stand here with the mountain in background
the copper mine up the hill from the town
sits asleep like a retiree
once used and now no use for

people used to work here
and mined their lives from this ground
crushed them in these machines
and forged them in the future
we just take pictures
of hearts that stopped beating


sometimes you're a tourist with a camera
stealing souls for scrapbooks
sometimes you've got a life back home
sometimes you're really alone, you're really alone
sometimes you're really alone
sometimes you're really alone, you're really alone
sometimes you're really alone


we go home, after fishin' all day
and get our hands dirty
getting the catch clean
and mike is in the kitchen
he's heating up the fry pan
and we're in the front yard
we're watching the sun fall

people used to live here
and lived their lives on this ground
raised them in these fields
and lost them in the future
and we just take pictures
of hearts that stopped beating


sometimes you're a tourist with a camera
stealing souls for scrapbooks
sometimes you've got a life back home
sometimes you're really alone, you're really alone
sometimes you're really alone
sometimes you're really alone, you're really alone
sometimes you're really alone


Lyrics submitted by .tami.

Houston We Have Uh Oh song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    This is my favorite Minus The Bear song. I love it so much, the lyrics are great, and so is the music.

    so_0ver_iton April 23, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I like the view of this song. It's like taking simple note of things, but looking at it in retrospect and acknowledging that before you were exactly as you are [a la hanging out in the front yard] there were people that lived [there] before you.

    emotionalxangelaon May 18, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    the title is from the best episode of Sealab 2021. Basically someone says "Uh-Oh" and you're taken on a 5 minute journey of Uh-Oh's from every person in every situation they could possibly think of. So random and pointless. Here's a link.

    youtube.com/watch

    By the way, awesome song.

    inbetweenmoleculeson September 26, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Oh how i love this song.

    Nyxzenon January 28, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    what album is this from?

    goshdangimradon February 19, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    the song is on the "in honor" compilation cd, it's a benefit record and the proceeds go to cancer research i think.

    dieusepiqueon May 05, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is their best song and they never play it live; for shame.

    SamuraiMooseon November 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is my favorite minus the bear song as well. it reminds me of my past two summers, one of which was spent with a girl named beth houston, which the title reminds me of, and the actual lyrics remind me of a rafting trip i took down the new river in WV because when you look into the mountains you can see the ruins and the abandoned mine shafts from when the little dead end towns used to hold such massive amounts of false hope for many an immigrant. as rafting trips go it was pretty sobering, and thinking back on it now this song doesn't help

    i_let_the_wolves_inon January 22, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is the greatest song EVER. I wish they'd come over to Scotland a bit more. I mean, a LOT more.

    Pantsuit...Ugghhhon October 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Here's what i think:

    There's this group of photographers/ tourists. And they have a specific image that they want to capture. Such as things old and useless. Left behind, if you will. And although it's useless, there's still beauty in it, and they're trying to capture that. and they mention the people who used to live in these places and work in them, and they gave their lives to it. So it's almost like they want to comemorate those people by capturing these forgotten places and sharing it with the world when they go back home.

    i dunno. i could be completely wrong. but that's just what i see.

    iamsound213on February 12, 2009   Link

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