Necessary Evil

I think people are missing the relationships references in this song... Amanda has referred to this album as a post- (post-?) breakup album and it's important to keep that in mind when listening to the songs -- some are more explicit than others...

"You could write a letter then...""Can you find yourself without me?".. "You are saying nothing but your tongue is getting blacker.." "I am broadcasting are you receiving?" --he's leaving her behind and not communicating.

The black tongue part reminds me of the "lies" in "Truce."

"I'm connecting speakers to my suitors at the discoteque They don't know the difference, are they men or are they Memorex?"

--She's showdescribing how pathetic the dating scene... and then asking "can you find yourself without me?"

As far as "Listerine," I'm not sure if this is related, but she mentions in her blog:

"i don't take a shower every day. i don't want to. mike penta used to say, amanda palmer, amanda palmer is a dirty girl. he started a new toothbrush every two weeks."

She mentions her lack of hygiene quite a bit:

"Glass Slipper:" "Other girls shower but I hand out flowers..."

"Girl Anarchronis:" "And you can tell by the red in my eyes and the bruises on my thighs and the knots in my hair and the bathtub full of flies that i'm not right now at all..."

I love the idea of the relying too heavily on technology to communicate, but I NEVER thought that was what it was about.

I thought it was about a relationship that just ended over time. And the other person just forgets you, or ignores you, and it annoys you.

"i remember golden days when all this was a mystery and you could write a letter then or god forbid come visit me"

signifying that perhaps after the break up, they decided to be friends. however, now they won't even talk to you or come over, for something is in the way. ( a new relationship? )

And the listerine was about how they, at one time, lived together, and they left their listerine at your house. And your tellin them to take it back. I know that seems kind of out there, butit just makes sense to me.

**i probably coulve explained this better.

This song seems to be about the loss of communication by technology achievements.

Even though it says "fingers crossed" in the booklet, it sounds more like "fingers first" on the album, and I also hear "gas stations with people" instead of "...and people", though that's in the booklet too. It's possible Amanda ended up singing her own lyrics a little wrong though. On their message board I remember her mentioning the last few lines of "First Orgasm" are supposed to be "one to hold me, one to hold me, won't you hold me?", but on the take they used for the album she ended up just singing "won't you hold me, won't you hold me, won't you hold me?".

And ueah, it does seem to be about people relying too much on email/text messaging/whatever else to communicate with each other. Kind of a similar concept to "Modern Moonlight", but from a slightly different angle.

Amanda said the original title of this song was "Listerine" but that it was illegal to have a product as the title, though it is legal to have it in the song.

The meaning of this song does seem to be similar to modern moonlight, they are both great songs.

The not being able to use product names in song titles thing is true, that's why They Might Be Giants had a song where the refrain was "hey nyquil driver!" but the title had to be "AKA Driver" instead. And if anyone remembers that song "Dizz Knee Land" by Dada, I'm pretty sure that's why it had to be spelled that way.

it sounds to me..like 'are they men or are they anorexic' ..sometimes.

whatever the case, this is a great album! I love it.

why does the song refer to listerine?

because you use it to wash your mouth or to clean your black tongue

I think the listerine reference is you need to talk to people face to face so you cant have bad breath

THis song is about how messaging is seen as necessary, but people should just talk face to face.