Okay I Believe You, but My Tommy Gun Don't

I think this is darker than it seems.

It sounds like there's a girl who's in love with him, and he knows it, but he isn't with her anymore (perhaps because she cheated on him. Perhaps he never did). That's the "Okay I Believe you" part. This song is to hurt her, to explain that the only reason she's in love with him is because he does everything right. But he needs to destroy it, and she needs to let go. "My tommy gun don't"

"I'm heaven sent,
don't you dare forget
I am all you've ever wanted,
what all the other boys all promised
Sorry I told
I just needed you to know"

-- He's perfect for her. Everything she ever wanted. And he knows it.

I think in decimals and dollars
I am the cause to all your problems

-- He has a logical mind, different than hers. It's people like him who cause all her problems. He feels different than her - smarter.

Shelter from cold
We are never alone

-- With him, she's sheltered from the world. He takes care of her.

Coordinate brain and mouth
Then ask me what it's like to have myself so figured out
I wish I knew

-- He doesn't know what he wants, or who he is, whatever this song might seem.

I hope this songs starts a craze,
the kind of song that ignites the airways
The kind of song that makes people glad to be where they are
with who ever they're there with

-- This song is a warning to everyone else, not to end up like him.

This is war
Every line is about who I don't write about anymore
Hope you come down with something they can't diagnose,
don't have the cure for

-- He wants to get away. He's tired of this. He wants her to leave him be. So much so he's growing hateful

Holding on to your grudge
Oh it's so hard to have someone to love

-- Her grudge is that he doesn't love her, but she still loves him.

Keeping quiet is hard
'Cause you can't keep a secret if it never was a secret to start
At least pretend you didn't wanna get caught

-- It was clear from the start that she loved him. The "caught" is either catching her cheating, or getting caught being in love with him (depending on how dark you think the song is)

We're concentratin' on fallin' apart
We were contenders, we're throwin' the fight
I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe in us

-- Ever since she started to cling, to try and keep him from leaving, they've been concentrating on falling apart, and everything good about their relationship has vanished. He wishes he could believe, and be in love, but he just isn't.

Oh we're so c-c-c-c-c-controversial
We are entirely smooth
We admit to the truth
We are the best at what we do
And these are the words you wish you wrote down
This is the way you wish your voice sounds,
handsome and smart
Oh, my tongue's the only muscle on my body that works harder than my heart
And it's all from watching TV
and from speeding up my breathing
Wouldn't stop if I could
Oh it hurts to be this good

-- He's trying to prove to her that everything she loved about him was just fake. It's all from copying lines from TV, saying everything right, and acting. He's trying to tell her everything she's liked about him was just fake. He's trying to hurt her more.

You're holding on to your grudge
Oh it hurts to always have to be honest with the one that you love
Oh so let it go

-- He's just being honest. Mockingly honest.

This is the grace only we can bestow
This is the price you pay for loss of control
This is the break in the bend
This is the closest of calls
This is the reason you're alone, this is the rise and the fall!

-- Only he can decide to love and/or forgive her or not. The "grace". That's the price she pays for loving him, and giving him control. But this is the end, this isn't just a bend in their relationship. This is the rise and the fall.

As you can see, a pretty damn dark and hateful song when seen that way. But for it to fit the "Tommy gun" part of the title, I'm not that surprised. At the very least though, I think it's about getting back at someone who loved him. Very amazing song though, with great lyrics. Just DARK.

I have a really weird idea of what this songs about.

I think it's about being smart, not academically but smart with people, being able to manipulate people is key to a socially smart person. This song sounds to me like he's talking to socially smart people, and letting them know he was like this. The song changes and he seems to hate this type of person. Obviously this is only a theory but it makes some sense, but there are parts of the song i dont get. This type of person in my experience is: clever, self-centred, depressed, plays with their own sanity, and see everythin as a game.

I'm heaven sent, don't you dare forget I am all you've ever wanted, what all the other boys all promised

This is a way of convincing a girl they like him, he's been a good bf and knows how to make people fall in love with him.

I think in decimals and dollars I am the cause to all your problems & Then ask me what it's like to have myself so figured out I wish I knew

He's extremely logical (decimals and dollars). This is actually a problem, completely logical people are generally quite depressed so even though they may know what to do they have no concept of self. This would obviously disturb someone who has such a good understanding of other.

We're consentratin' on fallin' apart We were contenders, now throwin' the fight I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe in us

Jesse changed to a collective here, like hes saying all the people in the world like this are some sort of group. He's saying living like this isn't healthy (most people who do this generally know this). They play a game fairly without trying to influence others, instead they do it to anybody. The end shows he wants these people to stop hurtin others and believes they can "grow up"

The next verse he shows the mindset of these people, best at what we do. Then he kinda mocks them as he write down this way of life which is hard to explain. Then "Oh it hurts to always have to be honest with the one that you love, Oh so let it go." Maybe Jesse fell in love and couldnt admit to his gf that he was such a bad person so he stopped, its like some advice.

