Penelope Scott: Sweet Hibiscus Tea Meaning

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Sweet Hibiscus Tea Lyrics

Here's the thing, I can't do anything right
Try as I absolutely, totally might
The bones are melting, the skeleton is ash
The clavicle detaches and falls with a deafening crash
And I'm not your protagonist
I'm not even my own
I don't know...

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   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jul 8th 2021 report

   this song really symbolizes suffocating expectations of others to me. "here's the thing: I can't do anything right" it sounds like she's explaining to someone that she's nowhere near as capable as she is expected to be. and then just the weight of "I am not your protagonist, I'm not even my own". the listener cannot expect her to save them when she cannot save herself. this song really heavily resonates w only child and oldest sister vibes to me.

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   #2 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Mar 7th 2021 report

   The song is about moving to a new place and you haven’t quite made it your own yet. There’s a certain feeling of helplessness and simultaneous unrealness when you’ve moved and you don’t know how you feel about where you are. I absolutely love this song. when i first moved to my dads house i was absolutely devastated my first night there and despite feeling like i was lying in the middle of what felt like another dimension my most distinct memory of that first night is the hot cup of tea that they had made for me before i got there. i might’ve missed something about the song but this is at least the part about it that i picked up and focus on.

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   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Aug 20th 2021 report

   I always thought this was about depression because if you listen to the words, it sounds like someone who has fallen in so deep to their depression their losing sight of reality. "I'm not your protagonist, I'm not even my own," many with depression struggle to feel like they have control of their life, meaning the "protagonist" in this case is just that control they feel they have lost. And "Waxy leaves," "glitching leaves," "the artificial way," when you fall deep into depression, stuff feels almost unreal, fake, artificial; to the point you question if life itself even is real anymore. And finally "my heart catches on every thorn, you're already halfway out the door" with depression you sometimes feel your heart is no longer a heart after all you've been through, but a beaten disfiguration of what used to be a beating thing, as well as that with depression it feels like you're all alone, hence why I put the whole thing here instead of just the heart part. But that could just be because I struggle with severe depression, who knows who's even right or wrong, any interpretations deserve to be heard.
4. anonymous

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   Nov 11th 2021 report

   i believe that it’s about how we’re ruining the planet but humans always think “this little piece of trash won’t make a difference” but the fact of us just existing is ruining our plant and that humans were the most destructive thing that’s existed. which is why i think through the chorus she explains it how we don’t think anything of ourselves but of how much destruction we’re doing in reality. i also think that’s why there’s no blurred line from were ruining our world to i feel like i’m nothing to demonstrate the unawareness we have between our mark on the world
5. anonymous

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   Jul 21st 2021 report

   A person whom lost in a war or something staring at the rubble of no man's land, and now their home town is being colonized.
6. anonymous

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   Mar 24th 2021 report

   Originally, I thought it was about the environment deteriorating. “Waxy, glitching leaves, hot garbage pile, artificial, sunlight”

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