Regina Spektor - Buildings (11:11)

Regina's "Buildings", another song from her old 11:11 album.

--

He was a husband who drove his wife home drunk from the parties
He was a husband who drove his wife home
And in the car, he would lean her head gently against the side-door window
And in the bathroom, he would hold her hair back and hope

Saying, oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Ohh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
So tall these days

And in the morning, she'd wake up and
Crouch recollections all day, but
She would always, always wake up the next morning
He'd take one look at her and say,
"oh oh, it's okay"
And her conscience would issue yet another last warning

Saying, oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Ohh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
So tall these days

And she would ask for time
And she'd ask for time
And she'd ask for time
And she'd ask for time
And she would beg for time
And she'd beg for time
And call it a gift
And he would give her time
And he'd give her time
And he'd give her time
And he'd give her time
But time is not given and time is not taken
It just sifts through its sift
But time is not given and time is not taken
It just sifts through its sift...

Sifts through it's sift
Just sifts through its sift
Oh...
Sifts through its sift
Just sifts through its sift

When we had coffee and coffee and coffee and coffee
And coffee and coffee some more
He'd go to work, and she'd take a sick day and rot at the core
And by the time he came back, she'd scrubbed the bathrooms and made them smell like pine
It would be almost as if nothing had happened
And he'd give her time, oh,
oh, and he'd give her time

Saying, oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Oh, don't they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
Oh, they build buildings
So tall these days

And she would ask for time
And she'd ask for time
And she'd ask for time
She'd beg for time
And she would beg for time
And she'd beg for time
And call it a gift
And he would give her time
And he'd give her time
And he'd give her time
And he'd give her time
But time is not given and time is not taken
It just sifts through its sift
But time is not given and time is not taken
It just sifts through its sift...

Oh, sifts through its sift
Sifts through its sift
Ohhh-oo-ooooh
Oh, sifts through its sift
Sifts through its sift

He was a husband
Drove, Time
Home, Time
Car, oh, core
Core sick day
Pour coffee
Core warning
Last warning
He was a husband
Time, Pine
Scrub, Scrub
Bathroom, Lean
Hair, Back
Car, Window
Hope, Time Give
Don't they
Build buildings
Tall these days

• Category

  Music

[RobertaIBetti]

This song doesn't end good. Listen how the random words in the end give an idea of this woman falling from the tallest building in town...

[John Connor]

I don't see this song as the man feeling he wants to end his ordeal with his wife with a tall building as some have suggested... That's too blunt for Regina. I see this as "They build buildings so tall these days" meaning, if they can build such a structure, then I can put up with this. Maybe I am naive, but I see Regina as seeing such a struggle and not envisioning murder on the loving husband's mind, but as sympathizing with his difficulty in dealing with an alcoholic wife.

[Milla Chaney]

You are so right, that's exactly how I see it too. "Her conscious would issue yet another last warning, saying "they build buildings, oh they build buildings, oh they build buildings so tall these days" The wife tells herself she can give it up because people can build buildings so tall. It's a way of telling themselves they can do anything.

[JCLmin]

JESUS CHRIST IS LORD -

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Turn to Jesus Christ - Ask JESUS CHRIST to save you

[Lisette Gamboa]

LA AMOOOOOO!!

[Hunter Stephenson]

She's singing so oddly in this song?

[Nicolas Duncan]

Hey! I know most of you skip these comments, but it would mean a lot if you kept reading. I am a singer and pianist, and musicians like Regina Spektor, Tori Amos, Kate Nash, etc. have influenced me so much. I would really appreciate if you would check out some of my videos.

Thanks,

Nicolas Duncan

[cynopt]

The ending to this song always reminded me of how, like in the end of some movies, they replay earlier scenes in reverse, as a way to summarize the whole movie or like when a character has a sudden realization and all of the earlier scenes come flooding back to them in broken parts. I dunno.

[LamqaddamHouda]

Fucking spoiler

[UltraMan4Life7009]

I think this song is about an alcoholic wife and a patient husband, by pull her hair she means the husband is always there when she's about to vomit. The reason why she says "they build buildings so tall these days" means that the wife drunkenly falls out of the window while cleaning the bathroom.

[Caitlin Gilligan]

This is what I got from the song too...she's just fabulous isn't she?

[Delfina Peralta]

This song breaks my heart.