"This is the craze only we can bestow This is the price you pay for loss of control This is the break in the ground This is the closest of calls This is the reason you're alone, this is the reason you fall!"

When plans fall apart, you are seen as who you really are, a heartless manipulator. So obvious, you would be alone. What are you left with if everybody hates you?

So yeh, thats my explanation, i know its weird as hell, but it kinda makes sense. If anythin its the most fun description of a song ive found =] Have fun rippin it apart.

I'm so glad that all the tracks are on WinMX now, yay. Brand New is definently more mature and have a deeper meaning in their songs. This is the good stuff, right here. The only truly great music that I've heard this year, other than The Ataris "So Long, Astoria" album. <3

I haven't read everyones comments on this song, cuz there is A LOT. But i personally think its about the whole john nolan incident. (for those of you who don't know, john nolan.. formerly of taking back sunday.. slept with jesses girlfriend at the time.. these guys were best friends forever, until this happened) I think the first part of the song is directed at the girl "I am all you ever wanted, what all the other boys all promised, sorry i told (meaning sorry he has to put it that blunt), i just needed you to no. and when he says he thinks in decimals and dollars, he means that sorry he has to tell the whole world that shes basically a whore, but these kind of songs sell. he wants the song to start a craze because he wants her to always be reminded of what she did to him. .and every line is about who he doesnt want to write about anymore. the girl was obvioulsy keeping a secret from him. i believe that it was she slept with his best friend. so hes saying that she could have pretended that she didnt wanna get caught. i think the next few lines are about his band, and in comparisson to taking back sunday which was john nolans big pride and joy Oh, we're so c-c-c-c-c-controversial. we are entirely smooth. we admit to the truth, we are the best at what we do hte following lines i think are comparing himself to john, saying how he is better and these are the words you wish you wrote down. this is the way you wish your voice sounds, handsome and smart. oh my tongue's the only muscle on my body that works harder than my heart. and its all from watching tv, and from speeding up my breathing. wouldnt stop if i could. his clever lyrics that he sings over and over to remind himself of what he did, therefore spitting out negative things thus working his tongue harder than trying to heal his heart

oh it hurts to be this good. you're holding on to your grudge. oh it hurts to always have to be honest with the one that you love. oh, so let it go.. what hes saying is that they have been best friends forever so he is mocking him by saying i bet its hard having to tell me this etc etc

the chorus is basically about how everything is falling apart, his relationship and his closest friendship, i hope this makes sense to someone

I hope this songs starts a craze, the kind of song that ignites the airways The kind of song that makes people glad to be where they are with who ever they're there with This is war Every line is about who I don't write about anymore Hope you come down with something they can't diagnose, don't have the cure for

^best part of the song

brand new matured alot since YFW and the new cd is amazing. Ihavennt really heard nething this good in a looong time

Holy crap I cant believe brand new made a song BETTER THAN SEVENTY TIMES SEVEN!! this is by far my favourite song by them EVER!! ahhh!! If you wanna make this song sound even better listen very closely to the backup vocals that jesse sings during the chorus..especially on "I just want to believe" he's singing the same thing but just a bit higher and quieter but if you kind of listen closely to it it makes it so much catchier.....

LOL BrandNew1208 thanks for confirming with me. i knew it was from home alone 2 when he watches the old gangsta movie. i'm not sure if the song is mocking tbs but it's definately my favorite track from the album.

There are some great theories about the meanings of this song- the one about jesse and john (from tbs) writing it like Adam (from TBS) makes alot of sense but everyone has just got to interpret how its relevant to them. The first time I heard it was when I was going through a bad break up with someone so I interpret it in the cockiness at the beginning of the song - 'I'm heaven sent - dont you dare forget' -being that 'self righteous' feeling you get when someones walked all over and you get all like 'I can do better than you, I am so much better than you, you dont deserve me etc etc' - but actually underneath you're really hurt about it ('Oh it's so hard to have someone to love' and 'I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe, I just wanna believe in us.') Maybe thats not how it was written. But thats how I hear it, and thats what it means to me.

Okay, first off all, we all need to learn how to spell CONCENTRATING correctly.

It should be:

"The kind of song that ignites the air WAVES"

"We are entirely smooth We ADMIT to the truth"

"This is the break AND THE BEND"

"This is the RISE AND THE FALL"

To me this song is complete sarcasm - the title says it all. I don't think it has anything to do with how they see themselves but has something to do with how crazed fans/other people see them. That he's heaven sent...hansome and smart...etc

It could also be about a r'ship, - a bad breakup, whatever, mimicing the girlfriend arguing with him. How we all feel in this situation - you want to be sarcastic and you want to hurt the person even though you really want to be with them, and you can't believe what they've done, so you really want to hurt them with as many words as you can.

It's a really clever song though. And this bit - could be about how they feel about themselves and their lifestyle or about a broken down friend/relationship.

This is the craze only we can bestow This is the price you pay for loss of control This is the break in the ground This is the closest of calls This is the reason you're alone, this is the reason you fall!

To me, though, it's about sarcastically pissing off the person you used to love but fucked you about!