Stop trying to pretend that
You are going to stop-
You're either a smoker or you're not.
You will keep on smoking
For the rest of your life,
And then you'll get cancer
And then you'll die.
I can stop whenever I please
And anyway,
I'm immune to emphysema
And heart disease.
My diary says tomorrow is
The day I quit and
I'm going to stick with that.
I'll work my way down to
The end of this pack
And then I'm leaving this place
And I'm never coming back again.
Little itches need no stitches

But they bury you-
If you keep in scratching
You'll go right through.
Whiskey for the amputee is
Just the thing to ease the sting.
I've got a list og
Things to get round to.
I've got a list of
All the things I shouldn't do.
I know it by heart,
I've got the damn thing in m pocket,
But despite myself
It's the middle of the night and
I am round your house again,
Trying to pretend that I am going to stop.
I'm either a smoker or I'm not
You will keep on smoking
For the rest of my life, and don't I know it.
My favourite fatal weakness.
I'll work my way down
To the end of this pack,
And then I'll leave this place and
I'm never coming back.
I'll see you around, somewhere in town,
Next time I'm down, probably right here.


Lyrics submitted by viruz, edited by jakrooster, smitheroons

Achilles Lung Lyrics as written by Francis Edward Turner Benjamin Russell Erring Dawson

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Achilles Lung song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

3 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is what frank posted on the message board:

    "obvious or not, that's the metaphor. it's about someone i know who i shouldn't hang around with but i do, in the same way that on occasion i smoke and know i shouldn't. it's a pretty personal song lyrically, so i think i'll probably leave it there.

    and yes, the first verse is supposed to be humorous. a lot of people seem to have had their sense of humour surgically removed before checking the lyrics on the new album..."

    greenplasticon May 23, 2005   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Jesse with the long hair....
Robert Earl Keen, Jr.
Classic love story true to his western tx roots. One of my favorites as a story, but I think there are alot of songs that are amazing not even listed on this site. I guess I should figure out how to add them, because I have about 8 REK cd's.
Album art
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone). And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.