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We Looked Like Giants Lyrics

God bless the daylight, the sugary smell of springtime
Remembering when you were mine in a still suburban town

When every Thursday, I'd brave those mountain passes
And you'd skip your early classes and we'd learn how our bodies worked

God damn the black night, with all its foul temptations
I've become what I always hated when I was with you then

We looked like giants in the back of my grey subcompact
Fumbling to make contact as the others slept inside
And together there in a shroud of frost, the mountain air
Began to pass through every pane of weathered glass
And I held you closer than anyone would ever get

Do you remember the J-A-M-C and reading aloud from magazines
I don't know about you but I swear on my name they could smell it on me
I've never been too good with secrets, no

Oh, together there in a shroud of frost, the mountain air
Began to pass through every pane of weathered glass
And I held you closer
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Cover art for We Looked Like Giants lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

this is such an amazing song.. on an amazing album from quite an amazing bands.

i would post what i think about it but im just a stupid kid. though i must say its funny how Ben gibbard still writes about making out with girls in the back of cars. what a man. haha

Cover art for We Looked Like Giants lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

Do you remember the JAMC? If anyone is curious about the JAMC, it refers to a Glasgowian band of rock-rock-rockin rolls! The Jesus and Mary Chain is a must amongst those who also dig My Bloody Valentine. Actually both of those (bands) appear on the soundtrack to "Lost in Translation"

cheers

Cover art for We Looked Like Giants lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

This is the most beautiful songin the world, Ben Gibbard can have me any time.

Cover art for We Looked Like Giants lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

yep. Sex. CAR sex. I like this song because Ben Gibbard never misses a note.

Cover art for We Looked Like Giants lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

JAMC stands for Junior American Men's Club.

At least this is what Ben Gibbard replaced the "JAMC" lyric with at a show in Irvine in 2007. He just said it really fast.

If it's the Jesus and Mary Chain then he could be fucking with us. But it's not like Ben Gibbard to fuck around.

Song Meaning
Cover art for We Looked Like Giants lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

I will start off with a) when I saw this live I thought it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

I definatly think this song is about some sort of forbidden love, whether it be one of them is involved with someone or they're just not supposed to be together. I'd go with the former, just because of "I become what I always hated, when I was with you". Also, I always thought the line was "I held you closer than anyone could ever GUESS", and Ive decided I will still sing it this way because with the story in my mind, it fits better. Like no one knows they are together, so no one would guess they are, you know, having sex in his backseat.

All in all, favorite song of the moment. Ben, please marry me and not Zooey Deschanel.

Cover art for We Looked Like Giants lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

"braved those mountain passes" is the correct lyric this song is about him travelling over the snoqualmie pass to get to his girlfriend's college probably WSU or EWU She skipped her early classes to meet up with him

the song as a whole is about hanging out with an ex girlfriend and ending up having sex with her and how he tries to hide it from everyone else but you can literally smell her on him

and yes JAMC is jesus and mary chain

And i think that that secret that he tries to hide from everyone made him feel like he looked like a giant also besides the literal meaning where "We looked like giants In the back of my gray sub-compact." For example, if you feel scared you feel small, and if you're trying to hide a secret you feel like a giant attracting too much attention.

Cover art for We Looked Like Giants lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

i was at a death cab concert last friday ben said "this is a song about being a young man" and then i had his children. wait, no, not that last part...

Cover art for We Looked Like Giants lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

"And together there, In the shroud of frost, The mountain air began to pass, Through every pane of weathered glass, And I held you closer, than anyone would ever get."

I'm not too romantic, but I bet the time that is described in those lines was special and I hope it was real and not made up because it sounds like a time no one would want to ever forget.

Cover art for We Looked Like Giants lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

actually, im gonna say more....

this captures young love perfectly. "Goddamn the black night, With all its foul temptations, I've become what I've always hated, When I was with you there. We looked like giants, In the back of my grey sub-compact, Fumbling to make contact, As the others slept inside."

are great at describing how the idea of sex in a car is so cliche and seems empty of actual love but in the situation he was in, it wasnt like that. great great imagery again.

 
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