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.
I'm a kid in a candy store
I'm a bull in a china shop
I'm a tired old metaphor
For everything you can't afford
And everything you can't afford to be
I'm a public embarrassment
I'm a bottle of diet poison
I'm a walking advertisement
For everything I never meant
And everything I never meant to be
I can't hear a thing
'Cause I've stopped listening
I'm the reason I don't go out
I'm afraid I might tell me something
I'm the shadow of every doubt
I'm the product the song's about
And I'm the product the song's about to be
I can't hear a thing
'Cause I've stopped listening
I can't hear a thing
'Cause I've stopped listening
Every morning
Since I was born
It's been hard to look in the mirror
And see my face for the horns
All the fun that the law allows
All the fun but with half the meaning
Come on over, I'll show you how
If you lived here, you'd be home by now
If you still lived here, you'd be home now with me
I can't hear a thing
'Cause I've stopped listening
I can?t hear a thing
'Cause I've stopped listening
I'm a bull in a china shop
I'm a tired old metaphor
For everything you can't afford
And everything you can't afford to be
I'm a public embarrassment
I'm a bottle of diet poison
I'm a walking advertisement
For everything I never meant
And everything I never meant to be
I can't hear a thing
'Cause I've stopped listening
I'm the reason I don't go out
I'm afraid I might tell me something
I'm the shadow of every doubt
I'm the product the song's about
And I'm the product the song's about to be
I can't hear a thing
'Cause I've stopped listening
I can't hear a thing
'Cause I've stopped listening
Every morning
Since I was born
It's been hard to look in the mirror
And see my face for the horns
All the fun that the law allows
All the fun but with half the meaning
Come on over, I'll show you how
If you lived here, you'd be home by now
If you still lived here, you'd be home now with me
I can't hear a thing
'Cause I've stopped listening
I can?t hear a thing
'Cause I've stopped listening
Lyrics submitted by CharlatanSin
Bull in a China Shop Lyrics as written by Steven Page Ed Robertson
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Love it. I hear it's going to be on the new album!
Such a good song. Only problem with this is that it's "I'm afraid I might SELL me something"
It's about someone who is a stereotypical maniac. He's been this way forever and he knows his behavior is bad, and that others consider him embarrassing. He does things for the heck of it, and he can't change and he won't listen to any criticism.
Check out all the allusions to advertising, commercials, buying and selling stuff (because Lukasa is right about that line), etc. I think it's about commercialism.
And maybe about having to sell yourself, ie, to market your album/concert tour/t-shirts/cruise: "I'm the product this song's about, and I'm the product this song's about to be."
And--this one's a stretch--maybe there's a little bit of regret about having sold rights to so many BnL songs for commercials. (Everyone I know knows $1,000,000, but about 4 of them know that it was a BnL song before it was that NY Lottery jingle. And I've told 3 of those 4 myself.)
I agree with gravity defiant. I also think it is about selling out to "the man". I get this from the lines:
"I’m a walking advertisement For everything I never meant And everything I never meant to be"
I am not saying that BNL necessarily has done that, I just think that is what this song is about.
There is also a great fan video for this song, if you go to You Tube and search "Drill Team Are Men". It is four guys dancing to this song. Kinda like "Ok Go" style.
"One Week" was in a (Mitsubishi ?) car commercial.
See Occams_Harmony, with a stipulation. This song is about the typical maniac personality, but it sounds to me like it's sung by the manic aspects of himself, to the "well adjusted" or "normal" aspect of himself. "I'm the reason I can't go out"...
I really like the chorus of this song. I aways get the idea of not letting insults and bad things being said about you get to you from it. Kind of "You're saying all this bad things about me but I'm not going to listen nor feel bad" For example, at camp, whenever this complete jerk in my cabin started messing around with me, I just started humming this song and ignored him.
I agree with the "sellout" interp, but i also think this applies on a more personal level, like he has ended up somewhere in a relationship or job or whatever where he never intended to be. Like he's been living a lie, as they say.