The Decemberists: Dear Avery Meaning

Dear Avery Lyrics

Dear Avery, I think of you only
Were you waving, were you dead on the vine
Oh Avery, I think of you lonely
But I could just grab you by the nape of your neck

There are times life will rattle your bones
And will bend your limbs
You're still far...

1. anonymous

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   Feb 13th 2015 !⃝

   It's about his dog he lost, Avery.
2. anonymous

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   Sep 19th 2012 !⃝

   “I imagine it being a letter sent from a mother to a solider. I was reading a lot about soldiers and the war and their parents back home - having a kid myself, it just made me really mindful of that relationship.” -Colin Meloy
3. anonymous

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   Aug 29th 2012 !⃝

   It's about a dog..stupid people... Gahh.
4. anonymous

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   Feb 27th 2012 !⃝

   i have to agree with the person who believes the song is about a young boy/teen who has run away from home and is living on the mean streets, at least is heavily influenced by those streets and the users/pushers who use them to render the young and clueless into a state like is described in the song itself... "dead on the vine" implies that though he is as a "dead person", who exists now without natural affections or behaviors but lives (being on the vine/street... if he wasn't still at least on the vine he would have no life left in him at all). i so relate to and understand the frustration the man singing is going through as well as it exists on both sides... i've slept in the cold dark shadows many nights, shaking in fear and sadness and pain... maybe like "avery" wanting to go home but unable or unwilling to do so. but when i needed love and saving, my dad wasn't around and he didn't care enough to look for me, much less plead for me to "come home." so, i stayed away, i shook and my bones rattled as if in the grip of death itself... when nights on the street were so, so cold and the drugs had worn off, and i needed to be "fixed" in the worst way... and not just another hit, but in a way most will never understand. so, oh yeah, this kid is a drug addicted (and perhaps gay) young teen on his own trying to survive. it seems, at least, that he has someone back home who cares enough to want to try to save him. few do. so, if you ever see "avery" out there some night, try to show him/us some very much needed compassion. most of you have no idea... a few kind words, like these to him/us, are so often the only difference between hope and tragedy. thanks.
5. anonymous

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   Nov 6th 2011 !⃝

   I feel it may be another anthem for coming to terms with a child diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. "Were you waving/Were you dead on the vine" - sounds an awful lot like the optimism of seeing something that could have been a "breakthrough" followed by the crushing reality of just watching more self-stimulating behavior. "Come home" could be Colin's heartfelt heartbreaking plea to Henry (Codename: Avery), already named once on the album in "Rise To Me". I'm in the same boat, and this song is bringing me to tears every time.
6. anonymous

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   Mar 27th 2011 !⃝

   It's gotta be about Neutral Milk Hotel. "Avery" is talking about NMH's second album "On Avery Island." This song sounds very similar to many NMH songs, and is probably a sort of sad pleading to get the band to make more music (which they haven't really done for over 10 years).

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

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   Mar 8th 2011 !⃝

   It could be about a stillborn child. I thought this since it says the boy who never been, and dead on a vine and he's imagining how it would be different if he would have made it.
8. anonymous

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   Jan 28th 2011 !⃝

   I think its about a missing cat. You can't grab a kid by the nape of their neck to save them from danger. "on the cusp of your teens"- a kitten not yet grown. So you can grab a kitten on the back of their neck like a mother cat would do to get them out of danger

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

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   Jan 28th 2011 !⃝

   It's about his son- ...'the arms "listing lazily," reflect a carefree child. . . And, he's anything but carefree now.. In fact, many examples illuminate that Avery's struggling with addiction: ...'there are times when life will rattle your bones'. ...'shake at the flame- the flame YOU made,'
   Also, the nape of your neck -expressing a parent in controll- when he said ...'when you were young, and needing saving,' it worked. He wants to 'save' him - but he no longer is able- yet, the love and desire to save him is as strong as ever. What a tearjerker, BEAUTIFUL song!

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