Green attended Emerson College briefly in 1998 before leaving to concentrate on his music, going on to co-found the anti folk group The Moldy Peaches with Kimya Dawson. In 2004 The Moldy Peaches went on hiatus and both Green and Dawson embarked on solo careers.
Green released several albums on Rough Trade Records. Among his better known songs are "Jessica" (about singer Jessica Simpson), "Novotel", "Friends of Mine", "Dance with Me", "Carolina" and "Emily", and, in Britain, his cover of The Libertines track "What a Waster".
Prior to Jacket Full of Danger in 2006, all of Green's albums had been released on the 22nd of the month. His latest album was released on March 18, 2008 and is titled Sixes & Sevens. Titles include "Morning After Midnight", "Twee Twee Dee", and "Drowning Head First", the latter a duet between Green and his girlfriend.
In January 2008, The Moldy Peaches began having a resurgence in popularity, due to their music being included in the hit indie film Juno.
Before My Bedtime
Adam Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Or how long we live for?
I need to make a judgment
About you before my bedtime
For when I put my head down on the pillow
My drugstore dreams will cut me down to size
By then I'll be a brand new different person
To love you while I'm trying to decide
I don't care what time you keep
Or what you thought I came to do
I lost you on a Tuesday
That's all I can remember
For when I put my head down on the pillow
My drugstore dreams will cut me down to size
By then I'll be a brand new different person
To love you while I'm trying to decide
Oh, the spectrum of my days
The make-up that was peeling off
Your adolescent face
Oh, such a face
To try to get the clocks to change
To turn and swing the other way
Before I knew that pigeons cried
And sanctified the hopelessness inside
The song "Before My Bedtime" by Adam Green is a melancholic reflection on the singer's doubts and insecurities in a relationship. The opening lines, "Who cares what day it is / Or how long we live for?" suggest a sense of resignation or detachment, as if the singer has lost interest in measuring time or making plans for the future. Instead, they focus on their immediate feelings towards the person they are with: "I need to make a judgment / About you before my bedtime."
The reference to "drugstore dreams" implies that the singer is dependent on substances or distractions to cope with their anxieties. They recognize that these escapist fantasies are temporary and illusory, but they cannot resist the temptation to retreat into them: "By then I'll be a brand new different person / To love you while I'm trying to decide." The repetition of this line emphasizes the singer's uncertainty and their fear of commitment.
The second verse adds a layer of nostalgia or regret, with the lines "I lost you on a Tuesday / That's all I can remember." The specificity of the day highlights the singer's fixation on small details, as if they are trying to piece together what went wrong. The last stanza brings together different images and motifs, such as make-up, clocks, and pigeons, to symbolize the complexity and ambiguity of human emotions. The final line, "And sanctified the hopelessness inside," suggests that the singer has come to accept their doubts and fears as a kind of spiritual burden.
Line by Line Meaning
Who cares what day it is
The day or time doesn't hold any importance for me
Or how long we live for?
The duration of life is irrelevant, we should focus on living in the present
I need to make a judgment
I must evaluate and form an opinion about you
About you before my bedtime
Before I sleep, I must come to a conclusion about you
For when I put my head down on the pillow
At bedtime, when I lay down and attempt to rest
My drugstore dreams will cut me down to size
The unreasonable expectations and unrealistic scenarios in my dreams will humble me
By then I'll be a brand new different person
After this evaluation, I may change or see things differently
To love you while I'm trying to decide
During this process, I will try to love and accept you for who you are
I don't care what time you keep
You can keep whatever schedule you want
Or what you thought I came to do
Your assumptions about me are irrelevant
I lost you on a Tuesday
I can only recall losing you on a certain day
Oh, the spectrum of my days
The varied range of experiences I have encountered throughout life
The make-up that was peeling off
The facade that was beginning to wear away
Your adolescent face
Memories of your youthful appearance
Oh, such a face
Emphasis on the remarkable nature of your face
To try and get the clocks to change
Attempting to manipulate time to my advantage
To turn and swing the other way
To reverse time's typical pattern of progression
Before I knew that pigeons cried
Before I became aware of seemingly improbable or unlikely circumstances
And sanctified the hopelessness inside
And gave justification to the despair I was feeling
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: Adam Green
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ron Johnson
Such a spectacularly talented & underrated artist. This is Brilliant!
Eoghan Wilkie
Criminally Underrated