A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More "Touch Me"

Obviously it's the classic story of a boy trying to get with a girl. But cause of the title of this song, I always see in my head Fall Out Boy as high schoolers trying and failing at getting the girls like a classic 80's teen flick. Just looking at how the lyrics progress, it really does feel like an 80's teen movie in 00's, pop-punk form.

I love this song with a burning passion, I did an accoustic cover in a school essembly once, after an ex decided to leave me for a little whore.... ¬_¬. (but im deffinately over that... sigh) i changed the lyrics slightly when i sang it to "but you're just the boy all the girls want to dance with..." and everyone in the concert knew i was singing it for him.... even he was uneasy and after i'd finished i stood up and walked over to the mic, looked at him and said "honey, I don't blame you for being you, but you can't blame me for hating you" there was then an erruption of "whoop!" behind stage where all my friends were cheering me on heh heh heh XD

this song sounds so awesome

deffinatly. he had a ton of chances with this girl and he never took them. now that she's gone he wants her. "dropping "I'm sorrys” like you're still around"----> she went somewhere "I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late"-----> he knows he was too late

this totally reminds me of this girl im seeing. shes beautiful, and always gets hit on/invited to hangout with other guys, but ignores them and...picked me! lol

I heart this song soo much!! The lyrics are awesome... FOB really helped me get past this boy.. I listen to their whole new CD like 5 times a day! lol. I think the best lyrics is the "I dont blame you for being you, but you cant blame me for hating it." That soo applied to me.

The title of this song really tells it all - quit acting like we're in a cheesy 80's teen movie and tell me what you want.

Pete's an great songwriter.

It's just about a really insecure, shy guy who's afraid to tell the girl how he feels and is afraid his words will come out the wrong way. I can unfortunately relate to this song pretty much more than any FOB song ever.

Well, here's what it means to me...

I confess, I messed up, dropping "I'm sorry"s like you're still around.
<i>(Pretty straightforward, IMO. He's apologizing, but she doesn't care)</i> And I know you dressed up "Hey, kid, you'll never live this down." <i>(She tried to let him down easy, making up an excuse, but he knows that he screwed up badly.)</i> 'Cause you're just the girl all the boys wanna dance with, and I'm just the boy who's had too many chances.
<i>(She has so many other options that she's done trying to make it happen with him.)</i> I'm sleeping on your folk's porch again, dreaming she said, she said, she said "Why don't you just drop dead?" <i>(This seems to allude to him being at her place and then getting kicked out when stuff hits the fan, and he's mentally replaying her "dressed up" letdown as her just telling him to drop dead.)</i>

I don't blame you for being you, but you can't blame me for hating it.
So say, "What are you waiting for? Kiss her, kiss her" I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late <i>(These lines are a look into Pete's mind as he's fighting with the girl. It's probably a petty argument, but probably also one of many, and because of it, she's questioning if he really loves her, and he knows that he should just end the fight by going in for the kiss [and effectively apologizing], but by the time it's actually clicked, she's kicked him out of her room.)</i>

Write me off, give up on me, 'cause, darling, what do you expect? I'm just off, a lost cause, a long shot. Don't even take this bet.
<i>(This is him sarcastically responding to her protests about their relationship: "No, you're right, I'm a terrible person. Don't bother with me." I think his use of "darling" underscores the sarcasm.)</i>

You can make all the moves, you can aim all the spotlights. Get all the sighs and the moans just right.
<i>(He's talking about how you can stage a perfect relationship, but in the end, it's just a porno.)</i>

I'm sleeping on your folk's porch again, dreaming she said, she said, she said "Why don't you just drop dead?"

I don't blame you for being you, but you can't blame me for hating it So say, "What are you waiting for? Kiss her, kiss her" I set my clocks early 'cause I know I'm always late.

(Always on, always on) You said you'd keep me honest (Always on, always on) But I won't call you on it (Always on, always on) <i>(I think this is saying that she had been talking about their relationship in a long-term sense. Now that they're apparently breaking up, he's not gonna call her out for it.)</i>

I don't blame you for being you But you can't blame me for hating it So say, "What are you waiting for? Kiss her, kiss her" I set my clocks early 'Cause I know I'm always late I set my clocks early 'Cause I know I'm always late

To me, this song is about a guy trying to fix things with a girl who wants nothing to do with him anymore.

All he has left to say to her these days is "I'm sorry" because she rejected him and they have nothing to talk about anymore. He knows she's "dressed up" every night, going out and just enjoying her life without him. He'll never live it down because he messed up something so beautiful over something so meaningless.

He probably has a good relationship with her parents still so he's on their metaphorical "porch." He dreams about her a lot and the words that cut him the deepest - "Why don't you just drop dead?!"

She was the girl every guy wanted and he could have had. But he took advantage of her affection and pushed his luck too many times. He acknowledges that it's OK to be the way she is but also admits the fact that he can't stand it sometimes. Maybe she's young, so she's immature. That's normal and nothing she should be scorned for. But when she acted self-absorbed, oblivious, and ditsy, it had a negative impact on their relationship, which upset him. He could never handle it well when that happened.

He expresses that he's always late with his emotions and apologies so now he sets his clocks early. He should have kissed her when the time was right. He had so many chances but never used them. He says he's no good and that she should have known better. He says if she's smart, she'll ignore him from now on even though all he wants is to be with her.

She's good at making him the bad guy and putting everything wrong he's done in the spotlight. She makes a convincing argument as to why they should go their own separate ways. She's told him before "I'll always keep you honest" (maybe in a jokingly, flirtatious manner when he tried telling her once about his past mistakes with other girls). "But I won't call you on it" clearly conveys that she could NOT keep him honest and he was deceitful anyway.

I think I can understand the true meaning of this song because I've been in this exact same situation. I'm still in it, actually. Except I gave her one last apology and finally cut it off with her after not being friends for three months. I never made a move because she had a boyfriend and I never wanted to betray her trust. But that didn't stop her from wanting to come over to my house and watch movies with me, cuddled up together on my couch. I should have kissed her when I had the chance because she ended up breaking up with her boyfriend just after we had our worst (and last) argument.

In fact, I think the meaning of the song title "A Little Less Sixteen Candles, a Little More 'Touch Me'" literally means "Let's stop watching Sixteen Candles and make out instead"