My Hands Laid Bare
Temporary Basement Lyrics

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If I could possibly
Commit my heart down to print
Pencil, ink down for you
Document (within my head)
And catalog (arrays unsaid)
So I could give you
all the words I’ve held (in my palm years too long)

For each time I’ve turned ‘way my friends
From each call for help I heard
Oh even when mine was found

One permanent (etching of me)
photographs (apology)
In silken wrap bound with a
rubber band so here for you is

My hands bare for you.

Forget my past promises
From here I start vision new
I keep my eyes from my shoes

Embarassments (and forgeries)
And map my in (securities)

Start challenging myself where I gave up for gone
I give you

Overall Meaning

"My Hands Laid Bare" is a fairly introspective and reflective song by Temporary Basement. The singer of the song seems to be looking to confess a lot of long-held thoughts and feelings to someone, and they wish they could simply write it all out and hand it over. The first two lines of the song set the tone for the rest of the lyrics - "If I could possibly / Commit my heart down to print". This suggests that the songwriter can't seem to put their emotions into words all that easily. Despite this, they want to try anyway and catalog all the feelings and thoughts they've been holding onto for far too long.

The chorus of the song, "My hands bare for you", seems to summarize everything up nicely. The singer is 'laying bare' their thoughts and feelings for someone, effectively opening themselves up to emotional vulnerability. There are a couple of bits in the song, such as "Forget my past promises", that further suggest the songwriter has been holding onto some kind of baggage, and wants to start anew with this person.

Overall, "My Hands Laid Bare" is a song about emotional honesty and vulnerability. The songwriter wants to confess all the things they've been holding onto for years, and open themselves up to someone in a way they haven't before.

Line by Line Meaning

If I could possibly
If it were possible for me

Commit my heart down to print
To write down my feelings

Pencil, ink down for you
To write with pen and ink for you

Document (within my head)
To write down what is in my mind

And catalog (arrays unsaid)
And organize the unsaid thoughts

So I could give you
So that I can give you

all the words I’ve held (in my palm years too long)
All the words I've kept in my heart for too long

For each time I’ve turned ‘way my friends
For every time I've ignored my friends

From each call for help I heard
From each cry for help that I heard

Oh even when mine was found
Even when I found my own help

One permanent (etching of me)
One permanent representation of myself