Anna Begins [Song]

So, I guess everybody has a big book of great lyrics. Maybe its unwritten, but it's there, at least for everyone who really likes music. So I'm gonna start writing about mine, one song at a time. I've always been more touched by lyrics than melody. I really agree with people that say that a tune catches your attention because of how it sounds but you will listen to it over and over again only if the lyrics gets to you. And I'm gonna try and pick a few of my favorite lyrics to write about here. Let's start with Anna Begins, by Counting Crows.
First, a little context: this song is in the August and Everything After album, the one with Mr. Jones, certainly Counting Crow's most famous song. This album came out in 1993, and it's one of my favorite '90s album. And Anna Begins is my favorite tune on that album. I put a link to last.fm, sadly they don't have the whole song on-line but to hear to a piece of it, just press the play button.

Here are the lyrics:

My friend assures me, "It's all or nothing."
I am not worried
I am not overly concerned
My friend implores me, "For one time only,
make an exception." I am not worried
Wrap her up in a package of lies
Send her off to a coconut island
I am not worried I am not overly concerned
with the status of my emotions
"Oh," she says, "you're changing."
But we're always changing It does not bother me to say this isn't love
Because if you don't want to talk about it then it isn't love
And I guess I'm going to have to live with that
But I'm sure there's something in a shade of grey,
Something in between,
And I can always change my name
If that's what you mean

My friend assures me, "It's all or nothing."
But I am not really worried I am not overly concerned
You try to tell yourself the things you try to tell yourself
To make yourself forget I am not worried
"If it's love," she said, "then we're going to have to think about the consequences."
She can't stop shaking
I can't stop touching her and...
This time when kindness falls like rain
It washes her away and Anna begins to change her mind
"These seconds when I'm shaking leave me shuddering for days," she says
And I'm not ready for this sort of thing

But I'm not going to break and I'm not going to worry about it anymore
I'm not going to bend, and I'm not going to break and I'm not going to worry about it anymore
It seems like I should say, "As long as this is love..."
But it's not all that easy so maybe I should
Snap her up in a butterfly net Pin her down on a photograph album
I am not worried I've done this sort of thing before
But then I start to think about the consequences
Because I don't get no sleep in a quiet room and...

The time when kindness falls like rain
It washes me away and Anna begin s to change my mind
And every time she sneezes I believe it's love and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

She's talking in her sleep
It's keeping me awake and Anna begins to toss and turn
And every word is nonsense but I understand and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

Her kindness bangs a gong
It's moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It's chasing me away
She disappears and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

The song basically has three "acts" in which the narrator becomes increasingly aware that what is happening between himself and "Anna" is indeed love. He seems at first unworried. Later he notices that she is starting to think that it's love and

"If it's love," she said, "then we're going to have to think about the consequences."

They knew from the start that their relationship had no future. Finally he becomes painfully aware of what it all means, that he does love her

It seems like I should say, "As long as this is love..."

and that there is no solution.

Her kindness bangs a gong
It's moving me along and Anna begins to fade away
It's chasing me away
She disappears and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing

It's so sad, and intense and real... and it's apparently based on Adam's own experience while backpacking somewhere (through Europe, I assume... do people even backpack somewhere else??)... he actually fell in love with someone, but they lived too far for any kind of relationship to be feasible between students with no money at all... and later when he become famous and made this song about her, she was already married with a whole other life... well, time doesn't stop even when maybe it should.