Like earlier tracks on the album such as ‘Nobody’, ‘Me and My Husband’ explores the loneliness Mitski felt while writing the album, although this time she takes on the persona of a suburban housewife. As she explained to GQ:
"If you’re a suburban mom surrounded by family with a nice life you still feel alone. On tour, I’m surrounded by people all the time but it’s lonely."
Despite the songs upbeat tone the lyrics portray a housewife stubbornly sticking by her husband even though she may not be happy. Mitski claims the song isn’t personal and isn’t meant to be reflection of her views on marriage or settling down as she told The Outline:
"I try to keep a sense of humor about all this stuff. I’m not married, I don’t have a husband, but I was just thinking about being a woman with a man in a long term relationship. I used a stereotype of the suburban, old-fashioned housewife to kind of accentuate my point."
In an interview with the 405, Mitski says:
"…I think a lot of marriages are like that because that’s what it is; it’s no longer about being in love. It’s really hard to stay in love and keep the spark. When you get married and you’re with someone for years and years, it no longer becomes about infatuation or having your heart aflutter. But the song is just about “you know what, this may not be love anymore, and I may be unhappy, and I’m going to die one day and this is just going to be my life.” But then turning around and saying “this is the decision I made, and you’re the person I chose, so I’m just going to stick with you. We have our problems, but this is our life and we’re going to live it.” And that’s what it’s about."
Me and My Husband
Mitski Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And then I'll be nothing forever
And all of my memories
And all of the things I have seen will be gone
With my eyes, with my body, with me
But me and my husband
We are doing better
Together
So I bet all I have on that
Furrowed brow
And at least in this lifetime
We're sticking together
Me and my husband
We're sticking together
And I am the idiot with a painted face
In the corner, taking up space
But when he walks in, I am loved, I am loved
Me and my husband
We are doing better
It's always been just him and me
Together
So I bet all I have on that
Furrowed brow
And at least in this lifetime
We're sticking together
Me and my husband
We're sticking together
Me and my husband
We are doing better
Mitski's song "Me and My Husband" delves into the existential fear of mortality and the comfort that comes from a strong relationship. The opening lines describe the singer feeling as though they are stealing small moments from the world and recognizing their own transience. The unsettling thought of all their memories and experiences being forgotten when they are gone is a theme explored throughout the song.
However, despite this fear, the singer finds solace in their relationship with their husband. The chorus emphasizes the strength of their bond, declaring that they are "sticking together" in this lifetime. The second verse introduces an element of self-deprecation as the singer describes themselves as an "idiot with the painted face" taking up space, but feeling loved when their husband is around.
Overall, the song conveys a sense of acceptance and contentment in the face of uncertainty and the inevitability of our mortal end. The relationship between the singer and their husband is portrayed as a source of comfort and stability in an ever-changing world.
Line by Line Meaning
I steal a few breaths from the world for a minute
I take a brief moment to step away from the world and just breathe
And then I'll be nothing forever
After I die, I'll cease to exist and be nothing forever
And all of my memories
All of the experiences I've had in my life and the things I remember
And all of the things I have seen will be gone
All the things I've witnessed or observed in the world will disappear
With my eyes, with my body, with me
Everything that is intimately tied to me, including my physical body and senses, will eventually disappear
But me and my husband
Despite the temporary nature of existence, my husband and I have each other in the here and now
We are doing better
Our relationship is thriving, despite the impermanence of life
It's always been just him and me
Our relationship has been strong and steady from the beginning
Together
We are united and inseparable
So I bet all I have on that
I have complete faith in our relationship and its future
Furrowed brow
Despite any outward appearances of concern or worry, we are committed to each other
And at least in this lifetime
For as long as we're alive and together
We're sticking together
We'll stay by each other's side, no matter what life brings
And I'm the idiot with the painted face
Sometimes I feel foolish or out of place
In the corner, taking up space
Feeling like I'm stuck in one place and not making progress
But when he walks in, I am loved, I am loved
Whenever my husband is around, I feel loved and cared for
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Mitsuki Laycock
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@aralyn9395
I steal a few breaths
From the world for a minute
And then i'll be nothing forever
And all of my memories
And all of the things i have seen
Will be gone
With my eyes with body with me
But me and my husband
We're doing better
Its always been just him and me
Together
So i bet all i have on that
Furrowed brow
And at least in this lifetime
We're sticking together
And am i the idiot with the painted face
in the corner, taking up space
but when he walks in, i am loved, i am loved
Me and my husband
We're doing better
It's always just been me and him
Together
So i bet all i have on that
Furrowed brow
And at least in this lifetime
We're sticking together
Me and my husband
We're doing better
@himikotoga5629
here is a story i wrote inspired by this song hope someone will see it
Waking up in the big white bed to see her husband’s back facing her. She smiled but soon as he turned to face her this smile faded. He looked at her with his cold empty gaze and close them again, she knew this was not a sign for her to return to sleep or cuddle in his embrace but a sign to go do her daily imposed routine the first task: cooking.
She took a few breaths before stepping in the kitchen… A place that remind her of so much memories. She wondered why is she doing this? why is her husband so cold? he was perfect…
When no one is around, he never looked at her with the warm smile he gave his friends and family…He is so perfect and nice with others but not with his wife. It’s true that this was an arrange marriage however HE chose her. He accepted. She wished he can love her like the first days if he ever did; she will never know his true self but she loves him; she does care she see him as a handsome, smart, gentleman.
She tried to look appealing and pretty as any stereotypical woman would, she tried to seduce him, but the only thing she had right to is a mocking laugh saying “stop playing with makeup like a little girl it’s not working”
for him she is just the dumb maid in the corner. She is nothing, and her husband is everything.
