thread of folklore lyrics in each song that punched me in the gut

the 1: I had a dream you’re doing cool shit / having adventures on your own / you meet some woman on the internet and take her home
this lyric is NOT bitter it’s not bitter that’s what I love it’s speculatory but distant enough to not be bitter and I hope we can all heal this way

cardigan: where to START ok uh A FRIEND TO ALL IS A FRIEND TO NONE yeah let’s start there
ALSO????? cause I knew you / stepping on the last train / marked me like a bloodstain LIKE A BLOODSTAIN

the last great American dynasty: the doctor had told him to settle down / it must’ve been her fault his heart gave out
period. end of story. as lovely an image as chorus creates, that’s the line that got me, that’s ???????? yaknow???????

exile: I can see you staring, honey / like he’s just your understudy / like you’d get your knuckles bloody for me
this is such a type it’s such an image for me this is a callback to ur ex who was really jealous but hated when u got jealous

my tears ricochet: this whole song hurts but CAUSE WHEN I’D FIGHT YOU USED TO TELL ME I WAS BRAVE

mirrorball: this song is revolutionary it’s REVOLUTIONARY especially and they called off the circus / burned the disco down / when they sent home the horses and the rodeo clowns / IM STILL ON THAT TIGHTROPE

seven: ok THIS SONG THIS SONG OHHHHHHHOHO MY GOD
I’ve been meaning to tell you / I think your house is haunted / your dad is always mad and that must be why
OUCH BUT ALSO?
before I learned civility / I used to scream ferociously GOD

august: oh my GOD the WHOLE CHORUS the subtlety within slipped vrs. sipped????
AND
will you still call me when you’re back at school? / I remember thinking I had you
she had them she HAD them and they slipped from her!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is me trying: I was so ahead of the curve / the curve became a sphere / fell behind all my classmates and I ended up here / POURING MY HEART OUT TO A STRANGER / B U T I DIDNT POUR THE WHISKEY

illicit affairs: I’m fifteen I’m fifteen and I’m thirty when I hear this somg it hits me like a ton of bricks
it’s born from just one single glance / but it dies and it dies and it dies / a million little times
AND ??
a drug that only worked / the first few hundred times

invisible string: something wrapped all my past mistakes in barbed wire
AND
cold was the steel of my axe to grind / for the boys that broke my heart / now I send their babies presents
if there was ever a use for it’s now

mad woman: DOES A SCORPION STING WHEN FIGHTING BACK / THEY STRIKE TO KILL AND YOU KNOW I WILL
GOD
FUCK

epiphany: keep your rifle / keep your life, son
did y’all read the backstory of this song bc. ouch.

BETTY: I LOVE BETTY I LOVE THIS SONG I L O V E THIS SONG!!!!!
just thinking of you when she pulled up like / a figment of my worst intentions
OW OW OW OW OW raise ur hand if you’ve been cheated on

peace: this is by far my favorite song right now. this one hits like nothing else. just,,,
would it be enough / if I could never give you peace?
that lyric is perfection but to precede it with
but I’m a fire and I’ll keep your brittle heart warm
?!?!?!?!?!?

hoax: the ultimate gut punch.
you know it still hurt underneath my scars / from when they pulled me apart / but what you did was just as dark
actually that whole bridge but ESPECIALLY that line