The band's 2003 album Up All Night reached the top five of the Australian Albums Chart, it achieved double platinum status and won four ARIA Awards in October. Two further top five albums were issued, Sun Dirt Water in 2007 and Temptation in 2011. The Waifs have three top fifty singles, "London Still" (2002), "Bridal Train" (2004) and "Sun Dirt Water". The band supported Bob Dylan on his 2003 Australian tour and then his 2003 North American tour, including a gig at the Newport Folk Festival.
The Waifs founded the independent label Jarrah Records in July 2002, co-owned with fellow musician John Butler, and their common manager Phil Stevens, which handles their Australian releases.
Jealousy
The Waifs Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you come in from the cold I'll still be warm for you
And I won't be bending backwards like you never done for me
When you look at what's left inside
You've only got your jealousy
It's wearing me thin, all this trying to please
I'm looking within and I can see for miles
And I'm trying to grin as I'm trying to please
I keep looking within, you know I can still see for miles
If you go and play your games of jealousy
Like a player in a show you never gonna wait around for what remains
I don't want to deal with that again
It's your jealousy baby
You got to lose it
The Waifs's Jealousy is a timeless piece of music that perfectly captures human emotions of love, jealousy, and the desire to move on. The first few lines of the song show the singer's acceptance of a breakup, even though it is hard to let go of a relationship: “Now's the time you're leaving, you got to do what you got to do. When you come in from the cold, I'll still be warm for you”. The next line seems like a rebuttal of the ex-partner's behavior towards her during the relationship, where the singer highlights that she won’t be as accommodating anymore when the ex-partner comes back: “And I won't be bending backwards, like you never done for me”.
In the chorus, the singer talks about how the ex-partner's only the memory they will have of their time together, and it's only their jealousy that they will be left with: “When you look at what's left inside, you've only got your jealousy”. Towards the end of the song, the singer exhorts the ex-partner to let go of their jealousy and move on with their life while acknowledging her efforts to move forward: “It's your jealousy baby, you got to lose it”.
Line by Line Meaning
Now's the time you're leaving you got to do what you got to do
I understand it's time for you to go and do what's necessary
When you come in from the cold I'll still be warm for you
I'll still be here for you, no matter what you're going through
And I won't be bending backwards like you never done for me
I won't go above and beyond for you like I used to when you never did the same for me
When you look at what's left inside
Take a look at what's left in your heart
You've only got your jealousy
The only thing that remains is your jealousy
It's wearing me thin, all this trying to please
I'm tired of constantly trying to make you happy
I'm looking within and I can see for miles
I'm trying to understand my own feelings and see the bigger picture
And I'm trying to grin as I'm trying to please
I'm forcing a smile as I continue trying to please you
I keep looking within, you know I can still see for miles
I'm still trying to understand my own emotions and see the bigger picture
If you go and play your games of jealousy
If you continue to act jealous and play games
Like a player in a show you never gonna wait around for what remains
Like an actor in a production, you won't wait for anything else to happen
I don't want to deal with that again
I don't want to go through that kind of behavior from you again
It's your jealousy baby
The problem is your jealousy
You got to lose it
You need to get rid of it
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Peter William Ham, Thomas Evans
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ermagerd101
I found The Waifs (along with Xavier Rudd) through Southern Queensland evening radio. What a discovery! They will always remain on my playlist.