From Counting Crows Storytellers on June 7th, 1999:
"There was this period where I got really, really sick of playing music
and I, I saved up some money from landscaping
and I bought a backpack and some boots
and me and a friend got tickets
and went over to Europe just to backpack around Europe
It was like the summer of 1989
I ended up on this Greek island and I met this girl named Anna
and I completely fell in love with her and I think vice versa
Which is a dumb thing to do in the middle of the summer on a Greek island
because the girl is from Australia and you're from California
and the last thing- you should have a fling, you know
But the last thing you need to do is fall in love with a girl from Australia
because you've got, you don't have years
You have weeks, you know
and then everyone goes home, you know.
We were kids and the plane tickets are too expensive
and you can't change these things, you know
and it was just really difficult
because no one wants to really cop to how important they feel about it
because it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a hole that you are gonna fall into, you know.
and so the song is really about denial, you know,
The characters in the song keep saying to each other
'No, no, I'm not ready for this sorta thing'
Until the very end when it's too late
and they realize what they really weren't ready for is the loss
and it's a terrible thing to find out because it's a, it's too late
Which is what it ended up being at that point
And it's, it's, it's funny she's married now and she's got a kid
and she still lives in Sydney and we still talk every once in a while, not too much
but whenever I talk to her she still tells me that she loves this song and I do too
This is, this is Anna Begins "
Adam's idea of denial in love makes the song real. Sometimes things don't always end as a fairy tale. In life sometimes the loss is what keeps with you and lingers. But love is there, even though it may have been unexpected. It's still there after it is over.
I also have another interpretation of the song for me personally. One of my daughters name is Anna. We named her after Anna Begins.
"And every time she sneezes I believe it's love and
I also have another interpretation of the song for me personally. One of my daughters name is Anna. We named her after Anna Begins.
"And every time she sneezes I believe it's love and
Oh lord, I'm not ready for this sort of thing"
Those lyrics really sums up for me how unexpected I felt about her. She wasn't unexpected but the late nights when I was with her and rocking her to sleep, I would think of this song.
