I Turn My Camera On

Hello! Newbie and first time poster here... It seems to me that he's saying he wanted to capture an experience, or capture feeling,s or particular moments in his life (cameras can be/are used to capture moments, memories...), but in his efforts to do so, he got hurt. And hurt BAD. The part about "hit me like a tom" is him saying She/the lover/ hit him like a tom as in tom tom drum- a percussion instrument. She used him to make some 'music' to please herself, used him like one would use an instrument to achieve an end. He was just the means.

It seems to me to be about him feeling like he has been used by his lover. Used, not loved. And this painful experience, this betrayal of trust and I suppose, an offense to his feelings of genuine affection for his lover have left him feeling scarred him for life.

The hurt and betrayal was totally unexpected (as it is in most cases, huh?) so, maybe, he really really trusted her and believed she loved him or cared about him for who he is not just what she could get from him. ? And post-betrayal, or post-being used by her, he's turned his heart off so as not to be hurt again. So as not to be used. Not to be hit like a tom tom drum ever again? And she wasn;t very nice about it all when confronted or asked for explanations. She might have been cruel, dismissive, callous.

Or maybe, like many peopld have done before me and will do after me, I'm just projecting from some of the embittering and painful experiences from my disastrous time as someone who feels used! :-/ :-( :-)

Cheers, Phocid from DownUnder.

One thing I love about Spoon is the way they take lyrics and sentiments about sad/depressing experiences, and turn them into funky, groovy numbers that make you want to dance -- very much a product of Britt's Mo-Town influence, I think.

For those who are familiar with the album art, I think the line, "I cut my fingers on the way" may be fairly significant, because the image of a cut finger is part of the cd/record's visual packaging. In my mind, that image represents symbolically cutting through barriers that stand in the way of emotions, inspirations, vitality, alive-ness, etc, much like cutting through skin to get blood.

Essentially, I think this song is expressing emotional impenetrability and an inability to feel, although I see two possible interpretations in terms of context. Perhaps it's about someone who meets another person who blows his mind so much that he couldn't possibly have feelings for anyone else ever again, or perhaps it's about someone who has never felt anything deeply for anyone ever in his life, until he meets this person who turns his feelings on -- perhaps more of a chicken vs. egg kind of thing.

Interestingly, on Ga^5, Eddie's Ragga has the lines, "And then the place ignite, It’s in my face" and later, "And then the place ignite, All out of grace," which harkens back to the line, "Feel like I'm gonna ignite," in this song. Within the context of these two songs, the word, "ignite," sounds to me like it represents a surge of emotions/feelings that is sudden and nearly volatile.

The imagery is also interesting in reference to the pyrotechnic metaphors in You Got Yr Cherry Bomb.

I'll be hopping and dropping a few more comments for Ga^5 and Gimme Fiction songs on this site. Thanks for reading.

Can't...stop...grooving...to...song...

Thanks to Spoon for creating the catchiest songs in the universe.

i don't even have time to comment on this song, i have to go listen to it

one of the catchiest songs ever created by man. the bass line is so simple it grabs you and pulls you in and wont let you go. this song will get stuck in your head for like months on end.....guaranteed.

they've done it againn

Guy lives througt his (insert device here) Because a woman hurt him, a lot.

bum-tisch-bum-tisch-bum-tisch-bum-b-bum-bum-tisch! (adopts Britt Daniel-esque falsetto) "I turn my camera on". How good is this?! They're finally coming to Manchester at the end of September. Oh, good Christ, am I looking forward to that?!

does anyone else think he sounds like beck sometimes?

britt's voice, i mean, not musically...