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On the Sly Lyrics
Wipe it up you're capable of putting back a few when you have to
memorize the history of your body like a virgin;
ladies night, 80's night; the kids get high and eat TV,
so do we. For Halloween I want to be Lenny Bruce
I want them to hate me So you can love me on the sly
My old flame broke the 12 bar blues just to prove he could.
He pays the airline DJs now. He is everywhere
I want him to hate me So you can love me on the sly.
I don't feel so far away from you lately, love me on the sly
Fill me in on horrible, how much is there, where else can I live?
The dirty sugar factory on the water should smell sweet
I want them to hate me
I don't feel so far away from you lately, love me on the sly
memorize the history of your body like a virgin;
ladies night, 80's night; the kids get high and eat TV,
so do we. For Halloween I want to be Lenny Bruce
He pays the airline DJs now. He is everywhere
The dirty sugar factory on the water should smell sweet
I don't feel so far away from you lately, love me on the sly
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This song is about the repercussions of an artist becoming popular. Here are a few themes that stand out in particular.
Lenny Bruce is a counter-culturist from the 60's and is specifically mentioned at the beginning of the song to set the tone of the theme.
Her friend that broke the 12 bar blues and now pays the airline DJs can be interpreted as a sellout artist.
The sugar factory that should smell sweet refers to the idea of corporations trying to manufacture musicians and her opinion on that idea.
Finally, throughout the whole song she says she wants you to love her on the sly. So it's almost fan-appreciation and a promise to us she'll never sell out and more specifically intentionally focus on not becoming popular.
@cmerick
@cmerick
I have to disagree on so many aspects of this.
I have to disagree on so many aspects of this.
For haloween she wants to be lenny bruce so she can act afoul and make the family hate her as she want an out.
For haloween she wants to be lenny bruce so she can act afoul and make the family hate her as she want an out.
Her friend broke the 12 bar rule to prove to her that he could do better an move on in life.
Her friend broke the 12 bar rule to prove to her that he could do better an move on in life.
The sugar factory in question is the demono's sugar factory on the water front in williamber brooklyn where metric was struggling to become famous at the time. Where am I going to move if I have to leave this house?
The sugar factory in question is the demono's sugar factory on the water front in williamber brooklyn where metric was struggling to become famous at the time. Where am I going to move if I have to leave this house?
I want them to hate...
I want them to hate me, so I can love you on the sly. Infidelity.
well when tryign to figure it out i looked up a couple of things that i didn't understand, like: Lenny Bruce: An American counter-culture icon from the 1960s, Lenny Bruce's obscenity-laced social satire paved the way for modern stand-up comedy. (anwsers.com) 12 bar blues: is a chord progression, typical of blues and later, blues-influenced, music. the kind of "my baby left me..." songs. (And finally the idiom ) on the sly: In a way intended to escape notice
So from that we get... that she wants him (her current love interest) to hate her, so she can secretly love him (the other man). She sees him everywhere "He is everywhere" I guess b/c of being a DJ, but also because she can't stop thinking about him. So to me, it means that latly shes remembering him more and more, and she wants him to love her secretly just like she loves him.
"the kids get high and eat TV, so do we." I love that line... I could live in that line
I agree with the relationship interpretation. I think she's infatuated with someone that's not her current lover but wants her current lover to hate her so she doesn't feel guilty.
I also think the sugar factory may be referring to the sugar factory in Williamsburg because she lived in Williamsburg, Brooklyn around the time this was written.
@brightoutburst Bingo!
@brightoutburst Bingo!
@brightoutburst It would be called the Domino sigar factory. Source: Lived in Brooklyn for 15 years.
@brightoutburst It would be called the Domino sigar factory. Source: Lived in Brooklyn for 15 years.
nothing in her past matters as much as him loving her now
Ummm I think you may be right actually, but I've always hear this song and thought about my current boyfriend. I get so wrapped up in him I want other people to hate me. Life without him is merely interlude ( cookie for whoever knows what song THAT is from). The whole "on the sly" part, we haven't told anyone we are seeing each other. If we do, there is such a stigma with relationships when everyone knows. If you keep it quiet, then that person is your one respite from the world. Your one escape. That's kinda what this song is to me.
I think, "He is everywhere", means the songs he plays are all around. Music being constant and all.
Metric is so amazing. There are no words for them. "The dirty sugar factory on the water should smell sweet." - I love that line.
The first section of this song seems to disenchant the idea of growing up. "Putting back a few" could be a reference to getting drunk, I'm not sure. The rest of this verse/intro is about growing up and getting older.
Her old boyfriend isn't a DJ he's a musician who revolutionized music somehow "Broke the 12 bar blues" and is very rich and popular because of that "He pays the airline DJs now. He is everywhere". I don't think this actually happened to the singer as there is no mention of it on wikipedia.
I find it hard to say exactly what this song is about but I find it very depressing/amazing at the same time. It is definitely about some sort of love affair and being disenchanted about growing up in a north American consumer culture as metric has written other songs criticizing American culture.
i think 'the dirty sugar factory on the water' is referring to the old abandoned redpath sugar factory on the water at queens quay in toronto. just a guess. this song is amazing, i agree it's about the joy of loving someone secretly, it's never spoken, but you know deep down they feel the same.