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.
Once, there was this kid who
Took a trip to Singapore and brought along his spray paint
And when he finally came back
He had cane marks all over his bottom
He said that it was from when
The warden whacked it so hard
Mm mm mm mm, mm mm mm mm, ah
Once there was this girl who
Swore that one day she would be a figure skating champion
And when she finally made it
She saw some other girl who was better
And so she hired some guy to
Club her in the kneecap
Mm mm mm, mm mm mm mm
Ah, mm mm mm mm, mm mm mm mm
They got paid for their sound bites
And sold their TV movie rights
And then, there was this guy who
Made his wife so mad one night that she cut off his wiener
And when he finally came to
He found that Mr. Happy was missing
He couldn't quite explain it
It'd always just been there
Mm mm mm mm, mm mm mm mm
Mm mm mm mm, mm mm mm mm
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Were)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Is)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Were)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Is)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Were)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Is)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Were)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Is)
(There were, there is)
(There were, there is)
Took a trip to Singapore and brought along his spray paint
And when he finally came back
He had cane marks all over his bottom
He said that it was from when
The warden whacked it so hard
Mm mm mm mm, mm mm mm mm, ah
Once there was this girl who
Swore that one day she would be a figure skating champion
And when she finally made it
She saw some other girl who was better
And so she hired some guy to
Club her in the kneecap
Mm mm mm, mm mm mm mm
Ah, mm mm mm mm, mm mm mm mm
They got paid for their sound bites
And sold their TV movie rights
And then, there was this guy who
Made his wife so mad one night that she cut off his wiener
And when he finally came to
He found that Mr. Happy was missing
He couldn't quite explain it
It'd always just been there
Mm mm mm mm, mm mm mm mm
Mm mm mm mm, mm mm mm mm
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Were)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Is)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Were)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Is)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Were)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Is)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Were)
Ah ah (There) ah ah (Is)
(There were, there is)
(There were, there is)
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae
Headline News Lyrics as written by Weird Al Yankovic Brad Roberts
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The first portion is about a guy named Michael Faye (i think, something Faye) an american guy who came over to singapore and vandalised some cars, and the big deal that was made about his punishment (caning, which is a routine punishment for minor offences in singapore, Sometimes for major ones too, in addition to jailtime.)