Modest Mouse – A Different City

"A Different City" as written by and Brock/judy/green....
I want to live in the city with no friends or family
I'm gonna look out the window of my color TV
I will remember to remember to forget you
Forgot me
I'm gonna look out the window of my color TV

Through the cracks in the wall
Slow motion for all
Dripped out of the bar
Someone smart said nothing at all
I'm watching TV
I guess that's a solution
They gave me a receipt that said I didn't buy nothing
So rust is a fire
And our blood oxidizes
My eyes roll around all around on the carpet
Oh hit the deck
It's the decal man
standing upside down and talking out of his pants

Through the cracks in the wall
Slow motion for all
Left holding the ball and a part for your car


Lyrics submitted by PLANES

"A Different City" as written by Isaac Brock Eric Judy

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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A Different City song meanings
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  • +8
    General Comment"They gave me a receipt that said I didn't buy nothing." When you die, you can't take anything with you. Not your money, not your knowledge, not even your physical body. It's like you spent your entire life filling these shopping bags that you never even get to leave the store with.
    AllChokedUpon June 02, 2011   Link
  • +3
    General CommentI think this talks about how we all isolate ourselves, but its sung in a sarcastic way. Like why would we really want to be alone when we feel like sh*t? Wasting time watching TV so we dont have to pay attention to the shit right outside the window. Everything is filtered out and you can watch exactly what you want on TV, or you can sleep, and not listen to the people around you (the decal man i guess). Specially that family sh*t that drives everyone nuts, and asshole friends who dont care.
    highgy946on January 23, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Commentgraham never existed
    it was just something brock made up so he could do a side project on the same label.
    im smart
    racecargrinon October 10, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Commentthe song says why the fuck deal with the shit of the world when you can just sit at home and watch it on tv... afterall, it is the "window" to our society isnt it?... oh yeah and the guy that is smart cause he says nothing at all refers to how much our voices actually mean in society. why ramble about some lameass purpose when its doesnt even matter in the scheme of our imperialistically run lives?
    istoleherdigitson January 10, 2005   Link
  • +2
    General CommentI don't know but ive been told
    you'll never die and you'll never grow old is in mary janes last dance but its a little different in the tom petty song its "i don't know but ive been told, you'll never slow down, and youll never grow old"
    maybe isaac is a tom petty fan, or maybe just a mary jane fan
    ImAHotDanceron May 21, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI feel like this everyday. =\
    BeatJunkie08on March 22, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General CommentOne more time for all to hear...racecargrin touched on it earlier-- The crazy guy known as "Ugly Casanova" never existed. Isaac wanted to put out an album on another label but owed one to the label that he already had a deal with. So he cooked up this story so that he could say that it wasnt his intellectual property, so that he could shop the album around to other labels.

    Too bad the labels didnt fall for this as much as the fans did.

    I never thought about it as a guy going away to college, but it does make sense. The song is obviously about boredom, disillusionment, and loneliness regardless of the setting. Great music and lyrics.
    Bellyfull of Swanson January 11, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General CommentIt's about living a life different from what has been around you for so long. It's about figuring things out on your own and only seeing carpets and tv screens and decks and people that interrupt your bland but private reality and don't really say anything and mean even less than anything they invaded that you've made your own. It's about watching the world from a lonley, new place and time being completley unapparent as you gain a new perspective on everything around you.
    love_is_freeon July 28, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI agree with highgy946. Its about isolation. I just love the instrumentaion of this song. Its fucken great.
    melancholic_punkon August 12, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Commentthis song and the entire cd "the moon and antarctica" are actually about a man named Graham/Cassanova. he was a mentally unstable, fanatical modest mouse fan who befriended the band and then dissapeared. the songs on the cd are about how his progress and regress in mental health and the way that isaac thinks that he felt.
    virginia_wolfe364on August 31, 2002   Link
    • 2 Replies

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