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.
If you want me you can find me
Left of center off of the strip
In the outskirts and in the fringes
In the corner out of the grip
If you want me you can find me
Left of center off of the strip
In the outskirts and in the fringes
In the corner out of the grip
When they ask me, "What are you looking at?"
I always answer, "Nothing much, not much"
I think they know that, I'm looking at them
I think they think I must be out of touch
But I'm only in the outskirts and in the fringes
On the edge and off the avenue
And if you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
I think that somehow, somewhere inside of us
We must be similar if not the same
So I continue to be wanting you
Left of center against the grain
And if you want me you can find me
Left of center off of the strip
In the outskirts and in the fringes
In the corner out of the grip
And when they ask me, "What are you looking at?"
I always answer, "Nothing much, not much"
I think they know that, I'm looking at them
I think they think I must be out of touch
But I'm only in the outskirts and in the fringes
On the edge and off the avenue
And if you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
If you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
If you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
Wondering about you, wondering about you
If you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
If you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
Wondering about you, wondering about you
Left of center off of the strip
In the outskirts and in the fringes
In the corner out of the grip
If you want me you can find me
Left of center off of the strip
In the outskirts and in the fringes
In the corner out of the grip
When they ask me, "What are you looking at?"
I always answer, "Nothing much, not much"
I think they know that, I'm looking at them
I think they think I must be out of touch
But I'm only in the outskirts and in the fringes
On the edge and off the avenue
And if you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
I think that somehow, somewhere inside of us
We must be similar if not the same
So I continue to be wanting you
Left of center against the grain
And if you want me you can find me
Left of center off of the strip
In the outskirts and in the fringes
In the corner out of the grip
And when they ask me, "What are you looking at?"
I always answer, "Nothing much, not much"
I think they know that, I'm looking at them
I think they think I must be out of touch
But I'm only in the outskirts and in the fringes
On the edge and off the avenue
And if you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
If you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
If you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
Wondering about you, wondering about you
If you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
If you want me you can find me
Left of center wondering about you
Wondering about you, wondering about you
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wow, that's so different from what this song means to me! If you take into account that it's in the Pretty in Pink soundtrack then it certainly makes sense. To me, however, it is just a song about being different.
If I take this song out of the Pretty In Pink soundtrack and treat it as an album cut from her excellent CD Solitude Standing, I feel this song is not about love. It is along the lines of previous posters here. It is about not being in the center but just a little off. The singer is not crazy, but just observing from a shorts distance away.
When they ask me "What are you looking at?" I always answer "Nothing much" (not much) I think they know that I'm looking at them I think they think I must be out of touch
She denies she is looking at them, but they know she is looking at them. She hasn't disclosed if she is wanting to be involved with their activity or social situation.
Personally I've always been an observer of people instead of participating in whatever is going on around me. This song could be hinting at social anxiety a little, but the singer seems content on where she is. I would think that if the singer is asked if she wanted to come into the "center" and participate, she may say "no".
My favorite among her songs. Speaks about loving someone that is very popular, but who doesn't know about you. She wants him to notice her, standing at the edges and looking at him, and she is imagining to herself that he and she must be very similar, and if he could just see... And she speaks about his friends, who notice her staring and how she is trying to avoid them but really wants to be one of their group, but couldn't.
standing at the edges, an outcast, watching her love, who is popular, and he never notices her. i agree with mila77 that also its about being different, too.
Idk I hear it more as being interested in, or loving someone but not being central in his life. You're on the fringes of his life, barely appearing in his bigger picture, but still present and longing for him.
To me, this song is very similar to Rock In this Pocket and In The Eye, about how you love or long for attention of someone who is so big in your eyes, but he/she never even takes notice of you.