You just have to be sure you're doing the right thing
I mean it's very easy to forget
She's just sitting there in the pub with her new friends
And her new life and her new hair
And it's been five years but you'd know just to look at her

I wasn't even sure it were her at first
I was ready to walk away but she smiled
And called me over and we said hello for a bit
When we back to our tables

We were trying not to look over at each other
And told our friends to stop staring
I didn't see her for the rest of the night
But by closing time the beer's kicked in

So I go up and speak to her
And we end up talking about our new homes
Our new jobs and our new birds

She says she's been going out with him now
For about two and a half years
But they don't live together so he'd never find out
And you think about chasing her about school

When you were wee and lying in your bed
And listening to love songs
And pretending they were about you
And the first time you asked her out

She said no but one night you went to a wedding
And when you came back to the pub
She's changed her mind and you went out
You remember the way she swung her arms

When she held your hand
But you can't remember how she kissed
And now you've got the chance to find out

But you have to remember there's this other kiss
She's at home, wondering where you are and what you're doing
And you work hard on this kiss and you know it inside out
It's as much yours as it is hers

And it took a long time to get right
It took months of practice
And months of embarrassment but now you've got it perfected
And you've been looking forward to that kiss all week

You can see her breath in the air
Between your faces as you stand in the leaves
And she just asks you straight out
If you want to come and stay at her flat

But you make sure you get separate taxis
And you go home and there might be a slight regret
And you might wonder what you missed
But you have to remember the kiss you worked so hard on
And you'll know you've done the right thing



Lyrics submitted by mrtrout

New Birds Lyrics as written by Malcolm Middleton Aidan Moffat

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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New Birds song meanings
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    General Comment

    I'm fairly sure that the kiss referred to in the third and fourth stanzas ("this other kiss") is not the final parting kiss of the guy and his ex- but rather the kiss that he has been working on with his new girlfriend. He has a chance to sleep with his ex, but he makes himself refrain, because he knows that he's got "this other kiss" waiting for him at home (ie his new girlfriend).

    lostpencilon March 08, 2006   Link

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