Such Great Heights



Song on repeat at the moment:
I am thinking it's a sign that the freckles
In our eyes are mirror images and when
We kiss they're perfectly aligned
And I have to speculate that God himself
Did make us into corresponding shapes like
Puzzle pieces from the clay

True, it may seem like a stretch, but
It's thoughts like this that catch my troubled
Head when you're away when I am missing you to death

- The Postal Service, "Such Great Heights" (Available for download on the band's Sub Pop site)
I've never understood the "freckles in our eyes" bit - do people have eye freckles? But ahhh..... what a song. Non-cynical, heart on sleeve, and yet perfectly balanced so that it doesn't tip over into mawkishness. And yes, it's not new, and I've had it in my playlist for AGES, but for some reason it still feels fresh.

Comments

The Screwy Skeptic said…
I looove those first 3 lines. Too bad I'm beginning to grow weary of their electronic pop.
22 August 2005 at 22:01
Anonymous said…
I think the best Postal Service lyrics have to be from Nothing Better.. It's just so.. real. It's been on my playlist for the longest time.
22 August 2005 at 22:56
Anonymous said…
I think the best Postal Service lyrics have to be from Nothing Better.. It's just so.. real. It's been on my playlist for the longest time.
22 August 2005 at 22:56
Anonymous said…
Eh I think the freckles in the eyes part only apply to the ang moh with light coloured eyes. Cos u will notice that blue eyes are not just wholly blue, they got some dark specks around it...
If u watched enough chick flicks where the characters stares into one another's eyes, you'll notice...
22 August 2005 at 23:50
Daryl said…
screwy - yes, those lines are ridiculously good.

randy - I will still vote for "Such Great Heights", but I can understand the love for Nothing Better.

ah tan - Really? None of my exes had freckles in their eyes. Or perhaps I was really not observant, which is an equally distinct possibility.
23 August 2005 at 09:08
Michael McClung said…
Some people do have a sort of swirly, speckly pattern to their irises, but I suspect that, in the case of this particular lyric, he/she might be referring to what my grandma called a 'mote'- it's like a tiny flaw in the iris'pattern'. Fairly unusual, but not unheard of. It's distinctive, and thus if two people had the same 'mote' or 'freckle', it would be noteworthy.

There's actually a fantasy book that borows this theme. The author calls it a 'dart' instead of a mote or a freckle, because it's in teh shape ofa dart.Can't think of the author, but the book is called 'Kushiel's Dart'
23 August 2005 at 11:53
Anonymous said…
Hur hur.. Postal Service rawks!

(did i just say that?)
23 August 2005 at 11:58
Anonymous said…
I'm not at all a fan of this genre of music, but those are some beyond fantastic lyrics. Wow.

- tinymich
29 August 2005 at 16:39
Daryl said…
mercer - that is indeed a distinct possibility - thanks!

la idler and mich - indeed. indeed.
30 August 2005 at 13:07
Anonymous said…
I have freckles on the white part of my eyes. It's an odd thing...when I was a kid Mum noticed them and took me to the eye doctor he said that is what they are...freckles....but the sond writer is probably referring to the speckles in the iris that many people have....unless he too has eye freckles???
26 September 2005 at 02:27
Anonymous said…
I have a freckle in my eye, its like a freckle on your skin, a different colored spot in the iris.
4 February 2006 at 17:52
Anonymous said…
i have freckles in my eye, coming out of my iris, in the white part... im currently googling it because i might have a conjectuanl nevus tumor or someshit. i heart this album tho..
20 June 2006 at 16:03
Anonymous said…
OMG they used that in a M&M commercial
28 July 2006 at 00:16
Anonymous said…
I've only just started listening to the Postal Service, but I love them dearly.
They're music fits my over-all day-to-day mood perfectly, this song especially.
15 October 2006 at 10:23
Anonymous said…
Yes, I have to say, such great heights is my favourite song ever. I love the lyrics, such great imagery. The district sleeps alone tonight and nothing better follows closely behind though :).

By the way I do know someone with 'freckles' in their eyes, he has light blue eyes with little golden specks in them.
21 October 2006 at 17:55
Anonymous said…
Hmn, the way I understood the freckle part was that they both have freckles in their faces, which are then reflected in the eyes. That is, when you look closely at someone's eyes you are staring back at your own reflection (sort of) and if you have freckles and she has freckles then you both would have reflections with freckles in the eyes.
12 February 2007 at 15:44
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