Garbage – Dumb

"Dumb" as written by Shirley Ann Manson, Bryan David Vig, Douglas Elwin Erickson and Steve W Marker....
I never claimed to be your savior
I said I had a dirty mouth
Stop analyzing my behavior
If you're too dumb to work it out

I've got to keep myself together
You know I hate to disappoint
A masochistic lamb to slaughter
Maybe you miss the point?

I'm feeling small
I'm climbing the walls
I don't let it show

Now that you know what you know
I bet you wish you could let it go
You'll never come sucking your thumb
Better off dumb

Maybe I could write a letter
To help me with my self-esteem
You should get to know me better
No one's ever what they seem

I'm feeling small
Climbing the walls
I don't let it show

Now that you know what you know
I bet you wish you could let it go
You'll never come sucking your thumb
Better off dumb

You still don't know what you think of me
You still don't know what you mean to me
You still don't know what to think of me
You still don't know what you think of me

Now that you know what you know
I bet you wish you could let it go
You'll never come sucking your thumb
Better off dumb

Now that you know what you know
You're going to reap what you sow
Nothing will come sucking your thumb
Better off dumb

You still don't know what you think of me
You still don't know what you mean to me
You still don't know what to think of me

You still don't know what you think of me [Repeat: x5]

You still don't know what I think of me
You still don't know what you think of me.


Lyrics submitted by 3ssence

"Dumb" as written by Shirley Ann Manson Douglas Elwin Erickson

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Universal Music Publishing Group

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Dumb song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +1
    General CommentIt's about a girl who's breaking her relationship with a guy that didn't understand her -- it seems to me that in the beginning neither of them understood what it was (that's happened to me) and now, he still doesn't understand. It didn't help that she carried a lot of emotional baggage ("maybe I should write a letter to help me with my self-esteem") that he didn't know how to deal with. He wanted it to be just a pure, simple relationship, and she's angry with him for wanting something from her she couldn't give.
    That's how I see it, anyway. Post your own comments, people!
    ic_assasainon September 13, 2002   Link
  • +1
    My InterpretationI love the latter half of the chorus: "You'll never come sucking your thumb..." - That sounds to me like she's talking to an immature boyfriend, a whiner who can't deal with an adult relationship. Most of the lyrics seem like a relationship being ended, but there are some that could possibly be directed at their fans: "I never claimed to be your savior.../Stop analyzing my behavior.../You know I hate to disappoint.../You still don't know what you think of me". But maybe I just take it that way because I kind of like being talked down to.... Whatever the case, that's my interpretation.
    pleasebeatme92on November 29, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI think she's with a guy who is more prudish than she is. She swears and is a beast in the sack, and he can't handle it. He wants a "lady" or a virgin, and that's not what she is. "You'll never come sucking your thumb" I think means he's a prude who won't fuck her, or maybe he will fuck her, but he's such a prude about it and it's frustrating. This song reminds me of how I have dated a couple guys who thought I was a slut because I had more sexual experience under my belt than they did. Or maybe that just scared them, so they called me a slut to deal with their own insecurity. That's why I like this song.
    RedDollShoeson August 27, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Commentso, what does this song mean?
    RebeccaSaxonon May 27, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Commenta mad song but not one of garbages best
    boptonon April 02, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI LOVE THIS SONG, definetly one of my top ten garbage songs. It's very fun to listen to.
    I think it necessarily has anything to do with relationships. I figured that it was about how people try to figure out but they're too dumb to figure out who she is. When people figure out how she really is, she can be disappointing, and different then what they figured her to be, as if she is in a terrible state.
    interpol2221on January 02, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI have the impression that the man she's talking about reproached her to have these self-esteem problems. When she says "maybe I should write a letter", it sounds a bit bitter and provocative, don't you think ??
    But I also have the feeling that this man is a little bit childish and naive : "sucking you thumb", and he's been a bit disorientated by her character.
    Auroreon January 28, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentAbout getting out of a relationship/infatuation with a guy who messed you around. Maybe he thought she was the dumb one, but she's telling him he is. Very sexual: "you'll never come/sucking your thumb..."

    He thought he knew her & tried to tell her what she was all about, but she's telling him he never knew her or got her: "stop analysing my behaviour/if you're too dumb to work it out". She tells him, no matter what he thinks of her, she never claimed to be his saviour in the first place.

    She's telling him he never got her: "You should get to know me better; no-one's ever what they seem." and he still doesn't: "You still don't know what you think of me."
    missmeon January 31, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentYes, he definitely didn't have her. He's just a guy that draws his own conclusions on her personality although he cannot understand it at all.
    Auroreon February 11, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentDefinitely a top-notch song by Garbage.
    A good look at a bad relationship over and done with: The person with the baggage and issues ironically seems to the one who best sees the truth of the matter.

    How many of us have been in the same boat?
    Major Valoron September 05, 2006   Link
    • 1 Reply

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