, in the first verse the line "all the stones that are thrown are building up a wall" would, to me, indicate that all the things said during the couples arguements have built a barrier, hence wall, between the two preventing further communication between the two to happen. To me the singer feels his trangressions have become " cumbersome" to his mate.
    Great song!!!! While a great many songs have been written about this subject, this one is above average in terms of the clever use of words( lyrics ) to teel the story. The music, while really simplistic in a compositional sense, conveys the anger that is generated by this type of relationship most excellantly. All in all a great song, performed very well, about a subject that almost any one can relate to. Great job 7 mary 3!!!!!!!!! Rock on peeps!!!!!!


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