you should see yourself
when will you grow up
every knob you twist on that machine is like a crutch
but i was just the fool
you’d been waiting for
who says we can’t touch
ourselves to keep from getting bored?
nothing else is touching thats for sure

a ring around the roses

i will watch you play
i come here every night
it’s just me the bartender the waitress and the lights
shining on you not getting it right
we clap not for you but for your kind

a ring around the roses
everybody poses
threats and then backs down
the second you put clothes on
a ring around the roses
eveybody knows it
i will sing your fears if
you sing my neurosis

you should back out now
not a night too soon
i’ll still be here when the last poor soul has left the room
standing round just like a good friend should
smiling as if your songs were good

a ring around the roses
everybody poses
threats and then backs down
the second you put clothes on
a ring around the roses
everybody knows it
i will sing your fears if
you sing my neurosis

and i sat there for hours
waiting on the curb
thinking you might like a flower from a pretty girl
a ring around the waitress from the verse
a ring of fire around the roses’ door
put it on before you lose your nerve
put your hands together and they’ll hurt(x5)
make a sound that no one’s ever heard(x2)
and i hope we get what we deserve


Lyrics submitted by eener88

A Night at the Roses song meanings
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22 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    to me the last verse implies that she hasnt ever actually met this person, but she keeps going to watch them play badly because shes in love...thats why in the last verse shes sitting on the curb after the gig finished, waiting for him to come out so she can say hello, give hum a flower...maybe? and what they deserve is to be together?

    espionageon June 19, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    maybe a song about her thing for conor oberst of bright eyes? how she met him and he sort of blew her off as just another fan?

    erratickon June 26, 2006   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    I thought it was about unrequited love.

    The singer is in love with the bad musician who is going to reluctantly marry the waitress. "A ring around the waitress from the verse" "Put it on before you lose your nerve"

    anybody24on April 17, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I always took it to be about virginity. Call me crazy. I do think "the roses" is a club and the speaker in the song, not necessarily Amanda, lost her virginity to the a member of the band. A ring around the roses i think also refers to condoms... and its a play on rings as in commitment and sex.

    "everybody poses threats and then backs down the second you put clothes on" Everyone is all about being with you...until your clothes are on...

    Also i think the "that you might like a flower from a pretty girl" bit is in relation again to virginity since a girls virginity is often referred to as a flower. Maybe I'm reading to much into it though. Again to the condom reference... "put it on before you lose your nerve..."

    just a guess though...

    MisaMisaon April 27, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i love it. though i don't understand it.

    im_not_janeon September 10, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Its Amanda watching a friend and fellow musican who is rather bad, but she supports them anyway.

    errky39on January 03, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Just to note, The Roses is probably a bar or club.

    Mjechta_Moyaon January 03, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love this song. Amazing band. To me its about going to watch a musican friend who is performing badly, like errky39 said. But i also think it might mean she went to watch as she wanted a romantic relationship with the musician, to show she would always be there. Im not sure though and parts confuse me, it could easily just be her being a good friend.

    blackskieslullabyon January 05, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i would like to think that this is the story on when Amanda and Brian met, but i have my doubts.

    saint_anonymouson January 12, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Amanda and Brian met at a party, and it was Brian who watched Amanda preform, so probably not.

    errky39on January 17, 2006   Link

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