you have tamed me, now you must take me.

"Baobabs" by Regina Spektor

It's my belief that this beautiful song is based on The Little Prince by Antoine de St. Exupery. Regina makes references to Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, and Hemmingway in some of her other songs so I know she is a literature junkie. Unlike the other songs, this one is kind of secret in its being about The Little Prince. Instead of ever directly saying what it's about, she makes subtle references to the thorns, the sunsets, allowing yourself to be tamed (willingly or by accident), and, of course, the baobabs - the sensitive aspects that landmark the lives of The Little Prince and The Flower, but weren't strong enough to hold them together. I think any girl who's ever read that book has a really special understanding of The Flower, and it's really beautifully captured in this song - the tender side of The Flower, the side you don't get to see very much in the book. It's nice to know that Regina understood it. That's why I love her so much. She's very heartfelt.

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“In those days, I didn’t understand anything. I should have judged her according to her actions, not her words. She perfumed my planet and lit up my life. I should never have run away! I ought to have realized the tenderness underlying her silly pretensions. Flowers are so contradictory! But I was too young to know how to love her.”

-The Little Prince, Antoine de St. Exupery

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You have tamed me,

now you must take me.

How am I supposed to be?

I don't have my thorns now.

And I feel them sprouting,

they'll grow right through if I don't watch it,

they'll grow right through even if I watch it,

and a sunset couldn't save me now.

These baobabs, and baobabs, and baobabs some more,

but you can't out-wait fate.

-r.s.

a painting I did for Antoine some time back.