19 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
The Naming of Things Lyrics
You remind me of you
The way you shot right through and how
You broke my window glass, fast
It happened so fast
I have to confess that I
That I was impressed that I
That I was impressed that I
Despite all the mess and the broken glass
I was impressed
Here's where I disappeared
Where I fell off a pier into
And to be rescued I did wait
I watched waterbugs skate
As they draw figure eights as they draw
From the bottom of the lake as they draw
I watched waterbugs skate as they draw
From bottom of the lake I watched the waterbugs skate
Memories like mohair sweaters
Stretched and pilled faux distressed letters
Moose's horns and figure eights
White plastic bags in search of mates
What suffocates the land
In memory of garbage can
In memory of garbage can
But you can't be found when the bell rings
You weren't there that day for the naming of things
The naming of things, the naming of things
When your homeroom bell rings
And then your homeroom bell
Hey, just look at the mess you made today
You didn't really think it would get this bad
Hey, feel like you're living in a Russian play
Where it seems like you made everybody mad
You remind me of you
When you shot through
And broke my window glass
And it happened so fast
I have to confess
I was impressed, and I was impressed
Despite all the mess and the broken glass
I was impressed
You, you can't be found when the bell rings
You weren't there that day for the naming of things
The naming of things, the naming of things
When your homeroom bell rings
And then your homeroom bell rings
It's the naming of things
The naming of
The way you shot right through and how
You broke my window glass, fast
It happened so fast
I have to confess that I
That I was impressed that I
That I was impressed that I
Despite all the mess and the broken glass
I was impressed
Where I fell off a pier into
And to be rescued I did wait
I watched waterbugs skate
As they draw figure eights as they draw
From the bottom of the lake as they draw
I watched waterbugs skate as they draw
From bottom of the lake I watched the waterbugs skate
Stretched and pilled faux distressed letters
Moose's horns and figure eights
White plastic bags in search of mates
What suffocates the land
In memory of garbage can
In memory of garbage can
You weren't there that day for the naming of things
The naming of things, the naming of things
When your homeroom bell rings
And then your homeroom bell
You didn't really think it would get this bad
Hey, feel like you're living in a Russian play
Where it seems like you made everybody mad
When you shot through
And broke my window glass
And it happened so fast
I have to confess
I was impressed, and I was impressed
Despite all the mess and the broken glass
I was impressed
You weren't there that day for the naming of things
The naming of things, the naming of things
When your homeroom bell rings
And then your homeroom bell rings
It's the naming of things
The naming of
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
I always felt it was more of a song about falling in love. "You remind me of you" for one thing, and the idea that his audience "broke his window" but "despite all the mess and the broken glass," he was impressed seems to suggest that his opinions of the girl are pretty much set in stone. He fell off the pier--fell in love--and waited so long he had to look elsewhere--to the waterbugs, skating in figure eights--to find beauty at the bottom of his lake. The memory part is a little weird, but I think it's sort of like he has told her how he feels and knows she doesn't feel the same, so he's reminiscing about the old days when they joked around about plastic bags and moose's horns. But now she won't come back around to him--to her homeroom--even when the "bell rings." This makes him very sad, which makes her feel guilty, prompting the Russian play verse. But on top of it all, he still loves her--which reflects the title: He has named the emotion he feels for her, even if mentally she wasn't "there" for it.
The repetition is brilliant in this song- the second verse is sooo goood.
can it get any better than this?
I love the repetition in this song; it feels like it's being unfolded, like it's a very long silk belt folded upon itself many times and now someone's tugging on an end and the folds cause a sort of pattern as they come undone.
holy crap, the violin break in this song where it absolutely explodes?! holy crap. this song is so damn beautiful...
this song is absolutely wonderful. if i could make music, i would want it to sound like andrew bird.
I always thought this was a "you have a God complex" song. To me, it sounds like he's telling a person that while their persona and abilities are impressive, he/she is moving too quickly and has almost too much faith in his/her self. I thought the "naming of things" bit was a Biblical reference, but maybe I'm reading too much into it. ;)
you know, armchair apocrypha is really, really good, but mysterious production of eggs is magical. i am reminded of that when i listen to this song.
i agree fursoft. i love armchair aprocrypha, but you can't even hardly compete with mysterious production. one of my favorite cds ever made, ever.
couldn't agree more with the last two posts