Counting Crows – Catapult

All of the sudden she disappears
Just yesterday she was here
Somebody tell me if I am sleeping
Someone should be with me here
(Cause I don't wanna be alone)

I wanna be the knife that cuts into my hand
And I wanna be scattered from here in this catapult
What a big baby won't somebody save me please
You won't find nobody home

All of these quiet battered voices
Wait for the hunger to come
We got little revolvers and stupid choices
And no one to say when we're done
(Well I don't wanna bring you down)

I wanna be the light that burns out your eyes
`Cause I know there's little things about me
That would sing in the silence of so much rejection
In every connection I make
I can't find nobody home
I wanna be the last thing you hear when you're falling asleep....



Lyrics submitted by 3ssence

"Catapult" as written by Ben G Mize Adam Fredric Duritz

Lyrics © IMAGEM U.S. LLC

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Catapult song meanings
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13 Comments

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  • +1
    General CommentDuritz Does Confusion again! Amazing. I listened to this song smack in the middle of my teenage years, and it was just one of those things that spoke to me. No idealism, no easy answers, not even an identifiable problem.

    It's all about insecurities - "There's little things about me that would sing in the silence of so much rejection." He's obviously been rejected, and the worst part is, he can't figure out quite why ("All of a sudden she disappears, just yesterday she was here"). And through it all, he hears all these romantic stories about What Should Be ("I wanna be the last thing that you hear when you're falling asleep"); and wonders why the hell he can't feel that way. It's about the futility of trying to get someone else to know and love you when you don't even know or love yourself yet.
    ballzofsnoon April 29, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Commentin my opinion it is the best CC song ever after Round Here.

    The lyrics are amazing, with so much deepeer meaning after the surface. Lines like 'I wanna be the last thing that you hear when you're falling asleep' are so good (especially live), but have a bazillion more times meaning for fans.

    It's just amazing
    phil_FFFon January 28, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Commentthat's a pretty sweet comment... however, i'm still lost on lines like "i wanna be the light that burns out your eyes" and "i wanna be the knife that cuts into my hand"... one of the themes in the song is what Duritz wants... a short list:

    not to be alone
    to cut his own hand
    to be scattered from "here"
    not to "bring you down"
    to burn out "your" eyes
    to be that romantic ideal ballzofsno talks about

    the stuff about being lonely and wanting to escape and still to be with the person he cares about without bringing her down all kinda meshes, but then there's the mean streak... kind of a non-sequitur...
    Sharkyyon May 23, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General CommentSharkyy, 90% of Adam's lyrics are extremely sad songs disguised as simply calm and melancholy words.

    Anyway, I think what REALLY makes this song is the opening with the flute. That is one of the most beautiful intros to a song EVER!
    Emo_ezraliteon May 28, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General CommentThis song is about not being sure if you're going to make it through what lies ahead. Adam wrote it after Kurt Cobain's death and after he sort of freaked out a little.
    divicanon July 24, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General CommentActually for the record my last dying wish is to have my corpse loaded into a giant catapult and be fired into a a huge sheet of clear plastic, for 'comedy splat effect'. The notion of 'comedy sliding down plastic slowly' also fills me with glee.
    the_toolshedon September 03, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Commentit's not a flute, it is a keyboard, but, my god, what an intro
    Fred39on March 04, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General CommentThis is the only Counting Crows song that I've ever really liked - and it's a corker.

    I've always misheard the 'falling asleep' line as "I want to be the last thing that you hear when you fall", which sounded incredibly dramatic and has never failed the hairs-standing-on-end test, so I'm a bit ambivalent to find that I was wrong.

    I can't understand why this track isn't on the 'Best Of' album, as far as I'm concerned it's their finest moment.
    AlfBon December 09, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentSounds like a guy with Borderline Personality Disorder who self-injures who is contemplating self-injuring or suicide after his lover leaves him.
    Roamingon May 19, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI think this song is just about someone wanting to MATTER. To feel SOMETHING. "I want to be the knife that cuts into my hand..." "I want to be the light that burns out your eyes..."

    Sometimes you just need to feel like your existence means something to someone, even if that someone is just you.
    mandamarieon October 08, 2008   Link

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