Farewell to Arms

File:Front views of the Venus de Milo.jpg

Venus de Milo by Alexandros of Antioch, 150-125 BCE

Lyrics

Love that lasts forever is a myth So I pray Venus guide me As I stare into the eyes of the one I'm with Whoever is lying beside me

Venus de Milo is a statue we all know Of the goddess of love She lost her arms in a wrestling match She was wrestling for love

Farewell to arms (farewell to arms) Farewell to feeling love to each other (farewell) Forever

Farewell to arms (farewell to arms) Farewell to holding onto love (farewell to love)

Farewell to arms (aah) Farewell to holding onto each other (farewell to each other) Forever

They're holding onto love (aah, aah, to love)

The gods gave Pandora beauty They also gave her curiosity She's the one who opened the box That held all the ills The last to escape was the worst of them all It was hope Hope kills

Farewell to arms (farewell to arms) Farewell to holding onto each other (farewell) Forever

Farewell to arms (farewell to arms) Farewell to holding onto love (farewell to love)

Farewell to arms (aah) Farewell to loving until ? (farewell to each other)

Farewell to holding onto love Farewell to holding onto love Farewell to holding onto love

Chronology

• Chemistry
  • Mayo Thompson - vocals
  • Stephen Prina - additional vocals
  • Singles

Retrospectives

Mayo Thompson, 2006

This is one of 'em songs that's abstract. I don't really think this about love. I just wrote this because I was in a cynical mood, y'know what I'm saying? You know how you get sometimes? You get in love and, y'know, you get cynical. What's that about love? It's nothin' 'bout love. It's about people, it's about me. I never [...] blame love. Love didn't do anything, it's just me.

Interpretations

• The famous ancient Greek statue Venus de Milo was discovered incomplete, lacking both arms
• "She lost her arms in a wrestling match" is a reference to Chuck Berry's 1956 song "Brown-Eyed Handsome Man"
  • "Marlo Venus was a beautiful lass / She had the world in the palm of her hand / She lost both her arms in a wrestling match / To meet a brown eyed handsome man"
  • Some covers of the song use "Milo de Venus" instead of "Marlo Venus"
• "A Farewell to Arms" is a 1929 Ernest Hemingway novel and a 1590 poem
• The third verse describes Pandora's Box

Live recordings

Show
October 9, 1999
April 21, 2000	video
March 20, 2005
August 6, 2006
October 15, 2006
December 13, 2006