Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset Lyrics

Oh, noose
Tied myself in, tied myself too tight

Looking kind of anxious in your cross-armed stance
Like a bad tempered prom queen at a homecoming dance
And I claim I'm not excited with my life anymore
So I blame this town, this job, these friends, the truth is it's myself
And I'm trying to understand myself and pinpoint who I am
When I finally get it figured out, I've changed the whole damn plan

Oh, noose
Tied myself in, tied myself too tight
Oh, noose
Tied myself in, tied myself too tight

Talking shit about a pretty sunset
Blanketing opinions that I'll probably regret soon
Changed my mind so much I can't even trust it
My mind changed me so much I can't even trust myself
Song Info
Submitted by
planes On Nov 22, 2001
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Cover art for Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset lyrics by Modest Mouse

this is my theme song..'hands down' the best song i have ever heard in my life.

Listen to night on the sun. Its awe inspiring to the point of tears. I get to see them memorial day weekend at the Sasquatch Music Festival. I'm going to cry.

Not Valid

@bright eyes burn me Agree, Night On The Sun (Everywhere and His Nasty Parlor Tricks) really strikes a chord with me as well

Cover art for Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset lyrics by Modest Mouse

you use. lots. of periods. and. in the middle. of. sentences.

but yeah, this song is stellar. definitely on any top ten list i'll ever make. this song seriously does a fantastic job of painting a cynic. this is totally me at times, and probably totally you. haven't you ever just been in one of those moods where everything you see you feel like you have to take apart and mock?

this song reminds me of a scene from an episode of the simpsons where agnes and the comic book guy are sitting on a bench watching the sunset.

agnes says: thank god there's only one of these a day. the comic book guy says: could it BE any more orange?

Cover art for Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset lyrics by Modest Mouse

"Tied myself too tight" seems to me to be metaphorical, like restricting your own options, and like someone else said, backing yourself into a corner. But there's a reason he uses the noose as an image, I think. This song (painfully) reminds me of a dear friend that my husband and I lost recently to suicide. He didn't realize how amazing he was (like the pretty sunset). He was always a bit of a mystery to us, and I think even to himself ("and I'm trying to understand myself and pinpoint who I am"). We learned that he had been contemplating ending his life for a long time but something in life helped him through, made him change his mind for the time being ("changed my mind so much I can't even trust it"). But once he decided finally that suicide was the solution, he tied himself too tight and couldn't get out of that decision.

I know this can be interpreted in many other ways; this is how it fits into my life. I apply it to my cousin-in-law and friend, Adam, and it helps me just a little.

Song Meaning
Cover art for Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset lyrics by Modest Mouse

to me this is talking about the speakers life about how nothing seems to be going his way. getting himself into things he doesnt like, complaining about whatever he is in. cant figure out anything and cant make the best of a situation. i take the sunset to be his life as he talks bad about it as it slowly fades away, when really its a beautiful thing if he would just open his eyes and enjoy.

@jusmuind good comment

Cover art for Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset lyrics by Modest Mouse

I think its just simply someone who is fed up with life and is contimplating suicide while the sun sets.

Kind of like The Smashing Pumpkins album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.

Sunrise, disk 1, is about birth and the joys of life and living Sunset, disk 2, is about the ugliness of life and death

Cover art for Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset lyrics by Modest Mouse

I agree that this song is about a cynic. This song means a lot to me as I was becoming more and more cynical, needing to find fault with everything, just critiquing, until even something I liked until I couldn’t enjoy anything. My interpretation: Talking shit about a pretty sunset = Finding fault with everything Blanketing opinions that I'll probably regret soon, Changed my mind so much I can't even trust it = Even being afraid to like something for fear of it disappointing you and there being a fault with it of being “wrong” and regretting it. My mind changed me so much I can't even trust myself = Just being confused about what to like, what to hate, being afraid to have opinions… so just hating everything in sight instead. God, this song says it all — its so conforting to read lyrics you can relate to and know that someone out there feels the same.
…and this is the 199th comment buried at the back so no-one shall ever know… :)

@AllWordsAreDust sorry Dust, but I found it (-;

Cover art for Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset lyrics by Modest Mouse

i don't think it's possible to hate this song. ever.

they are the best.

Cover art for Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset lyrics by Modest Mouse

Whoever said that thing about "emo kids"... People write lyrics to let out their feelings, and everyone has negative feelings sometimes. You don't have to be sad all the time to appreciate them.

Whoever said this song is about killing yourself...umm no. "Oh noose tied myself too tight" is used metaphorically, not literally. I think what this song is about is... you're bored with your life, so you blame everyone else...but then you realize that it's your own fault. You realize that you don't really know who you are anymore. You change your mind all the time, you contradict yourself, you're a hypocrite. You say things that you think you mean at the time, but you'll probably change your mind later. You're changing all the time, and you can't even trust yourself anymore. "Talking shit about a pretty sunset" I thought was more about himself...he's been complaining a lot lately and hasn't been appreciating the small things, but now realizes that he should.

The only line I don't understand is "Looking kind of anxious in your cross armed stance Like a bad tempered prom queen at a homecoming dance" I thought the song was more about self-revelations, so I'm not sure where another person comes in.

I think the "Looking kind of anxious in your cross armed stance Like a bad tempered prom queen at a homecoming dance"

is reflecting himself. She's prom queen and is still not satisfied with her night.

Not Valid

I completely agree with denial. Listening to songs with "depressing" lyrics doesn't make a person emo. And I don't consider modest mouse to be an emo band, anyway. And I agree with everything they said about the meaning of the song. The line about the prom queen didn't really make sense to me either, but one day I was talking about it with my sister, and she pointed out that the prom queen is at a homecoming dance, and she's anxious because she's out of place. And since prom is a bigger deal than homecoming, maybe...

Not Valid
Cover art for Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset lyrics by Modest Mouse

This song is pretty simple and to the point. It's about the life of an unwilling cynic. Somebody who is constantly depressed or on the verge of it. Their mental state causes them anxiety and irritability. They push away everything positive because they can only see the negative things. If there is no real negative, as with a sunset, they'll still talk shit about it. Everything feels pointless and mediocre, so they lash out at friends, family, their situation in general. The truth is the only thing to blame is their mentality. One of the greatest songs I have ever heard and it will likely connect with most people at some point in their life, if not the majority of it.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset lyrics by Modest Mouse

damn, what a good song.