Trusty Chords

This song is fucking beautiful. Beautiful.

I can really identify with this song.I mean, at least in my interpretation.

""you'll get it right.You will." I tell myself that everyday. "you don't need to latch on to anything. you'll just end up back here in your little limbo scene." it's repititous and exhausting. I might need some therapy; anything to keep me in check through the day."

He needs help.Therapy. Anything to keep him in check trough the day.

""don't think about your lover you're already steady shaking." I might need a sedative But I hate the taste of medicine "you just need to let her go" These pills shaking in my hand Just make me feel defeated Like I'm not able to just let her go away"

It can be either drugs or anti-depressants, but it's a remedy, his way to deal with the pain.And he can't let her lover go away.Whatever the reason, he needs to let her go away, but he can't.He is too fucked up to deal with not having her.And he feels pathetic and defeated because the pills he takes shows that she "wins".He is defeated, alone, broke.She's not, she's ok.

"I hate this place but I love these chords "an empty fate just means an even score" And the pain this morning...... it filled my head It's JAMESON. It means that I'm not dead."

An empty fate would be life without trying, only trying to dull the pain.The pain is filling his head, and he's dealing with it with alcohol.He is not dead, he is fighting, trying to kill the pain.He is alive.

"and I just can't seem to get away There's no such thing as escape Even with the sedatives you're always in the same state clutching to a limbo scene you're never changing anything you just stop the shaking and it's constantly repeated through the days. "

He can't get away of the pain and his life.There's no such thing as escape, or at least he did not found it.Even with the sedatives(anti-depressants,drugs) he keeps in the same state.He is in limbo, never founding salvation, never changing anything, just stopping the shaking(which i interpret as the crisis he have to deal with).

This song is on par w/ "Under Pressure" by Bowie & Queen.

"You'll get it right sometime. You will." I tell myself that everyday.

-This line might imply him just going through a really intense breakup. By telling himself that he "will get it right sometime", he wants to convince himself that someday he will find that true love he's looking for without making any mistakes on the way. He's, however, not at all sure about that, hence the line "I tell myself that everyday". He doesn't believe his own words.

"You don't need to latch on to anything. You'll just end up back here In your little limbo scene."

-Again talking to himself, he's trying to get himself to accept that they cannot be together. He shouldn't hold on to a thing that wasn't supposed to be, otherwise he'll end up in his own "limbo" (basically pre-hell) scene. That probably refers to him ending up in a very deep depression if he cannot let go of what once was and holding on to it.

It's repetitious and exhausting. I might need some therapy; Anything to keep me in check through the day.

-His own personal hell is coming back every single day and pulling him down, he feels like with everyday he has less and less of a will to make it through. He considers therapy at this point here first, anything to keep himself "in check". Here I first thought he meant to keep him kinda ok, but he actually phrases it as "in check". I think this is a metaphor for a kind of game that is going on between two sides of himself. His one side tries to keep his other side, his depressed and probably close to suicidal side, "in check". Here the example is therapy, but for the most parts it'll be different kinds of substances.

Don't think about your lover. You're already steady shaking."

-The thought of his lover brings along sadness. By thinking about her, he start "shaking". This might be a metaphor for his pain that gets him to shake, maybe crying and sobbing might be what he's referring to here. Or it might also be his mental state that stops being stable and suddenly starts "shaking" here.

I might need a sedative, But I hate the taste of medicine.

-He needs somthing to distract himself, to keep him in check. He thinks about sedatives, but he hates the taste, or rather the meaning behind taking that medicine. Here he basically stated that he doesn't really enjoy taking the substance, but that he needs it.

"You just need to let her go." These pills shaking in my hand Just make me feel defeated, Like I'm not able to just let her go away.

-Letting go seems impossible for him. If he could do it, he wouldn't have to take any kinds of substances. But he can't and therefore he feels forced to do that. His hand is shaking, again probably referring to his sadness and his complete hopelessness. They make him feel defeated because it's the only way to keep his dark, sad side in check. He thinks he should be able to just let her go, but, to his own disappointment, he's unable to do that.

I hate this place but I love these chords.

-He hates the place that he's in, all the memories he associates with her and his past in it. This could be any kind of place, but probably his apartment where he's currently writing the song. He loves the chords; he's currently fighting the pain by writing a song about it. The name of the song, "trusty chords", also gives us some information here: The chords, or rather the music, never lets him down, it is always there and trustworthy.

"An empty fate just means an even score."

-An empty fate, an empty future without any hope, but also no pessimism or sadness, just completely empty, means he managed to keep himself in check. This is where the metaphor of his two sides fighting comes back in.

And the pain this morning... It filled my head. It's Jameson. It means that I'm not dead.

-In the first part he's simply talking about a hangover he got from drinking too much the night before. The pain in his head is caused by the Jameson whiskey he drank before. This, for him, means he's not dead. The alcohol is one of the things keeping him from doing worse things; in this case especially suicide. The pain in his head is telling him that he made it through tha last day because of his alcohol consumption.¨

And I just can't seem to get away There's no such thing as escape, Even with the sedaives

-Here's where we see that this song is actually not glorifying drugs, but actually just showing us a way of how someone could possibly have gotten into them. The drugs don't offer an escape forever, no getting away from your pain, just short trips away before one then returns to the same hell.

You're always in the same state, Clutching to a limbo scene. You're never changing anything, You just stop the shaking. And it's constantly repeated through the days.

-Here again: The state of your life doesn't change, through the consumption you're just settling inside of your own personal hell. Nothing is ever changed, only the shaking, the sadness and grief, is stopped for a certian while. However, it returns the day after, and so the entire process starts again.

i truly love this song, as i love the whole new record. "I hate this place but I love these chords", this line itself is so great. anyway, there's something i don't understand - probably because i'm from germany - and that is: what does JAMESON mean??? is it a place, a person, a band, or what? i really hope you can help me out because it sucks to quote and sing along with words you don't understand.

i'm pretty sure that "Jameson" is a brand of whiskey

"Jameson" is an Irish whiskey.

Great song. Kinda wish they would have played it tonight.

i thought i heard this one when i saw em not too long ago.maybe not?! but this song is so fucking awesome..i love it. and hot water music is one of the best fucking bands in existance. right on

the vocals on this song, and all are just so fuckin immense now...they keep the roughness, but the solid im pact n emtion is unrivaled

Could someone explain this line to me:

"an empty fate just means an even score"

great song, great band, nuff said