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.
I called this number three times already today
But I, I got scared, I put it
Back in place, I put my phone back in place
I still don't know if I
Should have called up
Look, just tell me why don't ya if I'm out of place
'Cause here's your chance to make me feel awkward
And wish that I
Had never even called up this place
I saw you though, today, walk by with hippie Johnny
I had to call up and say how I want to take his place
So this phone call today concerns hippie Johnny
He's always stoned, he's never straight
I saw you today, you know, walk by with hippie Johnny
Look, I had to call up and say, I want to take his place
See he's stoned, hippie Johnny
Now get this, I'm straight and I want to take his place
Now look, I like him too, I like hippie Johnny
But I'm straight
And I want to take his
I said, I'm straight
I said, I'm straight
I'm proud to say
Well I'm straight and I want to take his place
Now I've watched you walk around here
I've watched you meet
These boyfriends, I know, and you tell me how they're deep
Look but, if these guys, if they're really so great
Tell me, why can't they at least take this place
And take it straight, why always stoned
Like hippie Johnny is?
I'm straight and I want to take his place
Oh I'm certainly not stoned, like hippie Johnny is
I'm straight and I want to take his place
I said, I'm straight
I said, I'm straight
I'm
I'm straight and I want
All right you Modern Lovers what do you say?
(I'm straight!)
Tell the world now
(I'm straight!)
I said
(I'm straight!)
Yeah, I'm straight and I want to take his place
But I, I got scared, I put it
Back in place, I put my phone back in place
I still don't know if I
Should have called up
Look, just tell me why don't ya if I'm out of place
'Cause here's your chance to make me feel awkward
And wish that I
Had never even called up this place
I saw you though, today, walk by with hippie Johnny
I had to call up and say how I want to take his place
So this phone call today concerns hippie Johnny
He's always stoned, he's never straight
I saw you today, you know, walk by with hippie Johnny
Look, I had to call up and say, I want to take his place
See he's stoned, hippie Johnny
Now get this, I'm straight and I want to take his place
Now look, I like him too, I like hippie Johnny
But I'm straight
And I want to take his
I said, I'm straight
I said, I'm straight
I'm proud to say
Well I'm straight and I want to take his place
Now I've watched you walk around here
I've watched you meet
These boyfriends, I know, and you tell me how they're deep
Look but, if these guys, if they're really so great
Tell me, why can't they at least take this place
And take it straight, why always stoned
Like hippie Johnny is?
I'm straight and I want to take his place
Oh I'm certainly not stoned, like hippie Johnny is
I'm straight and I want to take his place
I said, I'm straight
I said, I'm straight
I'm
I'm straight and I want
All right you Modern Lovers what do you say?
(I'm straight!)
Tell the world now
(I'm straight!)
I said
(I'm straight!)
Yeah, I'm straight and I want to take his place
Lyrics submitted by Ultrasleaze
I'm Straight Lyrics as written by Jonathan Michael Richman
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
i will comment since i'm here.