Cap'n Jazz – Ooh Do I Love You

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Mu-uud, muddy slush, slushy lawn.
In the in between of the winter and spring and the lawn's long gone.

People walking, lotsa people walking over the life in the mud on the sidewalk
Under my crawl...
Under my crawl!

Mu-d bubbles po-p and burst bre-ath into the ai-err.
Where's the in-between if everyone's a-me?
(That there tree grew outta me.)

People talking, lotsa people talking
I'm hurt, you're hurt, my dad's hurt and haven't you learned?
Everyone's hu-uurt...
Everyone's hurt!

--intermission, bridge thingy--

Su-uure we're all smiles,
Singing reptiles,
[Optional: And] Birds at bars,
We measure other species in our heads
[Barely/Fairly/Very] aware that we're so scared,
We measure other species in our heads.

I can step on that li'l fucker's jaw.
I can snap him in half like a wishbone,
And i think to myself (like i'm always thinking)…
I want everything, and two of some of this shit!

Find my place in the apehouse,
See myself in their eyes,
My fingers on their feet.
My possessive love's somewhere in their embrace…

My freedom's limitations in their swinging and their hollering,
And I'm singing and I'm hollering.
And I'm singing! Oh, and I'm hollering.
And I'm singing, and I'm hollering.
And I'm singing! And I'm hollering…

I'm always bothering...


Lyrics submitted by PLANES, edited by EliteMustard1

Ooh Do I Love You song meanings
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38 Comments

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  • +6
    General Commentit is no longer 2002, it is now 2011 and im on this website and i still fucking love this song
    PLANESon March 12, 2011   Link
  • +3
    General Commentone of those rare songs that comes along and seems to sum up an entire moment of human existence. to everyone who said that these lyrics seemed to be nonsense or just written to go to the music, take another look.

    this song seems to have been written from the perspective of someone who was having trouble with a significant other, and that feeling of hurt and hopelessness opened his eyes through writing to all these other forms of human suffering and weakness. "i'm hurt, you're hurt, my dad's hurt, and haven't you learned everybody's hurt."

    then "we're all smiles seeing reptiles", and "birds in bars" seem to bring in the idea that, as was earlier said, people are just another part of nature and animal life on this planet. the idea of "birds in bars" is so absurd that it seems ironic that humans, just another species, are hanging around in bars.

    "we measure up each species in our heads" is our superiority complex, as someone else has said as well. "i can snap him like a wishbone"... like how we as humans are so much more powerful now than any other species and it has almost become vindictive. children kill bugs or even small animals for fun, everybody gets a little pleasure out of killing a bug.

    "i want everything and two of some of this shit" is clearly about how we have become so materialistic and greedy; now that we own this planet, we don't even want to share it with each other.

    then the rest of the song is about the writer wanting to get back in touch with nature. "see myself in their eyes", "my fingers on their feet" (apes have long, fingerlike toes), "my possessive love in their embrace"
    he wants to be carefree like the rest of the world's creatures

    just my ideas on the song. i looked up the lyrics and I had to post something, they were so good.
    sweatersdotcomon January 20, 2007   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • +1
    General Commentindeed it is a great song, emo kid. one of my favorites...
    full_collapseon May 13, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Commentmike kinsella plays the drums, tim kinsella sings. i think that the lyrics not making sense/being totally absurd at times just ads to the pure genius of the songs, but thats just my opinion
    PLANESon June 13, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General CommentTim wrote the lyrics for caP'n jazz. Mike wrote the lyrics for American Football.
    nerdfileson September 21, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Commenthow come no one has commented on this song yet?! this is such a great song!
    PLANESon May 03, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI'm am just a curious entity here, but why is it that Mike Kinsella's lyrics make absolutely no sense at all? Don't get me wrong, I love Cap'n Jazz and all the bands that came from it, but still. Even his lyrics in Owls don't make much sense.
    holden_caulfieldon June 04, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment(sorry just scatch what i said about mike and tim :) we all knew that anyway)
    PLANESon June 13, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General CommentThis is a great song. It's incredibly symbolic. The lyricist uses metaphors to convey his thoughts. None of caP'n Jazz's lyrics are very straightforward. The most straightforward song I can think of off the top of my head is "Basil's Kite." Anyways, if you think about the lyrics and listen to the song, a meaning starts to form. These lyrics are very interpretive. I'm sure they can mean anything to anyone, but we'll never know what Mike(or Tim or whoever) was thinking when they wrote the lyrics. Personally, I think this song is about being so in love with someone, but the relationship begins to go wrong. He is just lost in his thoughts. Lots of symbolism that I don't care to explain etc...
    PorcelainHopeon July 05, 2002   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General Commentjust because it doesnt make sense to you doesnt mean it makes sense to tim or anyone else. theorizing is half the fun.
    sikuhizion August 01, 2002   Link

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