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.
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
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
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
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
The mockingbird is also a reference to the overall song being a mock about a loveless relationship.