In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
If I want to sit in and drink super tenants in the day I will
No one's going to fucking tell me jack
But can you rely on anyone in this world?
No, you can't
It's not my fault there's wall-to-wall empty cans
Everyone wanted this to all go wrong for me from the start
It's fucked up that a man's life can just be attacked
Watching this morning with a beer
Is much better than relying on
Unknown cunts for mates I was given
That don't have my back
Scott texted me to say he'd have a look at the TV for me
But I laid it down telling him to fuck right off chap
Phoned this company out the yellow pages
Told them to take away the TV and fix it quick snap
The next day they took away the TV
Told me they would repair the little bit
That's broken round on the back
I thought that would be that but the next bit was on top
This was where it all started to get a bit out of hand
[Chorus 1]
No one gives a crap about Mike
That's why I'm acting nasty
You know what you can do with your life
Introduce it up your jacksie
'Cause no one gives a crap about Mike
That's why I'm acting nasty
You know what you can do with your life
Introduce it up your jacksie
The TV man comes back later, knocks on mine
To say he's found something in the back of the TV
I'm looking at it absolutely speechless, can't quite believe
He's trying to pull this fucking stunt on me
I knew it was a simple case of the power supply gone on the back
But he's trying to tap me up for more money
He says it's not like that and I'm like "Fuck off and die!"
And stick up my two fingers and one more to make three
He says "Don't talk to me like that", and I don't understand
My face is in his face, I tell him I understand perfectly
And he grabs my shirt and I grab his face with my hand
So he brings his fist up and twats me a good one on my cheek
Now I'm trying to pull his head down so I can knee it
But he's got my ear
He's twisting it round so much that it's
Really hurting me
And we both go down on the floor, and he pushes my head back
Onto the corner of the fridge which is, total agony
Then he gets up and runs out the kitchen, and out of the door
Shouting stuff to me, slams his door, shouting at me
So here I am in my house, drinking on my own settee
Everyone's a cunt in this life, no one's there for me
[Chorus 1]
If I want to sit in and drink super tenants in the day I will
No one's going to fucking tell me jack
But can you rely on anyone in this world?
No, you can't
It's all my fault there's wall-to-wall empty cans
I sat in the kitchen all fucked off
Imagining over and over what they're all doing behind my back
Dodgy things going on, actions I regretted
Stain bottle with a pipe and tin foil on the mat
Scott texted me to say he'd have a look at the TV for me
And I felt like just telling him to fuck right off chap
But what he said about wanting to do the right thing by both mates
And then opting to stay out? It seemed to match
But I told him he could make it up by fixing the TV
He said that's the least he could do to square things flat
I thought that would be that but then the next bit was mad
This is where everything started to all turn back
[Chorus 2]
The end of the something I did not want to end
Beginning of hard times to come
But something that was not meant to be is done
And this is the start of what was
He had to unscrew about fifteen screws
Before he could pull the panel off the back
To get in the fecking thing
But just as he did so, he said he saw something
That slipped inside behind the panel
Down the back of it
Must have been some leaflets or a bill maybe
I didn't want to lose the bill in case it was a final warning
So we both tried to get the back off and work out
If there was any more screws to get out
Or if we left any in
And when he looked down the back of the TV his eyes just froze
Before he rammed his hand in, saying, "No shit!"
He's looking at me absolutely speechless
He can't quite believe what he's trying to pull, out the slip
I get up wondering what he's smiling about
He's shaking his head at this point with, the biggest of grins
I look down the back of the TV and that's where it was
In all its glory?my thousand quid
[Chorus 2]
About two this afternoon the last of the people left my house
'Cause they never stop chatting 'til all the rackets gone
I really feel like things clicked into place at some point
Or maybe it's the fact that me and Alison really got on
Or maybe it's that I realized that it is true
No one's really there fighting for you in the last garrison
No one except yourself that is
No one except you
You are the one who's got your back 'til the last deeds done
Scott can't have my back 'til the absolute end
'Cause he's got to look out for what over his horizon
He's gotta make sure he's not lonely, not broke
It's enough to worry about keeping his own head above
I shut the door behind me, huddled up in my coat
Condensation floating off my breath, squinted out the sun
My jeans feel a bit tight, think I washed them too high
I was gonna be late, so I picked up my pace to run
[Chorus 2: Repeat 4X]
No one's going to fucking tell me jack
But can you rely on anyone in this world?
