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've been feeling dull as a coat hanger
Pretty as a picture of a patient on a fresh IV
Giddy as a gang banger with a set of sutures
Where his Magic Johnson ought to be
Yes, I'll tell you just the thing
You need to be the next big thing
Let's start in with a test of your intelligence
And zest for the counter productive
Up and down, and round about, and out the back
And keep your mouth shut tight
The lights are staying out but no sweat
I've got aim like a mack truck
Guess how many fingers? Okay
Guess how many more I can fit there
Guess right get the toaster but you know
Miss, guessing gets you nowhere
I've been baking cakes for the enemy
I've been dying to find out the hard way
I've been taking friends to the alleyway
Two down now but who's counting anyway?
Yes, I can do everything
You need from out of my new SUV
All my work is guaranteed
To last the length of your recovery
Put away those pliers, honey
Trust me 'cause I know the options
How about a nine month long vacation
And a two foot coffin
I've been getting up, close and intimate
Some close calls but I'm getting into it
In some states they say, you can burn for it
But I'll burn that bridge when I get to it
It's not a bad thing
To get professional
It's got a nice ring
Mandy goes to med school
And I've been taking tips from the government
I've been getting damn good at hiding it
Fifty bucks a month ought to cover it
Two down now but who's gonna notice it?
And if you show up and I am unavailable
My partner Brian, would love to take care of you
He is a nice man
Thoroughly reliable
He's in a rock band
And he goes to med school
Oh, he goes to med school
Oh, oh, he goes to med school
Pretty as a picture of a patient on a fresh IV
Giddy as a gang banger with a set of sutures
Where his Magic Johnson ought to be
Yes, I'll tell you just the thing
You need to be the next big thing
Let's start in with a test of your intelligence
And zest for the counter productive
Up and down, and round about, and out the back
And keep your mouth shut tight
The lights are staying out but no sweat
I've got aim like a mack truck
Guess how many fingers? Okay
Guess how many more I can fit there
Guess right get the toaster but you know
Miss, guessing gets you nowhere
I've been baking cakes for the enemy
I've been dying to find out the hard way
I've been taking friends to the alleyway
Two down now but who's counting anyway?
Yes, I can do everything
You need from out of my new SUV
All my work is guaranteed
To last the length of your recovery
Put away those pliers, honey
Trust me 'cause I know the options
How about a nine month long vacation
And a two foot coffin
I've been getting up, close and intimate
Some close calls but I'm getting into it
In some states they say, you can burn for it
But I'll burn that bridge when I get to it
It's not a bad thing
To get professional
It's got a nice ring
Mandy goes to med school
And I've been taking tips from the government
I've been getting damn good at hiding it
Fifty bucks a month ought to cover it
Two down now but who's gonna notice it?
And if you show up and I am unavailable
My partner Brian, would love to take care of you
He is a nice man
Thoroughly reliable
He's in a rock band
And he goes to med school
Oh, he goes to med school
Oh, oh, he goes to med school
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This is about back alley abortions and what seems to be someone that is willing to do it that goes to med school.
I think what she's saying is both anti-abortion and pro abortion. she's saying from a kinda darkly humorous doctor's view, "hey, abortion may be an ugly morbid thing, but its your fault you're here and its better to get it done professionally than to get it done back-alley or do it yourself. The coathanger is them doing it themselves. The pliers are them getting it done back-alley. The nine month long vacation and two foot coffin are the abortion failing and the preggo girl either miscarrying or having a partial birth one done later.
But its also a sort of alternate Amanda (Mandy) as a back-alley abortionist and the girl getting the abortion done talking about the same thing and the consequences (like getting checks from the government and getting in trouble in anti-abortion states).
Also... my interpretation. I don't think that the songs main focus is on botched abortions. I think it was amanda's vision of what it would be like if she had went to med school. I think it's kind of a fantasy of sorts that shows exactly how she would end up using her talents. I don't think that the part about Brian has any sort of sexual inuendos. I think it simply means that Brian is willing to take over the "business" if she can't be there to "fix" your problem
I don't understand why everyone relates the gangbanger line to the abortion part. I think that she is saying that is how she feels, pretty sarcasticly.
"I've been feeling dull as a coat hanger pretty as a picture of a patient on a fresh iv giddy as a gangbanger with a set of sutures where his magic johnson ought to be"
She has been feeling dull as a coat hanger (which is not so dull), pretty as a picture of a patient on a fresh IV (well I have had a lot of IVs and it's really not that pretty), giddy as a gang banger with a set of sutures where his magic johnson ought to be (well not very giddy because what is the gang banger going to do now without his penis? Plus, ouch.)
I really think she's just talking about herself for a bit before she gets into the work she is doing. Also I think abortion is illegal in Oklahoma now, so this song might start applying there; But that's just my opinion though. :)
This song has a couple of elements. The main one is speaking of back alley abortions, as most people think, but it also references illegal sex-changes as well, both of which are things that Amanda has obviously written about before.
Basically, she's writing as if she is one of those shady, unethical doctors that preys upon desperate people, people who can't afford medical procedures, supposedly "elective" ones like gender-reassignment and those young girls who can't go to their parents and admit that they're pregnant.
I don't really care for this song much. I think they've done a lot of better ones, but my favorite line is: "put away that hanger honey"
this songs deffidently about Abortions and doing it in the wrong state of mind and place and then to go and sell your body because you find yourself useless and dead, but then find a lover . this is one of my favorite songs by them. \m/
I love this song, its probably one of my favorites, although, the version i have has different lyrics that i can't decipher.
Many of the lines give it away. I'm glad other people have realized the seriousness of this song's subject. Yes, I'm pretty damn sure it's about coat hanger abortions.
plier abortions in my case. but whatever.