Paperback is an acoustic rock song from the alternative rock band Snow, off of their debut album. It gained notoriety when alternative metal band Wisdom Tree covered it for their 2001 album Menace Sunday.
Meaning[]
The concept of the song came when the band learned that one of their former classmates hung himself. They recalled that the student was highly apathetic and it was foretold that he would die at some point. It's a cynical approach to what goes through one's mind before they ultimately kill themselves.
Lyrics[]
You wanted Venice
I gave you Cheyenne
Give me my peace
Or I'll suffer again
If you treated me better
I'd make it through the day
Now should I just fade away
Or rub elbows with the greats
(chorus)
I'd go the way
Of my tome
Like my hope from years ago
x2
You say that I will make it
But just for how long?
You take my inhibitions
And make me feel so wrong
You say that I'm not sane
That I could still get better
Yet you change your mind
As much as Yellow Ledbetter
(chorus)
I've trotted holy ground
I took the high road
How could I have regret
When there's so little I've known
I couldn't take my time
Fought back off the dime
Will I be forgiven
When I reach my time?
(solo)
Wisdom Tree Cover[]
Wisdom Tree covered the song for their 2001 album Menace Sunday.
Music Videos[]
The first music video, by Snow, is a recording of a live performance at Central Park, interspersed with footage of the band on vacation in Hawaii with their faces blurred out.
Two videos were made for the Wisdom Tree cover. The first, for the promotional release, featured the band performing in a boiler room and featured distortion and washed-out colors. The second video featured the spirit of a young man who watches his family attempting to resuscitate his real body. Throughout the video, there're cuts to items such as a rope and pills, which hints at how he died and scenes of the band performing the song in a bathroom. The video ends with the family leaving the room and the man re-entering his body.