In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
I've seen those English dramas too, they're cruel
So if there's any other way
To spell the word, it's fine with me, with me
Why would you speak to me that way?
Especially when I always said that I
Haven't got the words for you
All your diction drippin' with disdain
Through the pain, I always tell the truth
Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
I climbed to Dharamsala too, I did
I met the highest Lama
His accent sounded fine to me, to me
Check your handbook, it's no trick
Take the chapstick, put it on your lips
Crack a smile, adjust my tie
Know your boyfriend, unlike other guys
Why would you lie 'bout how much coal you have?
Why would you lie 'bout somethin' dumb like that?
Why would you lie 'bout anythin' at all?
First the window, then it's to the wall
Lil Jon, he always tells the truth
Check your passport, it's no trick
Take the chapstick, put it on your lips
Crack a smile, adjust my tie
Know your butler, unlike other guys
Why would you lie 'bout how much coal you have?
Why would you lie 'bout somethin' dumb like that?
Why would you lie 'bout anythin' at all?
First the window, then it's to the wall
Why would you tape my conversations?
Show your paintings at the United Nations
Lil Jon, he always tells the truth
I've seen those English dramas too, they're cruel
So if there's any other way
To spell the word, it's fine with me, with me
Why would you speak to me that way?
Especially when I always said that I
Haven't got the words for you
All your diction drippin' with disdain
Through the pain, I always tell the truth
Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?
I climbed to Dharamsala too, I did
I met the highest Lama
His accent sounded fine to me, to me
Check your handbook, it's no trick
Take the chapstick, put it on your lips
Crack a smile, adjust my tie
Know your boyfriend, unlike other guys
Why would you lie 'bout how much coal you have?
Why would you lie 'bout somethin' dumb like that?
Why would you lie 'bout anythin' at all?
First the window, then it's to the wall
Lil Jon, he always tells the truth
Check your passport, it's no trick
Take the chapstick, put it on your lips
Crack a smile, adjust my tie
Know your butler, unlike other guys
Why would you lie 'bout how much coal you have?
Why would you lie 'bout somethin' dumb like that?
Why would you lie 'bout anythin' at all?
First the window, then it's to the wall
Why would you tape my conversations?
Show your paintings at the United Nations
Lil Jon, he always tells the truth
Lyrics submitted by carlitalolitax
Oxford Comma Lyrics as written by Christopher William Tomson Christopher Joseph Baio
Lyrics © Rostam Batmanglij Music LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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Why would you lie about how much coal you have? Lying about how much coal you have can easily be done through the omission of an oxford comma.
An oxford comma is the comma right before the and in a series.
I have 100 pounds of iron, 50 pounds of steel, and coal. I have 100 pounds of iron, 50 pounds of steel and coal.
In the first example, the amound of coal is not specified, while in the second example there are clearly 50 pounds of coal. By omitting the oxford comma, you can let people think that you have 50 pounds of coal, even if you do not, as the oxford comma is often viewed as optional.
But why would you lie about how much coal you have? why would you lie about something dumb like that?
first line of Romeo and Juliet, an English drama:<br /> <br /> Gregory, on my word, we'll not carry coals.<br /> <br /> also ties into the boyfriend/girlfriend argument
This is the correct meaning. This is the most commonly used example (steel and coal) to explain how the Oxford comma works.
@HoppyChris but "50 pounds of steel and coal" could also refer to a collective lump of steel and coal that collectively weighs 50 pounds.<br /> <br /> Consider this:<br /> <br /> I have 100 pounds of iron, 50 pounds of steel and coal, and 25 pounds of copper.<br /> <br /> What does the bit in the middle refer to? Even though the writer has used correct grammar (recognises Oxford Comma), ambiguity remains simply because of "and".
For the record, I give a fuck about an oxford comma.
+1<br /> Because I do, too.
Yay, I giggle like a little school girl when i get to correct people's English.
I teach remedial reading at an "alleged" special ed high school (smartest kids in the world are kids with learning differences!!) and I think this song is advocating "content before structure". For example, my kids write essays and they may be spelled wrong and not have the proper grammatical structure but THEY ARE INCREDIBLE!! And like I say to my students - 'I don't care if it's spelled right - grammar - whatever - I just want to know what you think - I want to know your ideas." We analyze a song each week for comprehension and I can't wait to tell them about this site. I've wanted to play this song for them - it tells them how smart they are - but of course it has fuck in it so i can't. However, last week a bitchy teacher was complaining about how "dumb" the kids were and I said "Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?" and walked off. Ha ha sure she didn't get it yet she thinks she is SO SMART!! Remember hemlock echo - there is a difference between formal education and intelligence. INTELLIGENCE IS ORIGINAL AND CAN BE THE PRODUCT OF PEOPLE WHO DON'T FOLLOW THE RULES!!! Special Ed rocks ...
You are correct. Great interpretation I think, and deceptively simple. Gives the song a nice meaning.
I love your interpretation. It just brightened up my day. More people should see things for what its trying to say rather than what it looks like.
Right on the money, <br /> <br /> vanityfair.com/online/daily/2008/01/michael-hogan-v.html <br /> <br /> from the horses mouth, <br /> <br /> the songwriter himself
not only do i love your interpretation but i love your views on content over punctuation. i may not be in a special ed class but i lose like 2-3 marks every essay due to bad spelling and grammer, when i feel the conent is solid and origional.
