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.
She was a new mean beauty queen,
Money, drugs, magazines,
I didn't do nothing, I didn't do nothing,
They gave her diamonds, shiny boys, city speak, every joy,
I didn't do nothing, no nothing for her
You can lead a horse to water but you can't expect it to drink
Now ain't that something, now ain't that something
Yeah when the world is at your gate, that won't satiate
Why are you crying if you offer nothing at all
Don't be a fly in my Martini baby come on down
The roof is high and I'm not climbing tonight,
Come down and I'll give you something to cry about
Fast cars, bougie bars, trial
and it drown in the scars
It won't do nothing, it won't do nothing
Even the best frame won't change your wet painting into,
The Mona Lisa, The Mona Lisa
You've got to dry your eyes baby
I know it's your party and you'll
Cry if you want to, cry if you want to
Yeah when the world is at your gate and that don't fill your plate
Why are you crying if you want for nothing at all
Don't be a fly in my Martini baby come on down
The roof is high and I'm not climbing tonight
Come down and I'll give you something to cry about
Money, drugs, magazines,
I didn't do nothing, I didn't do nothing,
They gave her diamonds, shiny boys, city speak, every joy,
I didn't do nothing, no nothing for her
You can lead a horse to water but you can't expect it to drink
Now ain't that something, now ain't that something
Yeah when the world is at your gate, that won't satiate
Why are you crying if you offer nothing at all
Don't be a fly in my Martini baby come on down
The roof is high and I'm not climbing tonight,
Come down and I'll give you something to cry about
Fast cars, bougie bars, trial
and it drown in the scars
It won't do nothing, it won't do nothing
Even the best frame won't change your wet painting into,
The Mona Lisa, The Mona Lisa
You've got to dry your eyes baby
I know it's your party and you'll
Cry if you want to, cry if you want to
Yeah when the world is at your gate and that don't fill your plate
Why are you crying if you want for nothing at all
Don't be a fly in my Martini baby come on down
The roof is high and I'm not climbing tonight
Come down and I'll give you something to cry about
Lyrics submitted by Justus0, edited by dirtysouth20
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The sound of the tune and the general references to some "fancy party" (Martini is the obvious symbol) seem to indicate that this girl he's illustrating is the pretentious, flashy type. Generally it's a statement to all of those arrogant people, but in this case it's a particular woman that's "larger than life."
Perhaps the gender difference is a means of showing that love/humanity/compassion trumps this pretentious outlook a lot of people like to put out? (Come down and I'll give you something to cry about.) Not necessarily a masochism, but sort of a "Silly girl," taps on nose type of idea. You know, let me show you my world, type of thing.
Also, the Mona Lisa line really speaks to me. I hate the type of people that make something and present it in this overly extravagant, arrogant light and try to pass themselves off as hip. Argh!
Obviously the Fly in the Martini represents that even this uppity woman can taint elegance...yay, nay?
(Also, Zee Deveel and Megalomaniac come to mind. Generally anti-ego and useless extravagance...)
I like that because I hate lyrics that make absolutely no sense and at first I was like "Seriously, what the hell is he talking about!" But I like your interpretation.
great song.. and this is coming from someone who's primarily a fan of the SCIENCE incubus.
Badass song.
This is how I interpret it:
So, there's this chick, and they give her all this shit (Money, drugs, magazines) Band she does nothing to earn it. It's just handed to her because she's a "beauty queen" . But, nothing that was handed to her made her happy, it was never enough for her. And she complains about not being happy, so Brandon says "You can lead a horse to water but you can't expect it to drink" meaning, you can tell her how to be happy, but, you can't expect her to take your advice, and make her self happy. "Now ain't that something?" Nothing satisfies her, and Brandon's wonder why she's complaining, because, she has everything.
At the chorus, I kind of think of her standing on the roof, about to jump, because she's not happy. and he basically says "stop ruining my good time." [Don't be a fly in my Martini, baby] "Get your ass down here, and that roof is high, and I'm not climbing up their to save your ass" [The roof is high and I'm not climbing tonight] "come down, and I'll show you what bad really is."
:)
I think of all the people trying to fuck up you're good deal just because they don't have one, and even if you let them in on it, it doesn't satisfy them.
I believe Brandon is saying if I'm eating my pie.. don't bitch about not getting a slice when you don't deserve it!
Just a thought, and a sort of funny one..... Martini ingredients Vermouth and Gin (Dry virgin) hahahah
Any body know how this song came about originally. I know Monuments and Melodies had a bunch of old, unreleased songs, or region specific songs, but this is one I truly can't find anything on.
These lyrics have a lot of variations on different websites. I don't think any "official" lyrics have been published so it's all a guessing game really, but here are some of my thoughts.
Second stanza of the first verse:
As in they gave her a place at the top of the city. The former "city speak" just doesn't make sense to me in the context of "they gave her every joy." Thoughts?
And the beginning of the second verse:
Most websites have the lyrics as, "trial and it drown in the scars", but that just seems off to me. The word "drown" is present tense. It would make more sense if he said "trial and it drowned in scars", but he clearly doesn't say "drowned" and the word "the" definitely precedes the word "scars" which just seems weird no matter how you look at it. Most of the verse segments are short, comma separated lists of objects or events that give evidence to her stubborn attitude. So it seems more likely that it's supposed to be another list, "try all (OR trial), end it, drown in the scars." Just makes more sense in my opinion.
What do you guys think?