They Might Be Giants

Cabbagetown

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Cabbagetown Lyrics

I was laying on the porch
As the bus drove by
Just talking to the dog
About thinking to myself
There are so many big ideas
We could talk about
But nothing that gets said
Gets us out of Cabbagetown

Oh, Cabbagetown
Oh, Cabbagetown
I will leave and I'll return
Oh, Cabbagetown

I talked to my old granddad
As he fell into the sea
He said time and tide are one thing
That no one understands
I talked to my uncle Jack
As he tried to talk to me
With a bottle in one hand
And another in the other

Oh, Cabbagetown
Oh, Cabbagetown
I will leave and I'll return
Oh, Cabbagetown

Submitted by

spacecow On Sep 14, 2002

Birdhouse in Your Soul

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Spacecow

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2002-09-14 02:18:21

1 Meaning

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by thatcheshiregrin

20y ago

No comments? Wow...

Anyway, I think this song is about a guy who wants to get out of his small-town home, but knowing that its inevitable that he'll end up back anyway. He's watching the bus leave, and coming up with plans for getting out, but knowing that just talking about it isnt going to get him out of town.

"I talked to my old granddad As he fell into the sea He said time and tide are one thing That no one understands"

This whole verse seems to show the listener how 'Cabbage Town' destroys everyone living in it. His grandfather warns him about time and tide, but in the end he falls into the oceon and is claimed by the very thing he warns the narrator about. His Uncle Jack is obviously an alchoholic, trying to give him advice while drinking himself to death- one bottle in one hand and another in his other hand. The narrator feels the hopelessness of this, and wants to escape and break the circle, but ultimately realizes he cant.

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