In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Come and get me out of this town, oh, now
Come and save me
Come and rescue me from this giant hotel full of bones and babies
Take a look at yourself
A look that will sell
Call your aunt about the tea she abandoned
Yeah, while she placed him in a can and canned 'em
It's the same as any day now
Except your teeth are falling out
And you're going upstairs
Yeah, you're going upstairs
It's an upstairs harmony
And when you get there you can write a song to keep you company
There are good things
There are good things to eat
And tonight we're eating meat
(Goody goody goody)
There's a couple of things
I should tell you about
That the fuckers wouldn't sell
'Cause they're too cheap to tell
It's the men who feed on human beings
And they dawdle about
With their bellies hanging out
You can wash their fingers
But they never leave
You can bite your tongue
But it turns them on
And when you're ready to go
They'll pinch at your sides
And they'll make you recite
Brilliant songs about the symphony
I hate their skin
And I hate their trees
And their yards that they wrap with their plastics and greens
And their white houses
The goddamn white teeth
And the chemical drenched on the hair that they squeeze
I hate their sex
And the brats that they breed
And the air that they breathe
And they hated me
And they hated me
And they hated me
And they hated me
And they hated me
But then they ate me, and then they ate me
And they thought I was tasty
Well, then they ate me, and then they ate me
And they thought I was tasty
Well, then they ate me, and then they ate me
And they thought I was tasty
Well, then they ate me, and then they ate me
And they thought I was tasty, thought I was tasty
Thought I was tasty, thought I was tasty
Come and save me
Come and rescue me from this giant hotel full of bones and babies
Take a look at yourself
A look that will sell
Call your aunt about the tea she abandoned
Yeah, while she placed him in a can and canned 'em
It's the same as any day now
Except your teeth are falling out
And you're going upstairs
Yeah, you're going upstairs
It's an upstairs harmony
And when you get there you can write a song to keep you company
There are good things
There are good things to eat
And tonight we're eating meat
(Goody goody goody)
There's a couple of things
I should tell you about
That the fuckers wouldn't sell
'Cause they're too cheap to tell
It's the men who feed on human beings
And they dawdle about
With their bellies hanging out
You can wash their fingers
But they never leave
You can bite your tongue
But it turns them on
And when you're ready to go
They'll pinch at your sides
And they'll make you recite
Brilliant songs about the symphony
I hate their skin
And I hate their trees
And their yards that they wrap with their plastics and greens
And their white houses
The goddamn white teeth
And the chemical drenched on the hair that they squeeze
I hate their sex
And the brats that they breed
And the air that they breathe
And they hated me
And they hated me
And they hated me
And they hated me
And they hated me
But then they ate me, and then they ate me
And they thought I was tasty
Well, then they ate me, and then they ate me
And they thought I was tasty
Well, then they ate me, and then they ate me
And they thought I was tasty
Well, then they ate me, and then they ate me
And they thought I was tasty, thought I was tasty
Thought I was tasty, thought I was tasty
Lyrics submitted by ELMOnster, edited by NepetaLeijon, sovara
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This girl is absolutely nuts, I love her! Met her a couple of times, she's lovely... great song.
everytime I try and interpret a CBB song, I just give up and decicde to enjoy it as it is :P so I applaud you Denouement.
everyone should go and buy the album SONGS ABOUT TEETH from infinitycat.com... FAN-BLOODY-TATSIC.
I met her at a show once, she was so nice, she was working the merch stall herself, and still chatted to me for ages!
To me, this is a story of a girl trapped in a town full of cannibals. She's trapped in a hotel full of cannibals, forced to eat human meat, and she wants out. She hates her captors, she's scared, and they hate her as well. But in the end, the cannibals ate the girl, and the girl became one of them. The song is a message from this girl, now a cannibal as well, to you. It's an invitation to the hotel, to start the cycle all over again. But you don't find out until the end...
Now, a less literal interpretation, would be that this song is about peer pressure, and the hopelessness of nonconformity. No matter what you do, you can't escape the social jungle. You either become one of the masses, or you go to the loony bin for trying to escape.
At a show this past summer she said this song was about New Jersey...?
hii um its "Camden" not "candum". its an alternative place in london :) and its "giant" hotel, not "joint" hotel
and she was stoned when she wrote it :)
xx
In response to Denouement's comment . . . once you have been eaten by cannibals, you can't become a cannibal, because you're dead. You got eaten by cannibals. That kills people. =P
As far as how I interpret the song, though . . . Ever heard of cannabis?
I love reading these things on here about what people think it means.
It's about prostitution. When she talks about "except your teeth are falling out and you're going upstairs" she's talking about doing heroin [teeth falling out is a common side effect, and also, many prostitutes do heroin].
Then she talks about the nice looking men, she's talking about the men that come in to have sex with them.
Also, when she talks about eat meat, and them eating her, well, I'm sure you can guess what she's talking about.
The whole song is just about her saying how she's stuck up in a whore house and how these men keep coming in to have sex with her, and they do nasty things ["and they hated me"] and she just want's out.
I completly agree with musiconherarms's point of veiw on this song. she couldn't have put it better.
I have always thought about music executives when listening to this song....and how the industry eats you alive no matter how you try to keep it real.
Take a look at yourself....a look that will sell (records).
Going upstairs....becoming the next "big" thing.
Write a song to keep you company (lonely at the top)
There are good things and tonight we're eating meat....Not everything is bad about "selling out" but you do give up parts of yourself (teeth are falling out)
and they dottle about with their bellies hanging out...fat cats at the top (executives)
Men who feed on human beings....use up people and then throw them away without regard.
They hated me (don't understand her) ....Then they ate me (made money) and they thought I was tasty.
I could go on but I think that will do.