She hates him and loves him. Either ways they will stay together till death nothing matter more than. That hidden promise every marriage keeps and will forever. She will probably not make it but she will try till he loves her...she doesn’t know when and how but sometimes she thinks that it will be too late…
@ashliana1357
I think this song is about a woman codependent of her husband, she will only see her "worth" with him; without him she is just "nothing", and does everything she can to keep him: Hence the lyric "so I bet all I have on that".
"I bet all I have on that furrowed brow" obviously, people, that brow belongs to someone, and that someone sure is her husband! She gives everything and relies her self-worth to her husband.
Before the lines where her husband comes in the picture, and it's just the wife talking about herself in there. She often describes herself depressingly "nothing" when she is alone, especially the second part where she talks about just herself again "and I'm the idiot with a painted face, in the corner taking up space". You could blatantly see from there that she views herself negatively, she is insecure.
Everytime her husband pops up she feels loved, and when she is loved she gets to love herself. She cannot love herself alone.
Codependent, clingy, insecure wife to the husband to the point he is the only person she interacts with. She only gets a sense of worth with her husband, not from anyone else, and it's just her that's sticking onto him so much.
That's why in her view, it's only been him and her together.
@bellekragnye241
after a scary amount of thinking
i’ve come up with a theory
and whether mitski herself meant to actually do this or not, im actually shaken
notice how most of everything in the first verse doesn’t rhyme. minute, forever, seen. there’s not much to work with, and upon first listening, i assumed it was normal — after all, rhyme isn’t something mitski goes out of her way to prioritize. that is, until we make our way to the second verse.
the verse where mitski first begins singing about the husband.
you could even argue that the rhyming begins before that, with words “seen” and “me.”
the song goes on, and everything else seems to check out besides two specific lines: “so i bet all i have on that furrowed brow” and “but when he walks in, i am loved, i am loved.”
what i think this erratic rhyming pattern might represent is the fact the narrator’s husband has taken over their conscious mind. the beginning, where no rhyme could be found, took place before the “marriage” in question. the person telling the story was living to the beat of their own drum. however, as things start to rhyme again, you could come to the conclusion that this is where their “eyes, mind, and body” are gone. lines that go against the scheme and refuse to rhyme are like glimpses of their old self shining through, trying to break out. i also noticed that the music gets more intense at these parts that don’t rhyme, and are also immediately followed up with reassurance that their husband and them are going to stick together.
this person is manipulating themselves, and the rhyming (or lack of) is supposed to represent how the marriage has tamed them. their new personality is that of their husband’s. all they want to do is please him. although they may know/used to have known the drastic effect it’s had on them and their life, they’re consumed by the relationship. little of the person they used to be other than this husband-pleasing form of themself remains, except for in moments where they realize the weight of the situation, such as when they’re “betting everything they have on that furrowed brow” and the rhyme scheme is broken.
hlp me im not
this is not ok 🗿
@badninja752
I steal a few breaths
From the world for a minute
And then I'll be nothing forever
And all of my memories
And all of the things I have seen
Will be gone
With my eyes with my body with me
But me and my husband
We're doing better
It's always been just him and me
Together
So I bet all I have on that
Furrowed brow
And at least in this lifetime
We're sticking together
Me and my husband
We're sticking together
And I am the idiot with the painted face
In the corner, taking up space
But when he walks in, I am loved, I am loved
Me and my husband
We're doing better
It's always been just him and me
Together
So I bet all I have on that
Furrowed brow
And at least in this lifetime
We're sticking together
Me and my husband
We're sticking together
Me and my husband
We're doing better
@nam_eunpa
[Verse 1] 0:14
I steal a few breaths from the world for
브레스
a minute
미닛트
And then I'll be nothing forever
And all of my memories
And all of the things I have seen will be gone
With my eyes with my body with me
[Chorus]
But me and my husband
We are doing better
It's always been just him and me
Together
So I bet all I have on that
Furrowed brow
펄러우드. 브라우드
And at least in this lifetime
We're sticking together
Me and my husband
We're sticking together
[Verse 2]
And I'm the idiot with the painted face
이디에트
In the corner, taking up space
But when he walks in, I am loved, I am loved
[Chorus]
Me and my husband
We are doing better
It's always been just him and me
Together
So I bet all I have on that
Furrowed brow
And at least in this lifetime
We're sticking together
Me and my husband
We're sticking together
Me and my husband
We are doing better
@silenthiIIz
This song reminds me of my old best friend. We were so close, it was always just the two of us. She had no friends, neither did I. We just “stuck together” 0:36
One day, we had this really heated fight. Then she just told me “Go, I don’t need you. I have other people who actually care about me.” 0:20
I felt like I related to the “painted face” part. And the part where she mentioned that once he walked in, that’s when she felt loved, I felt like that was her anytime I needed her. 1:16
We’re not doing better. But we act like it, she’s blocked me on everything. I try talking to her, and make eye contact with her. She just looks away. 2:03
I wished I valued her more, she was the funniest yet sweetest person I ever met, and I regret everything, I still can’t forgive myself.
((One more thing. I asked her what she was listening to one day, and she said “Me and My Husband” I miss her more than anything in the world. it pains me more than anything to see her happy with her new friends, but i’m glad she’s happy. i’m literally tearing up while wring this lmao))
@clairedelune9612
The best thing about this song is that Mitski didnt cut out the breaths she took between lines,
so you can sing along with her
@karl4286
Now I’m extremely aware of the sound of her breathing lmao
@jaliceantonetti5685
@@karl4286 facts
@juliaruminska6437
@@karl4286 omg this
@pink..lemonadee
@@karl4286 same 😭😭😭
@arrowsinsilk
ur pfp is why i am here bdhhshd
@zozo-qo5dc
mitski is therapy
@emochxan3271
fr
@user6984
yes.
@MelanieLaraRmairez
Yea fr