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At the Other End of the Leash Lyrics
I’m climbing up your old staircase
And finding where you’re ticklish
I clean you out of my fingernails
And paw you out of my dish
And in the doughy face days end
Once I have licked your plate clean
You mutter on about infinity
I’m gonna show you what it means
Like a pretty girl in a wheelchair
That still claims she fell down the stairs
But if he touches you again
With those grubby little hands
I’ll have to break them
Like some lovely legs in braces
With toothy smiley faces
So if he gets chopped up to bits
It must have been an accident
Must be a reason, don’t need a reason
‘Cause I know where you live
And I know where you sleep
And from the cradle to the grave
Cradle to the grave you’ll behave
And when I fall in your Christmas tree
The dinner party reveals
In me robin egg blue and livery red
I hate to spoil your meal
But when I stop the good times rolling
With my hot breath in your ear
You know daddy loves you all so very much yeah
But daddy may be going away for a while, my dear
Like a pretty girl in a wheelchair
That still claims she fell down the stairs
But if he paws on you again
With those hungry little hands
Might have to bait him
Like some gorgeous girl in bedlam
There’s something you’re not saying
So won’t it feel good to admit
This isolated incident
Don’t need a reason, who needs a reason?
I come home right on time
Calmly loosen my necktie
We stare at the wall watch
We’re moving the furniture around
I come home first in line
Wanna loosen my necktie
But it’s your world we live in
We’re moving the furniture around
Spend the next forty years moving the thermostat around
And finding where you’re ticklish
I clean you out of my fingernails
And paw you out of my dish
And in the doughy face days end
Once I have licked your plate clean
You mutter on about infinity
I’m gonna show you what it means
That still claims she fell down the stairs
But if he touches you again
With those grubby little hands
I’ll have to break them
Like some lovely legs in braces
With toothy smiley faces
So if he gets chopped up to bits
It must have been an accident
Must be a reason, don’t need a reason
And I know where you sleep
And from the cradle to the grave
Cradle to the grave you’ll behave
The dinner party reveals
In me robin egg blue and livery red
I hate to spoil your meal
But when I stop the good times rolling
With my hot breath in your ear
You know daddy loves you all so very much yeah
But daddy may be going away for a while, my dear
That still claims she fell down the stairs
But if he paws on you again
With those hungry little hands
Might have to bait him
Like some gorgeous girl in bedlam
There’s something you’re not saying
So won’t it feel good to admit
This isolated incident
Don’t need a reason, who needs a reason?
Calmly loosen my necktie
We stare at the wall watch
We’re moving the furniture around
I come home first in line
Wanna loosen my necktie
But it’s your world we live in
We’re moving the furniture around
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First off, this is probably my favorite track off of "Now You Are One of Us."
I think the meaning of this song is pretty clear. This one is about a man who had a one night stand/moment of indiscretion with a woman ("this isolated incident") who's involved with somebody else, and he's become obsessed with her. He's jealous of the other man ("if he touches you again with those grubby little hands, I'll have to break them"), to the point that he's fantasized about killing him ("chopped up to bits"). There's also some implication that the other man is abusive, specifically the line about a wheelchair and leg braces. He wants the woman to leave the other man ("So won't it feel good to admit this isolated incident don't need a reason") and be with him. The last verse is the life he imagines he'll have with her.
I can't agree with that unfortunately.
I can't agree with that unfortunately.
I think the 1st and 2nd verse describe an abusive (and drunk? "fall in your christmas tree") father who goes mostly un-noticed because of the so-called ideal found in the nuclear suburban family.
I think the 1st and 2nd verse describe an abusive (and drunk? "fall in your christmas tree") father who goes mostly un-noticed because of the so-called ideal found in the nuclear suburban family.
I think the song is talking about control, which a lot of the songs on the CD talk about. I think the CD itself is about a lot of the "dark" forces that are out there that control people and keep them in fear... whether its the comfort found in the successful suburban lifestyle, ghosts, disease, conspiracy paranoia,...
I think the song is talking about control, which a lot of the songs on the CD talk about. I think the CD itself is about a lot of the "dark" forces that are out there that control people and keep them in fear... whether its the comfort found in the successful suburban lifestyle, ghosts, disease, conspiracy paranoia, etc.
A ghost literally is something you can't see but that invokes fear and in a way controls you, much like the many of the systems and guidelines throughout the world that we (knowingly/unknowingly) subscribe to.
I think the song is about the abuse towards the girl who ends up in a wheelchair but by the end it reveals the deeper meaning... how does this conformity of lifestyle (so-called "average" families) keep us all in line for some greater, darker purpose? The house has you in its grasp. You may move the furniture around, but that is your great "change" in life. (Or is it the "ghosts" moving the furniture?) Then you change the thermostat to meet your changes in temperature, to remain comfortable literally and figuratively.
Also the title gives a lot away... "At the Other End of the Leash" ... Most people think about the dog attached to the leash... but what is at the other end... the master.
I realize my description is very abstract but I think a lot of this CD is. I think the thesis of the CD is the final lyric of the final song ... "Let's cast a mirror right back at fear / let's show this world that we were here" ... The CD, although very dark sounding, is really about triumphing over the control, in your own special way.
the two other people on here have very good theories about this song!! I love it!! but this song always sounded to me like a father wanting to save his daughter from her abusive boyfriend, so of course he sneaks into his house one night and kills him. the end of the song talks about how they have finally gotten their regular suburban lives back. I'll add more lyrical interpretation later!!!