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.
Would that you could touch this angel in a clutch of snakes.
Oh pretty, pretty, I'm aflame.
So excited, so unslept.
Somewhat littered, so unswept.
You have to sleep before you wake.
I am spilled and poured.
I am peeled and cored.
I am hanging from the floor.
Flicker like a freak through a sleepless week
In a black cell of forever.
There's a point to this.
A point I think I often miss.
Oh clever, clever, where's your heart?
You can turn a phrase until it reads a million ways.
It makes no sense but it's as good as it is sad.
I am sad, elated.
I am segregated.
There's this stitching and it's itching.
All my friends are dead.
Asleep in distant beds.
At least these enemies stay close.
Take me to the pretty ones.
I want to be a pretty one.
Sign me to a nice girl so she can ruin me eternally.
They offered me a million bucks.
All I want's a steady fuck.
Oh steady, steady, where are you?
Channer surf a sea of static,
See the prize but you can't have it.
There's something thankless in a wish fulfilled.
I am thrilled and bored.
I am unskilled, adored.
All of both and none of one.
I would kill for more.
I haven't killed before.
I could set this heart on stun.
Take me to the pretty ones.
I want to be original.
Sign me to a nice girl so I can sing her something meaningful.
In my perfect world I'd be signed to a nice girl.
It would cost one million kisses.
Oh pretty, pretty, I'm aflame.
So excited, so unslept.
Somewhat littered, so unswept.
You have to sleep before you wake.
I am spilled and poured.
I am peeled and cored.
I am hanging from the floor.
Flicker like a freak through a sleepless week
In a black cell of forever.
There's a point to this.
A point I think I often miss.
Oh clever, clever, where's your heart?
You can turn a phrase until it reads a million ways.
It makes no sense but it's as good as it is sad.
I am sad, elated.
I am segregated.
There's this stitching and it's itching.
All my friends are dead.
Asleep in distant beds.
At least these enemies stay close.
Take me to the pretty ones.
I want to be a pretty one.
Sign me to a nice girl so she can ruin me eternally.
They offered me a million bucks.
All I want's a steady fuck.
Oh steady, steady, where are you?
Channer surf a sea of static,
See the prize but you can't have it.
There's something thankless in a wish fulfilled.
I am thrilled and bored.
I am unskilled, adored.
All of both and none of one.
I would kill for more.
I haven't killed before.
I could set this heart on stun.
Take me to the pretty ones.
I want to be original.
Sign me to a nice girl so I can sing her something meaningful.
In my perfect world I'd be signed to a nice girl.
It would cost one million kisses.
Lyrics submitted by oofus
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
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I know it's not actually about this, but this song really reminds me of being on meth.
"So excited...in a black cell of forever" - Just being strung out and completely spent after a week long binge. "Flicker like a freak" especially conjures the image of being alone in a dark room illuminated by my Bic lighter for hours on end.
"I am sad, elated...enemies stay close" - Depressed, but high. I've abandoned my friends, who are at home sleeping at 3am while I'm out spending my time with people who fully support my self-destruction.
"They offered me...steady, where are you?" - Lost the girl I loved (used to always tell her "you look like a million bucks, kid") in exchange for a steady and cheap emotional quick-fix. I didn't stay very steady for long though, and it definitely didn't stay cheap when I needed a gram just to stay awake through school.
I know it's irrelevant, but it's kind of eerie how perfectly it recalls the feelings.
record company crap, i believe. i used to think it was a standard love song type thing... now i think it's a battle with major labels and record comapanies.
I've never thought about the record company angle before. Damn, good thinking. I still see it as that "looking for a nice girl" angle myself because I like it that way. But the record company idea is really good.
yea i definatley see it being about not selling out.. "i want to be original" and "it would cost one million kisses" like ..you can't buy us. or something.. whatever it's one of my favorite jawbreaker songs :)
I've always thought it was mostly "looking for a nice girl" type song with the record company alongside like "They offered me a million bucks all I want's a steady fuck" and "In my perfect world I'd be signed to a nice girl"
I think it's kind of both, like ATIHIP. It's kind of a longing song, and a song that's rejecting the "sellout" image.
I love it for both.
i dont think its really about being against "sellouts" but rather being tempted to sign to a big record company while knowing you'll probably get screwed over.
Isn't it "channel surf, a sea of static" about switching channels and there being fuck all on?
i always thought it was more so about their experience in boarding school. i'm pretty sure they went to one...and a lot of the lyrics (friends dead in distant beds), echo being unhappy there
Okay. I never thought of it that way. And you guys are obvioulsy right now that i think about it so i'm totally going to embaress myself by saying this but......
I pictured the song to be about the humans general need for companionship and the pressure to feel like a "pretty one" to gain that companionship. And "I want to be original" was kind of like wanting to be yourself but being afraid that it wouldn't be enough for everyoen else to accapt you. And he keeps using all the oxymorons like "hanging from the floor" because he doesn't know who he is or who he's supposed to be.
It kind of makes sense if you don't really think about it.