Pavlov’s Bell

One of my favourite song is Pavlov’s Bell. I really am not sure what it means though. I did however come a step closer to figuring it out when Janet wrote this post, which mentioned “Pavlov’s Dog”. So I looked up Pavlov’s Dog and it turns out that Ivan Pavlov won a Nobel prize in Physiology or Medicine¹ for his work with dogs and their reflexes, especially salivating when they are preparing to eat dinner. He noticed that the dogs salivated at the sight of lab coats because those that fed them dinner wore lab coats; so he started ringing a bell when they were given dinner and then hearing a bell ring would make the dogs salivate. His work is recognised for the idea that reflexes and responses can be conditioned.

So the words of Pavlov’s Bell are:

Oh, Mario,
Sit here by the window;
Stay here ’til we reach Idaho,
And when we go, hold my hand on take-off.
Tell me what I already know:

That we can’t talk about it.
No, we can’t talk about it.

Because nobody knows,
that’s how I nearly fell,
trading clothes
and ringing Pavlov’s Bell.
History shows
there’s not a chance in hell.

But, oh, Mario, we’re only to Ohio.
It’s kinda getting harder to breathe.
I won’t let it show,
I’m all about denial
But can’t denial let me believe

That we could talk about it?
But we can’t talk about it

Because nobody knows,
that’s how I nearly fell,
trading clothes
and ringing Pavlov’s Bell.
History shows
but rarely shows it well.

Well, well, well

Oh, Mario, why if this is nothing,
I’m finding it’s so hard to dismiss.
If you’re what I need,
then only you can save me,
so come on baby give me the fix

and let’s just talk about it.
I’ve got to talk about it.

Because nobody knows.
that’s how I nearly fell,
trading clothes
and ringing Pavlov’s Bell.
History shows
like it was show and tell

So tell me…

That’s how I nearly fell…

by ringing Pavlov’s bell…

So, baby, show and tell…

Oh, Mario, Mario

I’m thinking that maybe it’s about drug addiction. Perhaps “ringing Pavlov’s Bell” is about having withdrawals. Aimee Mann sometimes sings about drug addiction as a straight drug thing but sometimes it’s also a metaphor for the other things that hide within us, that can sometimes cause us to despair, things that other people don’t understand. It would also be true that things like addictions sometimes seem like a taboo topic – we can’t talk about it.