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
Planets
Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sleeping through the seasons
Open, suspended time and space
Planets stand in place
Planets stand in place
Watching it end, watching it burn
Out of habit, know the patterns
People drift away
People drift away
The lyrics of Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton's song Planets has a melancholic and introspective tone. The opening lines, "hours to spend, hours to burn, sleeping through the seasons," describe a sense of lethargy and stagnancy. The singer seems to be stuck in a rut, unable to move forward or even engage with the passage of time. The repetition of "planets stand in place" emphasizes the sense of inertia and stagnation.
As the song progresses, the focus shifts to "watching it end, watching it burn." The singer seems resigned to the inevitability of endings and destruction, but perhaps paradoxically finds comfort in the familiarity of these patterns. The line "broken, the fragments float in space, people drift away" evokes a feeling of isolation and disconnection. It seems that the singer has lost touch with the people around them, and is left to contemplate the vast emptiness of space.
Overall, the song Planets is a poignant reflection on the passing of time, the inevitability of endings, and the sense of isolation that can come from feeling disconnected from those around us.
Line by Line Meaning
Hours to spend, hours to burn
I have the luxury of time, but feel like I'm wasting it
Sleeping through the seasons
I go through the motions of life without really experiencing it
Open, suspended time and space
I feel disconnected from reality, as if I'm in my own bubble
Planets stand in place
The universe continues on without me, indifferent to my existence
Watching it end, watching it burn
I observe the destruction around me, unable to stop it
Out of habit, know the patterns
I repeat the same mistakes, stuck in a cycle of self-destruction
Broken, the fragments float in space
My life feels shattered and meaningless, with no clear direction
People drift away
I feel disconnected from others, as if they are slowly leaving me behind
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: Emily Haines
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Morinoki
Hours to spend, hours to burn
Sleeping through the seasons
Open, suspended time and space
Planets stand in place
Planets stand in place
Watching it end, watching it burn
Out of habit, know the patterns
Broken, the fragments float in space
People drift away
People drift away
Lydia Morgan
just after hearing this song once, I ordered the album on vinyl and bought a record player.
Joshua Stephens
One of the better songs of the last decade imo
Kelsey
I've had this on repeat for the last few hours, it's incredible.
Sun Slayer
Kelsey Thomson glad I'm not the only one on repeat here😊
Amber-Lee Sowa
Can't wait to have this album. Physical form. On repeat. Love you so much Emily .... so excited
Kai
Stunning, the first album I've been excited for in years
Morinoki
Hours to spend, hours to burn
Sleeping through the seasons
Open, suspended time and space
Planets stand in place
Planets stand in place
Watching it end, watching it burn
Out of habit, know the patterns
Broken, the fragments float in space
People drift away
People drift away
Shy Grandeur
Indeed ^_*
Metatron Tumultum
This is so emotionally potent and touching I almost can't enjoy it.
...doesn't sound like it but thats praise actually. I also liked the songwriting here. It feels like just as the song had nowhere else to go logically, it stopped at a great and suspenseful place even though it is so subtle as a whole. Kudos to you Emily. This track really takes you places.
Barnaclebeard
Thanks, Emily!! Please never stop.