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Compliments Lyrics

We sit and we sigh

And nothing gets done
So right, so clued-up
We just get old

And all the while
Been torn asunder

Nicotine

And bacteria



What are we coming to

What are we gonna do
Song Info
Submitted by
dricambo On Nov 26, 2004
45 Meanings

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Cover art for Compliments lyrics by Bloc Party

On YouTube, there is a video of Bloc Party performing this song live, they say briefly that the song is about "hating your job".

This song is extremely clever. Firstly the slowish paced tempo of the song gives this sort of dragging feel, the sort of feeling you get when you're trying to summon the effort to crawl out of bed on a morning before a long days hard work. Even when the drums kick in, there is a sort of clipping effect that sounds as if the drum machine has just been rudely awakened and is being forced to play against its own will.

The song is full of reverb, it sounds very airy which gives an impression of emptiness and loneliness, a feeling that no one is going to come and help you. This implies you are going to have to fend for yourself (i.e. by getting stuck in a horrible routine of working constantly just to survive). To add to the melancholic tone of the song, Kele sings in a very monotone manner, this is to suggest that routines and pressures from work will put you in a drone like state. Following routines and being a workaholic will turn you into a robot, a slave to money.

The theme, routine, is also expressed by the structure of the lyrics (or lack of them as it were). This song only has 10 (if that) very short lines of lyrics; this is so that the same passage could be repeated over and over again to imitate a routine driven life.

These small touches merge to create this whole negative vibe that bloc party so desperately attempts to portray in this masterpiece.

Most people would pass this song off as a boring waste of time, some would maybe go as far as saying it was just a simple album filler, I'd call such people ignorant. Yes, the song is boring, but that's what makes it so damn interesting!!! The song wants to be boring, it wants to sound mournful and repetitive as there is no better way to make the point that Bloc Party are trying to make. This is why I love Bloc Party, their music is filled which such intellect. This is more than a song; it is a warning to us all. Live life to its fullest, never settle for second best and follow the paths you yourself wish to follow.

Cheers Hyp3rSnip3rUK/Tim Knight

Song Meaning

@Hyp3rSnip3rUK You sir, are right on the money. I actually like this song, I love those repetitive notes (from the synthesizer?) in the background.

Cover art for Compliments lyrics by Bloc Party

When i listen to this song, I see a movie portrayed in my head. I see Kele getting tired of the day to day routine he's in. And as he's walking through the house he sees everyone doing the same thing they do everyday, whether it be to please society, or just to "get by." Everyone these days have the same problem of getting into a routine that they consider the "norm" and don't do anything to be above the rest. They end up becoming satisfied that their life is the same boring shit day in and day out.

Cover art for Compliments lyrics by Bloc Party

its just chillig. dont know realy what they want to say. i think the paragraph " We sit and we sigh

And nothing gets done So right, so clued-up We just get old "

says that we have to stand up and dont be lazy or something. If we dont help ourselves there wont be someone who will help us.

Cover art for Compliments lyrics by Bloc Party

this song is just about wasting away. feeling like your smoking and killing your body. possibly with alcohol and drugs or maybe just the rigors of life on the road. but either way it just seems like you're heading down a road that leads to destruction.

Cover art for Compliments lyrics by Bloc Party

Brilliant

Cover art for Compliments lyrics by Bloc Party

I think it's about feeling powerless. Or about not taking action on what you can see is wrong.... could fit both.

It's like what they can see and know, just goes to waste, because nothing is done about it. So they just fade away.....

That's my take on it

i agree completely. feeling powerless, when you know enough to know it's wrong and to know what's wrong but not enough to fix it.

everything around you. this is a great song.

Cover art for Compliments lyrics by Bloc Party

Beautiful song!... right up my alley

Cover art for Compliments lyrics by Bloc Party

I get the feeling of wasting away when i listen to this

Cover art for Compliments lyrics by Bloc Party

Utterly utterly beautiful...

Cover art for Compliments lyrics by Bloc Party

Beautiful song even if they say the same paragraph...its so melancolic.

 
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