The Empty Threats of Little Lord

I added all of the Sunset Rubdown songs, and this is my favorite. I'm not good at finding meanings in songs, but this seems pretty self explanatory.

this song is orgasmic live, the album version i find quite sterile.

I'm pretty sure the lyric is

"Lord, lord...Grant me patience. I am burning up inside."

i agree with thecriticfi, awsome song though

the persona is trapped in a relationship and he hates it but he' trapped in it, but he's had enough "i'm not that kind of whore", and to end it would mean hurting the other person, but it would only be in self-defense because the other person such a jerk to the persona. However, even though he threatens to leave, the threats are empty and he's stuck.

Hm I agree with aammiiee mostly. It does seem like it's about someone trapped in a relationship. The part that goes "you are a beast and I am serving up your supper" I think means that he keeps giving the other person what they want. And then when he asks "what will you do when the drink is all gone" he's asking what the other person will do when he has nothing left to give. The part about "I'm not that kind of whore" might mean that he thinks that then the other person would only want sex or something after that. I agree with thecriticfl about the line being "lord, lord... grant me patience. I am burning up inside" because it means he wants patience to deal with the situation he's in. "If I ever hurt you, it will be in self defense" maybe means that if he ever leaves that person, it will be to protect himself from being that sort of a relationship. Then he says that "if you ever come at me I'll hurt you" which is again, that if they put him in a situation that he doesn't like, he'll leave them. But then the part about snakes when he goes "my heart's in my chest you snake, you can have the rest you snake" he compares the other person to a snake and says they can have everything but his heart (as in, they'll have his body, but he won't love them). It's sort of a contradiction to all the things he says earlier in the song and I think it's like he's given up and resigned himself to being in a loveless relationship.

I think it's "what will you do when the drink is all gone?"

To me, it sounds like "You are a beast and I am serving up your sorrow."

and for some reason the 'Lord' part makes me think this is about God; like two people - the first declaring himself independent and shouting his own free will and how important that is to him (he'd hurt God to be free) and the second person is either God or a priest who speaks of everything wrong with the world, which they see in the first person.

They opened their european tour yesterday in Paris. It was epic!!!!! It started with Idiot heart and they played The Empty Threats last, the only track in the encore. ( perfect progression ) You could tell Spencer was exhausted after this. It was sooooooo intense,jst watching them was exhausting ... I digress ... this song was breath taking! ... I dont think the album version is sterile but the live version is transcendental indeed I guess we all agree on the meaning,the last lines were therapeutic !
I wish you the best, you snake You are self professed, you snake My heart is in my chest, you snake You can have the rest, you snake

oh and the new tracks they played sounded great .. bodes well for dragonslayer

I always thought this had something to do with a teacher. A bad one. References to podiums and the bit about being self-professed (professor)and the power disparity between the narrator and the person he's speaking of.

Then last night, when I was listening to it with headphones on, it really sounded as though the very last "you snake" in the song is actually "you Snape." A definite aspirated "p" sound, not a hard "k."

And there's snakes in the song. Everywhere. On the other hand, this just seems too geeky to be possible.

Maybe I was just tired. Dunno. Give it another listen.

At any rate - love it. Whatever the details, it reeks of someone in a position of little power imagining telling off an oppressor. And who hasn't done that?