I think that the line "I met the highest Lama, his accent sounded fine to me, to me" supports your interpretation. It's clearly referring to His Holiness the Dalai Lama, who resides in Dharamsala and has a very particular manner of speaking English, but one that never seems to prevent his wisdom being communicated.
I could be way off, but I always thought the part about 'lying about how much coal you have' meant she was trying to make it seem like she had been bad, like when santa gives you coal for christmas, as if she was trying to give the impression that she's 'naughtier' than she really is.
@injun252 this is dumb as shit
I thought the same concept but reducing the amount of coals to lie about how good she is.
it's totally amazing how Vampire Weekend could come up with a kick ass song from a petty oxford comma.
What is this song about? It's about not giving a fuck about silly, small and ridiculous things (see what i did there? i made a list without using an oxford comma) Anywhats, hoorah to Vampire Weekend hypothetically murdering pretentiousness.
To get rid of the oxford comma circlejerk, I understood your sentence differently than if you used an oxford comma.<br /> <br /> Small and ridiculous became one category, whereas small would be different from ridiculous.
I think the song is about a girl he is dating who is superficial, judgmental, and preoccupied with the social standards of being important (diction dripping of disdain, check your handbook, put on chap stick, tying his tie, paintings at UN).
The speaker is telling the girl that she shouldn't care so much about the small rules and standards of modern society (i.e. the Oxford Comma) and that she should be more open to the world (know your butler, don't care about the accent). She should get to know her boyfriend rather than just being with him for the sake of saying she can have a boyfriend.
He is trying to tell her that the proper, more civilized, or high class things are often overrated (the English dramas are cruel) and sticking to them all the time can have a bad effect on you (they make her lie about meaningless things). The lies start out just like a see through window but soon she has built an entire wall of lies around her just to keep up with what she perceives proper society to be.
He wants her to stop correcting people all the time because the people that she thinks are lower than her are actually more honest and genuine than she is.
It's Dharamsala, as given. Dharamsala is a mountain town in India, where the Dalai Lama lives.
And brycesw: You're a moron.
it definitely doesn't say "Dalai Lama." It says "Highest Lama/Llama." Either way it is referring to Dalai Lama because Dharamsala is high up, on top of a mountain.
He didn't say the words were 'Dalai Lama' He just said that Dharamsala is where he lives. Learn to read before thinking others as wrong.
Here's what I think-- The Song is called "Oxford Comma", and it's clearly addressed to an ex-lover, it's a breakup song. The "Oxford Comma" in this case, stands in for everything that is pretentious and conceited about this girl. She's someone who is very concerned about being smarter than everyone in the room--so she corrects people on trivial things like "oxford commas" so that she can feel superior. "If there's any other way to spell the word..."--The girl tends to correct people on spelling mistakes--the singer realizes that correcting people on unusual spellings is trivial. "I've seen the English dramas"-- The singer is saying that the girl's exposure to high culture does not make her better than other people. "Why would you lie about how much coal you have"-- "coal" means "useless possessions", like "coal in your stocking". Why would you lie to make yourself appear better than others? "...about anything at all"-- Just what it says--Why are you deceitful? "window, wall, lil' jon"-- I think this is just saying that Lil Jon, in his street-dialect style, is far less pretentious than this girl is. "tape conversations"--Just another break-up accusation, it's a deceitful and hurtful behavior, and she's a deceitful person "paintings...united nations"--it's just the sort of thing that a pretentious ivy-league girl would want to do--have her paintings hung in the united nations, oohh look at how sophisticated I am. Right? :)
I don't think John Negroponte is involved in this song in any way, shape, or form. You guys are pulling that out of your ass.
I agree with this interpretation. I was thinking about taking it a little further. Coal in some languages, like in German (Kohle) has a direct reference to money. So why do you care about how much money you have maybe??
I enjoy that the day that I looked up these lyrics is the same day they were submitted, but I think it is about a girl who is always lying. HAH. I love that he references Lil' Jon and his song "Get Low"
This song is really just about not giving a f---. Lead signer Ezra Koenig got the idea for the song after seeing a posting for a club at Columbia University titled: students for the preservation of the oxford comma (the comma that preceeds and in a list e.g. I bought milk, eggs, cheese, and bread. it's optional) Koenig thought it was a stupid idea for a club hence the first line, who gives a f--- about an oxford comma. In an interview he said, "The song is really more about not giving a f--- than it is about and oxford comma." So there, it's just a silly song with some clever lyrics.
I saw that on Colbert Report!
I'm pretty sure the "Lil' Jon, he always tells the truth.. is the about the part about to the window, to the wall, is about the song TOO THE WINDOW!!!! TO THE WALL!!! TO THE SWEATDROP DOWN MY BALLS.. Weird, but makes sense lol, its about how the relationship is always going crazy, if its not one thing, its another.
Could lil jon be john bolton in the the last stanza and lil jon. I get the "get low" reference but the United Nations could be a reference to the former US ambassador who was known for lying.
This could be true. Equivocation ftw!
I'm pretty sure in the last stanza he says lil' jon he always tells "his" truth
But he mentioned the line from lil john's "get low" ? You know, "through the window. THROUGH THE WALL!" However you have an interesting theory.