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The glove compartment is inaccurately named
And everybody knows it.
So I'm proposing a swift orderly change
Cause behind its door there's nothing to keep my fingers warm
And all I find are souvenirs from better times
Before the gleam of your taillights fading east
To find yourself a better life.
I was searching for some legal document
As the rain beat down on the hood
When I stumbled upon pictures I tried to forget
And that's how this idea was drilled into my head
Cause it's too important
To stay the way it's been
There's no blame for how our love did slowly fade
And now that it's gone it's like it wasn't there at all
And here I rest where disappointment and regret collide
Lying awake at night
There's no blame for how our love did slowly fade
And now that it's gone it's like it wasn't there at all
And here I rest where disappointment and regret collide
Lying awake at night (up all night)
When I'm lying awake at night
And everybody knows it.
So I'm proposing a swift orderly change
And all I find are souvenirs from better times
Before the gleam of your taillights fading east
To find yourself a better life.
As the rain beat down on the hood
When I stumbled upon pictures I tried to forget
And that's how this idea was drilled into my head
To stay the way it's been
And now that it's gone it's like it wasn't there at all
And here I rest where disappointment and regret collide
Lying awake at night
And now that it's gone it's like it wasn't there at all
And here I rest where disappointment and regret collide
Lying awake at night (up all night)
When I'm lying awake at night
Song Info
Submitted by
heartattack On Apr 10, 2004
More Death Cab for Cutie
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Weird.. listening to the CD, I always thought he said "the glove compartment is inaccurately named.." but I suppose it could work both ways, huh?
@tbsbnincnS I always thought, until seeing this today, he was singing "the glove compartment isn't accurately named." I guess it's better than thinking John Fogerty was singing "There's a bathroom on the right."
@tbsbnincnS I always thought, until seeing this today, he was singing "the glove compartment isn't accurately named." I guess it's better than thinking John Fogerty was singing "There's a bathroom on the right."
I think it's about him getting pulled over, and he has to give the police his informations, registrations and all that.. and he goes through the glove compartment, a place he'd probably wouldnt have ever looked in until that moment and is faced with memories he wanted to forget. And even after the situation has come about, he still has the glove compartment ,and everything it holds in it, in his head.
Thats EXACTLY what I thought even before I saw the comment, like 6 years ago when i first heard it!!
Thats EXACTLY what I thought even before I saw the comment, like 6 years ago when i first heard it!!
i went to a deathcab concert without ever hearing one of their songs. wow was i wrong i got back and listened totheir cd. i love this glove compartment song. i think it's saying how easily one could erase all conscious thoughts of someone they loved and how you can store it away without ever noticing, until one day, you do open it back up and you can still instantly relive your feelings as if they were fresh and new. i think that you can never stop loving someone you once loved. the only thing that changes is how much you love them. it reminds me of eternal sunshine of a spotless mind. for no reason i can explain outside my head.
I've always had an attachment to this song because I had almost the same exact experience Ben describes in the lyrics. I was with my first serious girlfriend for about 4 years and they were 4 of the happiest years of my life, but things eventually didn't work out and she moved to the East Coast. I kind of take the "before gleam of your tail lights fading East" figuratively as her moving East.
Anyway, about 2 years later I was putting my new registration paperwork in my glove compartment on a rainy day, and I found an old picture of my ex that I used to have pinned on my car's sun visor. I had completely forgotten about the picture, but apparently instead of throwing it away I had just stashed it in my glove box. Memories all came flooding back, and ever since that moment this has been one of my favorite songs.
@EmuWar Memory Stasher Compartment. Very accurately named. I've lived the same feeling too.
@EmuWar Memory Stasher Compartment. Very accurately named. I've lived the same feeling too.
i love this song. "here i rest where disappointment and regret collide/lying awake at night" who hasn't felt like this? plus, the glove compartment really isn't accurately named hehe. amazing lyrics, as always.
okay i am absolutly amazed by ben gibbards cleverness.... he takes meaningless stupid metaphors and turns them into brilliant songs
for instance:
okay i am absolutly amazed by ben gibbards cleverness.... he takes meaningless stupid metaphors and turns them into brilliant songs
for instance:
"the glove compartment isnt accuratly named" he made the song out of that but it has so much meaning and then like long division relating a man cheating on a women to long division is great all of death cab for cuties songs i can relate to they all make perfect sense and they are all so clever i dont think there is a band with this much talent and brilliance and i dont think there ever will be...
"the glove compartment isnt accuratly named" he made the song out of that but it has so much meaning and then like long division relating a man cheating on a women to long division is great all of death cab for cuties songs i can relate to they all make perfect sense and they are all so clever i dont think there is a band with this much talent and brilliance and i dont think there ever will be
I never really thought about a meaning until one of my friends said that this was one of the most pointless songs...which angered me. I started to think about it, and I saw a metaphor. To me, the glove compartment is a representation of his life and since its not accurately made, he feels as though his life has been messed up, and "everybody knows it." So to correct what he feels is wrong in his life he is going to make a quick decision (probably meaning that is will be a drastic one at that). There is nothing behind the door to keep his fingers warm because he can't find anything good in his life to make him happy. All he can remember are good memories, which were before his lover left him, hence the taillights are fading east, his lover is driving away to find a better life.
The rest I think is possibly how he got pulled over one day and was looking for his title and registration when he found remnants of past live with his lover. And the rest is self-explanatory.
@c0c0kittyo7 It's not accurately named, and this lyric is hilarous. Who keeps their gloves in there. We keep legal documents, our registration, our title, everybody probably but gloves. Why did they name it a glove compartment. I chortle. I love Ben's and Chris' cynicism from these early days of DCFC and a tremendous album that still sounds pertinent 22 years later. They released the demos of these songs in 2013 or so and it's fascinating how much TandR changed to final recording.
@c0c0kittyo7 It's not accurately named, and this lyric is hilarous. Who keeps their gloves in there. We keep legal documents, our registration, our title, everybody probably but gloves. Why did they name it a glove compartment. I chortle. I love Ben's and Chris' cynicism from these early days of DCFC and a tremendous album that still sounds pertinent 22 years later. They released the demos of these songs in 2013 or so and it's fascinating how much TandR changed to final recording.
just got off the phone with the ex-girlfriend and she said she thought of this song when she was looking through old stuff.
so i've listened to this song about 23 times in the last hour.
there's no blame for how our love did slowly fade.
what a song.
ben gibbard is amazing for writing something like this... its cute and sad and simple and sweet. and I love it.
i thnink the poster of the lyric effed up. cause its definately " is inaccurately named" not "isnt accurately named"
i think they both mean the same thing.. that isn't the correct name for it / it is the incorrect name for it. you get the point don't you??
i think they both mean the same thing.. that isn't the correct name for it / it is the incorrect name for it. you get the point don't you??
The beginning of this song is so great. it makes you totally want to listen to more just because it has this great rhythm to it that i just cant get over. This song is really great and the whole album is fabulous, just listen to it all and the instrumentals. Every little symbol and thing said can have some kind of meaning to you.