No, you can't
It's not my fault there's wall-to-wall empty cans
Everyone wanted this to all go wrong for me from the start
It's fucked up that a man's life can just be attacked
Watching this morning with a beer
Is much better than relying on
Unknown cunts for mates I was given
That don't have my back
Scott texted me to say he'd have a look at the TV for me
But I laid it down telling him to fuck right off chap
Phoned this company out the yellow pages
Told them to take away the TV and fix it quick snap
The next day they took away the TV
Told me they would repair the little bit
That's broken round on the back
I thought that would be that but the next bit was on top
This was where it all started to get a bit out of hand
[Chorus 1]
No one gives a crap about Mike
That's why I'm acting nasty
You know what you can do with your life
Introduce it up your jacksie
'Cause no one gives a crap about Mike
That's why I'm acting nasty
You know what you can do with your life
Introduce it up your jacksie
The TV man comes back later, knocks on mine
To say he's found something in the back of the TV
I'm looking at it absolutely speechless, can't quite believe
He's trying to pull this fucking stunt on me
I knew it was a simple case of the power supply gone on the back
But he's trying to tap me up for more money
He says it's not like that and I'm like "Fuck off and die!"
And stick up my two fingers and one more to make three
He says "Don't talk to me like that", and I don't understand
My face is in his face, I tell him I understand perfectly
And he grabs my shirt and I grab his face with my hand
So he brings his fist up and twats me a good one on my cheek
Now I'm trying to pull his head down so I can knee it
But he's got my ear
He's twisting it round so much that it's
Really hurting me
And we both go down on the floor, and he pushes my head back
Onto the corner of the fridge which is, total agony
Then he gets up and runs out the kitchen, and out of the door
Shouting stuff to me, slams his door, shouting at me
So here I am in my house, drinking on my own settee
Everyone's a cunt in this life, no one's there for me
[Chorus 1]
If I want to sit in and drink super tenants in the day I will
No one's going to fucking tell me jack
But can you rely on anyone in this world?
No, you can't
It's all my fault there's wall-to-wall empty cans
I sat in the kitchen all fucked off
Imagining over and over what they're all doing behind my back
Dodgy things going on, actions I regretted
Stain bottle with a pipe and tin foil on the mat
Scott texted me to say he'd have a look at the TV for me
And I felt like just telling him to fuck right off chap
But what he said about wanting to do the right thing by both mates
And then opting to stay out? It seemed to match
But I told him he could make it up by fixing the TV
He said that's the least he could do to square things flat
I thought that would be that but then the next bit was mad
This is where everything started to all turn back
[Chorus 2]
The end of the something I did not want to end
Beginning of hard times to come
But something that was not meant to be is done
And this is the start of what was
He had to unscrew about fifteen screws
Before he could pull the panel off the back
To get in the fecking thing
But just as he did so, he said he saw something
That slipped inside behind the panel
Down the back of it
Must have been some leaflets or a bill maybe
I didn't want to lose the bill in case it was a final warning
So we both tried to get the back off and work out
If there was any more screws to get out
Or if we left any in
And when he looked down the back of the TV his eyes just froze
Before he rammed his hand in, saying, "No shit!"
He's looking at me absolutely speechless
He can't quite believe what he's trying to pull, out the slip
I get up wondering what he's smiling about
He's shaking his head at this point with, the biggest of grins
I look down the back of the TV and that's where it was
In all its glory?my thousand quid
[Chorus 2]
About two this afternoon the last of the people left my house
'Cause they never stop chatting 'til all the rackets gone
I really feel like things clicked into place at some point
Or maybe it's the fact that me and Alison really got on
Or maybe it's that I realized that it is true
No one's really there fighting for you in the last garrison
No one except yourself that is
No one except you
You are the one who's got your back 'til the last deeds done
Scott can't have my back 'til the absolute end
'Cause he's got to look out for what over his horizon
He's gotta make sure he's not lonely, not broke
It's enough to worry about keeping his own head above
I shut the door behind me, huddled up in my coat
Condensation floating off my breath, squinted out the sun
My jeans feel a bit tight, think I washed them too high
I was gonna be late, so I picked up my pace to run
[Chorus 2: Repeat 4X]
Lyrics submitted by machineofgod
Empty Cans Lyrics as written by Michael Geoffrey Skinner
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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nottheminder, it's not a proverb. The guy has been sitting in his apartment drinking because he's upset, and he's had so much to drink that all the empty cans form a line from one wall to the next. It could be a hyperbole, meaning there aren't really that many cans and it's just an exaggeration to show how much he's been drinking, but either way it just means he's been drinking a LOT due to his mood and his situation. The empty cans are just that, empty beer cans.
Whoops, nevermind, didn't notice the replies.