I can't leave with words like these
They'll break the bones that hold up my sleeves
I've got to tie her so high her breath freezes before she speaks
But this bus just won't go far enough
So I'll strap my face to a homemade bomb
And blow the bus stop through the parking lot
We'll celebrate like we were free

I know a place where we can both get laced
Take some time to learn about your face
About bawling and bell curves, about strength from inhalers
And I'll take the fifth and you can just sit
And I'll watch from a distance while you open it
This is how I will keep her in pieces, she's a keeper

And I'll be holding my breath with the best
My breath with the best intentions

This is not for me, your perfume struggles perfectly
It wraps around and screams at me
"My hero tastes like plastic, he's elastic and now he's dead"

My straight-faced grin is the first to leave
Hand in hand with the queen of tragedy
Why do I hurt just on purpose?
I guess I lack a purpose
So smile like a child sitting in the sea
Forget about what's in the water and just focus in on me
'll be the phantom of the opera
I'll be the lantern you blow out first

And I'll be holding my breath with the best
My breath with the best intentions

This is not for me, your perfume struggles perfectly
It wraps around and screams at me
"My hero tastes like plastic, he's elastic and now he's dead"

And I'll be the reason you'll leave this city

This is not for me, your perfume struggles perfectly
It wraps around and screams at me
"My hero tastes like plastic, he's elastic and now he's dead"


Lyrics submitted by elishacuthbertfan

The Pornographer's Daughter song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

36 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is about a relationship with a drug- but the song is written as though the addiction is a person he is dating

    In the first verse, he fears the girl (the habit) is going to end their relationship (kill him), but isn't ready to stop using it... I can't leave with words like these -he thinks she is about to break up with him They'll break the bones that hold up my sleeves -he couldn’t take losing her I've got to tie her so high her breath freezes before she speaks, -he goes into a fantasy, and in the fantasy if she can't talk she can't end the relationship but this bus just won't go far enough So I'll strap my face to a homemade bomb and blow the bus stop through the parking lot -when (in his fantasy) he can't stop her from telling him its over , so he is willing to kill her and himself We'll celebrate like we were free

    • He believes she doesn’t really want to break it off, so this would set them free

    In the second verse, he gets high and remembers when he first started using, but writes this occasion like it was a first date... I know a place where we can both get laced

    • He’s inviting her on a date to get high Take some time to learn about your face
    • learning more details, like the beginning of any relationship about bawling and bell curves
    • possibly referencing things that happened during the relationship, bawling= remembering a sad event, bell curves= either referencing a test or thinking about his placement on the human curve (as ROCKSTAR NAILBOMB! mentioned) about strength from inhalers -another reference to getting high and I'll take the fifth and you can just sit
    • either fifth of alcohol, or the fifth amendment- he will sit quietly and I'll watch from a distance while you open it -either literally open the alcohol, or that she is getting him to open up This is how I will keep her… in pieces… she's a keeper
    • he is now finished with the flashback, and is stating that is how he remembers the relationship- in pieces that he only sees the good parts

    And I'll be holding my breath with the best... -holding his breath to make the high more intense/last longer my breath with the best intentions -he is getting high to forget the pain of the break up

    This is not for me, your perfume struggles perfectly it wraps around and screams at me,

    • describing what it feels like to inhale "My hero tastes like plastic, he's elastic and now he's dead"
    • the inhalant doesn't taste like anything, elastic=balloon(like a whippit), & it has run out

    since he just got high again, the relationship is fine... My straight faced grin is the first to leave hand in hand -he is still involved with her & he is content with the queen of tragedy -she is what is causing his problems Why do I hurt just on purpose?

    • but he knows he chooses the pain from the drug I guess I lack a purpose... -depression led to the addiction So smile like a child sitting in the sea -the innocence of the child forget about what's in the water -but the child is ignorant to the danger around it and just focus in on me I'll be the phantom of the opera -he is hurting but the addiction masks his pain I'll be the lantern you blow out first... -the drug is going to kill him

    And I'll be the reason you'll leave this city... (This is not for me) -this comes at the end of the song because he has resolved to quit

    Wow… a lot of typing- hope it was helpful, I’m pretty sure this is right- best song on the CD, wonder if it will become a single because of the line about the suicide bomb on the bus…

    Krwlng_n_mie_sknon February 05, 2005   Link

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

Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve. The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future. Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere" The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.