5 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
Green Buckets Lyrics
Won't you come over and stay for a while?
Take a seat, have a drink, we'd have a nice time.
Turn on the TV I believe it's prime time.
I'll make you chicken cacciatore in five.
There's a woman down at 314
who can't keep the stains on her kitchen floor clean.
And there's a man who's been knockin' on his door
for three years, or has it been four?
I don't wanna spend the winter in this house all alone.
Those neighbors of mine keep coming on over and playing with my mind.
I would like to love you,
I sure would treat you right.
We could take the trash out
every Thursday night.
Here in my neighborhood there is the strangest thing -
Green buckets every Friday at every driveway.
They're filled with glasses, plastics, and newspapers, too.
They say they recycle and bring them back to you.
I would like to love you,
I sure would treat you right.
We could take the trash out
every Thursday night.
We could be a family,
consume many goods.
We could be the pillars
of the neighborhood.
Ah babe, I'm a real hard worker
With the proper tools, I'll make you anything you yearn for.
The barbarians are at the gate,
Come in before it's too late.
I have food enough to last the two of us about a year.
A thousand cans of chowder and a thousand cans of beer.
I love my neighbors like I love my own brothers,
But every year they're getting odder and odder.
I would like to love you,
I sure would treat you right.
We could take the trash out
every Thursday night.
We could be a family,
consume many goods.
We could be the pillars
of the neighborhood.
Take a seat, have a drink, we'd have a nice time.
Turn on the TV I believe it's prime time.
I'll make you chicken cacciatore in five.
There's a woman down at 314
who can't keep the stains on her kitchen floor clean.
And there's a man who's been knockin' on his door
for three years, or has it been four?
Those neighbors of mine keep coming on over and playing with my mind.
I sure would treat you right.
We could take the trash out
every Thursday night.
Green buckets every Friday at every driveway.
They're filled with glasses, plastics, and newspapers, too.
They say they recycle and bring them back to you.
I sure would treat you right.
We could take the trash out
every Thursday night.
We could be a family,
consume many goods.
We could be the pillars
of the neighborhood.
With the proper tools, I'll make you anything you yearn for.
The barbarians are at the gate,
Come in before it's too late.
I have food enough to last the two of us about a year.
A thousand cans of chowder and a thousand cans of beer.
I love my neighbors like I love my own brothers,
But every year they're getting odder and odder.
I sure would treat you right.
We could take the trash out
every Thursday night.
We could be a family,
consume many goods.
We could be the pillars
of the neighborhood.
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I can't tell if it really is a love song, or if it's more of a commentary on the rituals of suburban life (focusing on taking the trash and recycling out). They also talk about watching all the prime time TV, keeping hoards of canned goods, etc. in a way that sounds kind of mocking.
Anyone figure out the part with "And there's a man who's been knockin' on his door/for three years, or has it been four?"
I love this song. Trying to convince the girl he likes, he is the man for her.
Well, I do agree with Sailing... but it seems to me that the narrator is thinking of himself more than the girl (we'll assume gender). He's noticed his quirky neighbors in the second stanza and into the following snippet acknowledged his need for companionship to keep the absurdity of mundane life at bay; the rest of the song supports this statement. Between stanzas of romancing his intended are impressions of a cyclical world (the green buckets) and the "barbarians" attempting to pull him into the mix.
Though maybe rather than staving it off, the narrator only wishes companionship for the duration? This seems likely due to his willingness to join as "pillars of the neighborhood" and so on.
I'd say he's just raggin' on the "ideal" suburban lifestyle. Clutch has done this in other songs, namely "Let A Poor Man Be," and "Opossum Minister."
It's about a guy who believes that preparing for a complete breakdown of social order will improve his mating chances. If you're a female who wants the security of a suburban lifestyle, this guy is so prepared, he's like the boy scout of preparedness.