Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton is an indie rock solo project of Emily Hai… Read Full Bio ↴Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton is an indie rock solo project of Emily Haines (born January 1974 in New Delhi, India). She is the vocalist, keyboardist and co-songwriter of the Canadian band Metric and a member of the group Broken Social Scene. The music released as Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton could be described as intimate and mellow, featuring piano-driven tracks with string and horn arrangements.

On 26 September 2006, Haines released the album Knives Don't Have Your Back on Last Gang Records. The album was written and recorded in Los Angeles, Montreal, Toronto, and New York over the previous four years, and features contributors including Sparklehorse's Scott Minor, Broken Social Scene's Justin Peroff, Stars' Evan Cranley, and Metric's Jimmy Shaw.

Though it took Haines four years to complete the album, the singer says she'd been plotting this for years. "When I was a little kid," she said in a statement, "I would creep downstairs to the piano and write rudimentary songs about imaginary places. I'm told the first song I ever wrote was a love song to a cranberry tree. I always used the mute pedal. I hated the idea of anybody hearing me.

"Everywhere I've lived while working with Metric, I've written songs on the piano and played them for no one," she continued. "On the advice of a friend, I decided I'd better start recording them before they were forgotten."

Among those songs are a track that was written while Haines was studying electroacoustics in Montreal while some were recorded in Toronto, Canada in the winter of 2002, shortly after the death of Haines' father.

Official site: http://www.emilyhaines.com

Mostly Waving
Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Young,
Thought as I was
Thought as I was
Thought as I was
Done,
Thought as I was
Thought as I was
Thought as I was

oooooohhhhhhhh

Get,
Get the line down
Get the line down
Get the line down
Don't elaborate like that
You'll frighten off the frat boys
Use your baby talk
Frighten off, frighten on

oooooohhhhhhh

This fall, the blues are brown
So turn your horse around NOW
The blues are brown

Missing, mostly waving
Thought as I was

Young, thought I was
Done, thought I was

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Emily Haines/Soft Skeleton's "Mostly Waving" are open to interpretation, but there is a sense of vulnerability and self-doubt in the repetition of "thought as I was." It conveys a feeling of uncertainty and questioning one's own thoughts and actions. The chorus is an exhortation to get the line down and not to elaborate, which could be interpreted as society's pressure to conform and fit in, even if it means hiding one's true self.

The lines "don't elaborate like that, you'll frighten off the frat boys, use your baby talk" could be seen as a commentary on the pressure women face to be attractive and desirable to men. The song seems to urge the listener to resist conformity and embrace their true self, even if it means going against societal expectations.

The refrain of "missing, mostly waving" evokes a sense of loss and longing, while the lines "this fall, the blues are brown, so turn your horse around now" could be interpreted as a call to action to break free and find one's own path. Overall, the song seems to be a reflection on the struggle to stay true to oneself in a world that values conformity.

Line by Line Meaning

Young,
I was naive and inexperienced

Thought as I was
I believed things that were not entirely true or accurate

Done,
I thought I had completed something

Thought as I was
I believed things that were not entirely true or accurate

oooooohhhhhhhh
vocalization

Get,
understand

Get the line down
understand exactly what you want to say

Don't elaborate like that
Don't go into unnecessary detail

You'll frighten off the frat boys
Giving too much detail might intimidate or bore some people

Use your baby talk
Keep it simple and straightforward

Frighten off, frighten on
Some people will like it, others won't