In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
I was chewin' gum for something to do
The blinds were being pulled down on the dew
Inside, out of love, what a laugh
I was looking for you
Saxophones started blowing me down
I was buried in sound
Taxicabs were driving me around
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
They were translated poorly, I felt like a clown
I looked like someone I used to know
I felt alright
And if I ever was myself
I wasn't that night
Oh, it's okay for you to say
What you want from me
I believe that's the only
Way for me to be, exactly
What you want me to be
Oh, it's okay for you to say
What you want from me
I believe that's the only
Way for me to be
Exactly what you want me to be
Oh, I was chewin' gum for something to do
The blinds were being pulled down on the dew
Inside, out of love, what a laugh
I was looking for you
Saxophones started blowin' me down
I was buried in sound
The taxicabs were driving me around
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
Oh, it's okay for you to say
What you want from me
I believe that's the only
Way for me to be
Exactly what do you want me to be?
Exactly what do you want me to be?
Felt like a clown
They were translating poorly
I looked like someone
I used to know
And if I ever was myself
I wasn't that night
Exactly what do you want me to be?
Exactly what do you want me to be?
The blinds were being pulled down on the dew
Inside, out of love, what a laugh
I was looking for you
Saxophones started blowing me down
I was buried in sound
Taxicabs were driving me around
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
They were translated poorly, I felt like a clown
I looked like someone I used to know
I felt alright
And if I ever was myself
I wasn't that night
Oh, it's okay for you to say
What you want from me
I believe that's the only
Way for me to be, exactly
What you want me to be
Oh, it's okay for you to say
What you want from me
I believe that's the only
Way for me to be
Exactly what you want me to be
Oh, I was chewin' gum for something to do
The blinds were being pulled down on the dew
Inside, out of love, what a laugh
I was looking for you
Saxophones started blowin' me down
I was buried in sound
The taxicabs were driving me around
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
To the handshake drugs I bought downtown
Oh, it's okay for you to say
What you want from me
I believe that's the only
Way for me to be
Exactly what do you want me to be?
Exactly what do you want me to be?
Felt like a clown
They were translating poorly
I looked like someone
I used to know
And if I ever was myself
I wasn't that night
Exactly what do you want me to be?
Exactly what do you want me to be?
Lyrics submitted by eastcidskl
Handshake Drugs Lyrics as written by Jeff Tweedy
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I love this song, for the deceptively simple chords (D-G-F (falling into a kinda E7), and sometimes D-G-C), the beautiful happy-go-lucky melody, and the striking images in the lyrics:
"inside out of love" - "I looked like someone I used to know" - "I was buried in sound" - "if I ever was myself, I wasn't that night" - and the change between being "exactly what you want me to be" and the demanding question "exactly what do you want me to be?"
God knows what he wrote it about, but I always felt it was a stoner guy, hanging around town, slightly out of his head, enjoying the sensations of the city, and maybe he's listening to music on headphones ("saxophones started blowing me down"), looking idly for a girl he likes.
I also love the line "They were translating poorly" - I always thought that referred to the drugs he had taken translating poorly into his system, i.e. having a slightly bad trip, but he puts in a comical, kinda "Fear and Loathing"-esque way, with those lines about "I felt like a clown..." ending in the humourously juxtaposed "I felt alright".
Great song. Another great solo at the end...Nels Cline, that's the dude, not Klaus as I said in an earlier post. Sorry Wilco fans...and Nels.
Word. @FishesWillLaugh