Overprescribed
Under the mister
We had survived to
Turn on the History Channel
And ask our esteemed panel
Why are we alive?
And here's how they replied
You're what happens when two substances collide
And by all accounts you really should have died

Stretched out on a tarmac
Six miles south of North Platte
He can't stand to look back
Sixteen tons of hazmat
It goes undelivered
Undelivered

It's a nervous tic motion of the head to the left
It's a nervous tic motion of the head to the left
Of the what, of the head to the left
So exercise yourselves to your bereft
'Cause it's a nervous tic motion of the head to the left of the, of the, to the

Splayed out on a bath mat
Six miles north of South Platte
He just wants his life back
What's in that paper nap sack
It goes undelivered
Undelivered

It's a nervous tic motion of the head to the left
A nervous tic motion of the head
Head to the left
It's a nervous tic motion of the, of the, to the left
It's a nervous tic motion of the head to the, of the, of the head of the head to the

Over imbibed
Under the mister
Barely alive we cover the blisters in flannel
Though the words we speak are banal
Now one of them's a lie
Now one of them's a lie
Happens when two substances collide
And by all accounts you really should have died


Lyrics submitted by bootu

A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left Lyrics as written by Andrew Wegman Bird

Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing

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A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left song meanings
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  • +2
    General Comment

    Another take on this complex set of lyrics - which is intensely personal to Andrew so I'll skim the surface of it...

    Andrew Bird's brother is autistic and I think that there are definitely allusions to a bad experience which he had in this song... coupled with other complex issues about life, mortality and the way we cope with situations. But it is a song not without hope - as is common with Andrew's lyrics.

    A nervous tic motion of the head to the left is a side effect from use of the medication Thorazin which is used to treat autism. Andrew also wrote about autism in another song called 'Tea and Thorazin' early in his career.

    I find both songs intensely moving.

    EternalLullon January 17, 2009   Link

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