We take sour sips from life's lush lips
And we shake, shake, shake the hips in relationships
Stomp out this disaster town
You'll put your eyes to the sun and say, "I know
You're only blinding to keep back what the clouds are hiding."

And we might have started singing just a little soon
We're throwing stones at a glass moon

Whoa oh, we're so miserable and stunning
Whoa oh, love songs for the genuinely cunning, whoa-oh

We keep the beat with your blistered feet
We bullet the words at the mockingbirds singing
Slept through the weekend and dreaming
Of sinking with the melody of the cliffs of eternity
Got postcards from my former selves saying, "How you been?"

We might have said goodbyes just a little soon
(Stomp out this disaster town)
Robbing lips, kissing banks under this moon

Whoa oh, we're so miserable and stunning
Whoa oh, love songs for the genuinely cunning
Whoa oh, we're so miserable and stunning
Whoa oh, love songs for the genuinely cunning, whoa-oh

It was ice cream headaches and sweet avalanche
When the pearls in our shells got up to dance
You call me a bad tipper of the cradle
Tired yawns for fawns on hunter's lawns
We're the has-beens of husbands
Sharpening the knives of young wives
Take two years and call me when you're better
Take teardrops of mine, find yourself wetter

Whoa oh oh, we're so miserable and stunning
Whoa oh, love songs for the genuinely cunning
Whoa oh, we're so miserable and stunning
Whoa oh, love songs for the genuinely cunning


Lyrics submitted by bestthingintown, edited by Mellow_Harsher

The Carpal Tunnel of Love Lyrics as written by Joseph Mark Trohman Andrew John Hurley

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

The Carpal Tunnel of Love song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

236 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +5
    General Comment

    A great song to analyze.

    I feel the overall meaning is a relationship that two try to make work even though it's a relationship that will fail because it is based off of lust rather than love. Yet, the song mocks this idea by its trendy frenzy catchy beat.

    Right from the start we hear "we take sour sips from life's lush lips" indicating a "sour" relationship, in other words, one that isn't working. The "lush" lips indicates that the relationship is based off of lust of lips (or the taste) rather than actual true love.

    "And we shake shake shake the hips in relationships" I believe indicates the two lovers trying to "shake" off all the doubts hoping that the relationship will get better.

    "Stop by this disaster town and you'll put your eyes to the sun and say 'I know'" indicates that the relationship is a "disaster" and the two involved know about it, though they stare at the sun, hoping for a better relationship even though they know it won't happen. This again indicates the phrase "You're only blinding to keep back what the clouds are hiding."

    "And we have started singing just a little soon, we're throwing stones in a glass room (moon)" indicates that the relationship has gotten farther than it should have gotten, causing it to become chaotic (chaos is also referenced by the random lyrics and upbeat of the song).

    "We're so miserable and stunning" is an ironic line because the song is really upbeat when it says this, and it comes off as an oxymoron (miserably stunning). Basically the lyrics read the irony of the relationship which is beautifully miserable (thus the upbeat), which indicates that they aren't happy about the relationship but they are happy to try to make the relationship fail, despite it not actually working at all. Reminds me of a teenaged relationship for the sake of having a relationship.

    "Genuinely cunning" is another oxymoron-like phrase indicating that the two lovers are both genuine to each other because both in the relationship try to make the relationship work without telling the other about how badly it is going, even though in retrospect their slyness is represented by their dislike of the relationship in which they fail to tell the other about.

    "We keep the beat with blistered feet"- they try to make it work even though deep down inside it doesn't

    "We bullet the words at the mockingbirds"- A metaphor for breaking the rhythm of a relationship, much like how shooting a mockingbird breaks the mockingbird's song and innocence (as in the book To Kill A Mockingbird).

    Overall, this song features several oxymorons which are put together to explain a relationship on a pendulum. The relationship is overall negative, but the lovers try to stay positive and hide the negatives so that it looks like they love each other (with the catchy beats, and positive words) when in reality they hate the relationship deep down inside. Both lovers try to ignore the facts about the relationship failing and try to make things work, thus there is a forced balance, as you see in the oxymorons.

    costumedancepartyon April 12, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    If this is what the rest of the album is going to sound out they might aswell give it all up now.

    Pamxelaon November 11, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    sorry it's genuinly cunning not genuine and cunning

    amyanneon November 19, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i liked it as soon as i heard it. didn't understand it but definitely liked it. i'm not one of those people who only like the new cd if it sounds like the bands first one. FOB does no wrong as far as i'm concerned. This ain't a scene is pretty easy to understand. i can't wait for the new cd to come out..

    getoffmytotson November 19, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    please this song is them going back to their BEST work on TTTYG. it reminds me a lot of their best on that cd... (saturday) even hand of god and IGADAAABITSYSSYM on FUCT.. if you don't like it cuz you liked sugar so much then that's just lame... this song's awesome period. can't wait to mosh to this song.

    gymclass42on November 20, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this song is different from what they've done in the near past. Less pop-py. I like it. The new album is just going to kick ass. And the lyrics are as great as ever.

    fauxafflictionon November 21, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    what does the screamy bit mean? it all seems totally random

    you_know_me_21on November 21, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    haha i love the scream part.. we'll know the exact lyrics when they actually release them... right now i love how this and TAASIAAR are two totally different... this is reverting back to TTTYG and the other is a new sound... sweet!:)

    gymclass42on November 22, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I love this line: "Stop by this disaster town You'll put your eyes to the sun and say "I know" I have no clue what it means but I love it.

    this song is amazing. I don't think they've changed their sound at all and that's a good thing. I think I like this one a little bit more than arms race, though. I can't wait for the new CD.

    matchbox_20on November 22, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    simply amazing

    dRoPx3ax3HeArTon November 23, 2006   Link

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

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Dreamwalker
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.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.