Leaving the central state from shallow ground
Home in the valley but the rent's paid south
You said the urn was half full when I said it was half empty
With what was left of our fair city

Call in the army corps of architects
To flatten the skyline and begin again
I knew the years would move quickly,
But never quite as fast as this
So bring the discrepancies, I'll pour the drinks.


Lyrics submitted by raydeeyohed

Army Corps of Architects Lyrics as written by Benjamin Gibbard

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Army Corps of Architects song meanings
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  • +2
    General Comment

    Very cryptic song. Hard to say what it's saying exactly...

    Something like, life is so crazy. You can just pick up and leave and tear down your former life and change everything, and time's moving so fast that when you try to look at it optimistically or pesimistically, it's all just an urn in the end, and all the little details, the discrepancies, mean nothing. So what can you do but pour the drinks? Amen.

    Just discovered this song, and it's become one of my favorites of theirs. It's got a beautiful haunting yet optimistic tune which matches the lyrics perfectly. Great song.

    triswebon June 05, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this is probably my favorite dcfc song. Same as ben too. i love how it fades out. but I was very upset that they didn't play it when i saw them last.

    an ocean of doubton March 08, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Deliberate nailed the metaphor about the city but I think there is a key typo in the lyrics above... It should be "Leaving the central STATES FOR shallow ground"... And that the urn represents more directly the end/death of the relationship.

    I believe one lover is leaving to pursue her dreams of fame and fortune (Shallow Ground) after years of a seemingly stagnant relationship - which she believes is for the better (Half-Full) while the other, our speaker, is left broken-hearted and helpless to conced the fact his lover is leaving.

    TheFooton September 08, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I like this song...makes me feel really mellow.

    strykerchickon June 11, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    endings, but with the razing of everything old, perhaps the hope of something new?

    onlyCASTLESburningon April 12, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Who else votes that 'x awful eifel x' is an ass? Cause I do. But props to you, cause it's true...

    EmoRulesMyLifeon December 12, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I feel like this is a song about the need for renewal...going back home and, realizing how much it has changed, suddenly having to come to terms with how much you've changed as well.

    balalínon January 30, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I agree that the song is about renewal, but it doesn't seem to be about the kind that anyone really desires. The part about the urn being half full vs. half empty seems to indicate a pretty sharp difference in thinking between the speaker in the song and the subject. The line about discrepancies also supports this. I think that perhaps the city and the skyline is a metaphor for the landscape of the relationship. I would guess, in the end that the song is about a relationship that, despite the best of intentions, just wasn't working out because of fundamental differences in beliefs. So now, the relationship must change (likely to being friends, indicated by the pouring of the drinks). It seems sad, but friendly.

    Deliberateon June 03, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love this song. I think as far as the music goes, it's one of DCFC's best. Lyrics wise, I love that it's to the point but still open to interpretation. I think it's really about building a new life. But I think the narrator chooses to focus on the fact that his old world is being torn down rather than looking at the new world being built for him.

    got_lyrics13on January 31, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    chilling and warm at the same time. that same view out of the car window.

    poortvlietton March 24, 2008   Link

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