This has been bothering me since last night, since the song’s been stuck in my head and I can’t get it out. This is the line in question:
“If I lay here, if I just lay here,
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?”
It’s from Snow Patrol’s song Chasing Cars. I’m not sure if the title has any bearing on the meaning, but maybe it does. I apologize for even bringing it up since I’m sure some of you are sick of the song. It’s pleasant-sounding enough ( most of what I’ve heard by them fits this description), but if you hear it just a few times it can get stuck in your head.
Since it’s been going over and over a while in my head, it made me think about the grammar. To try and get it out, I tried to figure it out. Here’s the choices as I see them. (Note: for those who failed, or simply forgot, their grammar lessons, see the handy chart below.)
- lay(v.t.) - to set down (an object)
This reading of the line gives, “If I place [things] here, would you [have sex] with me etc.” There’s no question as to the meaning of the second part, since you can’t by both laying and just lying there at the same time (I know, some of you are saying, “You haven’t met my last girlfriend/boyfriend”). It’s okay, if a bit unusual, to omit the object to indicate generic laying of unknown objects. But this precludes any sense of “lie with me” where it’s the same as what he’s already doing (laying). Except possibly the case where ‘lay’ in the first part refers to generic sex with unknown persons or objects. So either way, the singer is requesting sex, whether she’s into orgies or has some kinky turn-ons.
-
lay - past tense of lie (to occupy or a adopt a position)
This is a more charitable reading, and may be close to what the singer’s going for. This requires it to be past subjunctive, though, which sounds kind of weird to me. It’s suggestive of another event, almost a lack of control over being laid there. In other words, maybe he’s dead. I don’t deny that that’s a workable interpretation of the song. But I think the present subjunctive would have been better (“If I lie here”). It gets that point across while allowing a twisted interpretation of the line, in which he invites her to join in his escapist fantasy that they both know is a sham. To me, that’s better than two dogs contemplating a suicide pact. -
lay [me]
This usually is in the slightly archaic phrase “lay me down”, but I suppose that “lay me” could be used the same way. There’s no confusion as with, for example, “blow me down”. Unlike option 1, though, it’s hard to interpret this without an explicit object, so I’ll disregard it. Even if it might be, again, what they thought they were trying to say. -
This is obviously some Scottish thing.
Never mind that most of the band members aren’t Scottish (which apparently means they’re crap). I’m willing to accept that.
Handy chart o’ verb forms:
meaning Present Past Present Participle Past Participle
to occupy or
adopt
a position,
often flat lie lay lying lain
to set into
position lay laid laying laid
to intentionally
speak falsely lie lied lying lied