Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles) Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I am waiting 'til I don't know when
'Cause I'm sure it's gonna happen then
Time keeps creepin' through the neighborhood
Killing old folks, waking up babies just like we knew it would
[Verse 2]
All the neighbors are starting up a fire
Burning all the old folks, the witches and the liars
My eyes are covered by the hands of my unborn kids
But my heart keeps watching through the skin of my eyelids
[Chorus 1]
They say a watched pot won't ever boil
Well I closed my eyes and nothing changed
Just some water getting hotter in the flames
[Verse 3]
It's not a lover I want no more
And it's not heaven I'm pining for
But there's some spirit I used to know
That's been drowned out by the radio!
[Chorus 2]
They say a watched pot won't ever boil
You can't raise a baby on motor oil
Just like a seed down in the soil, you've got to give it time
I am waiting 'til I don't know when
'Cause I'm sure it's gonna happen then
Time keeps creepin' through the neighborhood
Killing old folks, waking up babies just like we knew it would
[Verse 2]
All the neighbors are starting up a fire
Burning all the old folks, the witches and the liars
My eyes are covered by the hands of my unborn kids
But my heart keeps watching through the skin of my eyelids
[Chorus 1]
They say a watched pot won't ever boil
Well I closed my eyes and nothing changed
Just some water getting hotter in the flames
[Verse 3]
It's not a lover I want no more
And it's not heaven I'm pining for
But there's some spirit I used to know
That's been drowned out by the radio!
[Chorus 2]
They say a watched pot won't ever boil
You can't raise a baby on motor oil
Just like a seed down in the soil, you've got to give it time
About
Genius Annotation
Perhaps the most understated of all of the “Neighboorhood” tracks from Funeral, “7 Kettles” is Butler’s reflection on the inevitable passage of time. The ‘watched pot’ in the refrain is time itself. Butler says that people feel that they can stop time if they ‘watch’ it or focus on a particular moment, but regardless of whether his eyes are closed or not, the passage of time is inevitable. On “Kettles” he switched from cliché to oddity in a single line and the effect is oddly moving.
They say a watched pot never boils/ you can’t raise a baby on motor oil."
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 5.Neighborhood #4 (7 Kettles)
- 7.Wake Up
- 8.Haiti
- 10.In the Backseat
Credits
Produced By
Written By
Vocals
Recorded At
Hotel2Tango
Release Date
September 14, 2004
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