Mica

This was a poem set to music. Holly Anderson (not a member of the band) wrote it. It's a "graphic poem," which I'm assuming describes how it incorporates visual art in addition to words. I'd never heard of that: until I read about how this song was written, in the liner notes of Vs. as recently reissued by Matador. The poem is visual; each letter appears separately in a series of grids.

It's remarkably musical: given that the poem lacks meter, and was never intended to be sung.

The missing or incomplete lines are:

First he says, "Why mince words?" [and...] Between icy wet white sheets for three days and go down deeper than dreams

(The latter was one of the few changes from the words of the poem, which reads "72 hours" not "three days")

missionofburma.com has most of the lyrics to these songs, although they're often wrong and misheard. this was taken from there. there's another version on google somewhere which someone did when they covered the song.

Anyway, I think it's about being tempted to stay in bed with your lover. I like the line "I'd be a mineral deposit, a ball of mica, inside a rock"

thanks for the info, this was always my favorite song on Vs. and i had no idea about the poem

i agree that it's definitely a poem set to words, the interpretation michael azerrad gave in "our band could be your life" always made the most sense to me, which is basically that clint wrote this while in rehab for his alcoholism, which explains all the sterile hospital imagery as well as the "icy wet white sheets" (withdrawals). as for the "chorus", about being a ball of mica inside a rock, as well as the following "there will be no whistles, no radios" as speaking to the isolated, insular environment and experience he was going through, cut off from the rest of the world.

used to think it was a bit odd, for such a raucous song to include an eloquent plea for silence.

now it makes sense. going through withdrawal is like the worst flu you ever had, to the tenth power. one of the more common symptoms is being oversensitive to light, sound and other stimuli. (ever had a hangover or a migraine?)

except this is (typically) only one of the nasty things your body is doing to you. plus you have cravings: which is mostly a deep physiological thing, but also because the drug would make the sickness go away. finally there's the knowledge you've brought all this suffering on yourself, by your own stupid behavior.

none of this is intended to sound judgmental. having experienced it myself, I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.