Does she know I sing?

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I could be being ridiculously idiotic here but what is the line "does she know I sing?" all about in diminished. If anyone has any answers or ideas I'd be grateful.

-- Dodge (mellow_maniac_uk@hotmail.com), June 27, 2000

Answers

I always thought (though i may be wrong) that stipe was kind of asking a woman to love him or something, and he was saying 'does she know i sing' as an argument, tryting to persuade her to say yes, as though his fame and musical talent should count for something. I don't know really, thats just my interpretation, i expect other people have different ones, guess thats one of the things that makes rem such a fantastic band.

bye,

-- mark (MarkStephenBell@hotmail.com), June 27, 2000.


i think michael is in love with someone he has yet to meet. i think he connects with a deep love in dreaming and that he wonders if she knows he sings in the waking life. michael seems to be a genuine believer in alternative reality such as dreaming. of course this is my opinion and not a statement. ok thanks

-- ria (deepwater@yahoo.com), June 27, 2000.

I've interpreted this whole song as a persona piece, as most (all?) of Stipe's songs are in recent years (ever?). Anyhow, I think the main character is about to go on the stand or face trial for murder or some other crime that he may or may not have committed. He's considering how best to present himself to the jury. "Sing" is also slang for ratting someone out. "Does she know I sing?" in other words could be "Does she know I'm a rat(infomant)?"

-- Amy (AZNovel@aol.com), July 01, 2000.

Thanks everyone who answered it makes more sense now (whichever way you look at it)

-- Dodge (mellow_maniac_uk@hotmail.com), July 03, 2000.

well, maybe it's me that's completely off the mark then, I still think there is a more plausable explanation though.

The way I see it, Diminished is a song about Justice and mitigation during a criminal trial. This would explain "I think I pushed" being "Crazy" and "Diminished" are both excuses used in court to justify why someone would kill. He would then have to "Consult the law books for precedence" on which to argue. You would have to "give your best" to make the jury believe you were innocent.

This brings me to the point of the answer - the line

Do they know I sing"

As with all the other excuses put forward, he is trying to think of a way of getting off with the crime. Since OJ Simson et al seem to be able to get away with murder - literally- because of their fame, the protagonist is wondering if because he sings the jury will go easy on him. The "She" in the line isn't a she at all, simply a personification of justice.

Hope that clears everything up

(Hope I'm not so far off the mark it's painfull)

-- Jon Kinsey (eeg@btinternet.com), July 08, 2000.



I think it' about someone coming on ti michael and him asking himself is she just there because she knows he is famous or is it because she genuinly likes him

-- darragh (lotus85@another.com), July 31, 2000.

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