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 don't really need to see
so I don't need to see so I'll paint,
I don't know I'll paint it black.
I don't need to see,
I don't see how you see out of your window.
I don't need to see
I'll paint mine black.
I don't know me and
you don't know you,
so we fit so good together cuz
I knew you like I knew myself.
We clung on like barnacles on a boat.
Even though the ship sinks you know you can't let go.
I was talkin like two hands knocking.
Yelling "Let me in, let me in, please come out."
Black glass,
dirt based soap,
tell yourself what you know.
My friends, all my friends,
bury you head I'll help you bury your plans.
Hard hit, hard to miss.
The problems are what a problem is.
My light it came up quick
call it your asterisk
buried boys first book of the stars.
Saw it as satellite...
Constant unblinking as...
Buried in the bottom of a brackish lake...
I don't really need to see
so I don't need to see so I'll paint,
I don't know I'll paint it black.
I don't need to see,
I don't see how you see out of your window.
I don't need to see
I'll paint mine black.
so I don't need to see so I'll paint,
I don't know I'll paint it black.
I don't need to see,
I don't see how you see out of your window.
I don't need to see
I'll paint mine black.
I don't know me and
you don't know you,
so we fit so good together cuz
I knew you like I knew myself.
We clung on like barnacles on a boat.
Even though the ship sinks you know you can't let go.
I was talkin like two hands knocking.
Yelling "Let me in, let me in, please come out."
Black glass,
dirt based soap,
tell yourself what you know.
My friends, all my friends,
bury you head I'll help you bury your plans.
Hard hit, hard to miss.
The problems are what a problem is.
My light it came up quick
call it your asterisk
buried boys first book of the stars.
Saw it as satellite...
Constant unblinking as...
Buried in the bottom of a brackish lake...
I don't really need to see
so I don't need to see so I'll paint,
I don't know I'll paint it black.
I don't need to see,
I don't see how you see out of your window.
I don't need to see
I'll paint mine black.
Lyrics submitted by untied_shoelaces
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"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
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"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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quick thoughts on this lovely song...it talks to me and this is what it says....
i dont have to look at things the same way you look at things i have my own point of view. if you are going to try and make me see things the way you see them. i wont look at anything at all. your view is so twisted i dont even know how you see things the way you do
we thought we were good together bc neither of us knew ourselves so we bonded on the one similar thing. All the other differences caught up. We started to sink So we had to hold on to that one thing as tight as we could and not let go.
I tried but you just shut down your hiding and you think you know everything your taking yourself down so i will help you
i finally realized it was right in front of me something i already knew or knew since i was young that this is all a waste of time its not what i expected
First of all, Ugly Cassanova is one of my favorite bands ever.
"I don't know me and/you don't know you,/so we fit so good together cuz/I knew you like I knew myself./We clunb on like barnacles on a boat./Even though the ship sinks you know you can't let go."
That part of the song touches me pretty deeply. I had a summer love, a girl who was totally emo/indie and basically my polar opposite, and the little time i spent with her was probably the happiest moments in my recent life. She taught me so much about other people and about myself, even though I believe she was somewhat lost and confused herself. I didn't know myself completely before I met her. When we went away to college, we tried to cling together over the long distance, but we both knew it was an impossible relationship. The ship eventually sunk, and we both knew it was coming but couldn't let go or talk about it until the breakup was upon us.
I haven't seen her since her greyhound pulled away, and I miss alot.
btw she was the one who introduced me to this band, as well as most of my other favorite bands.
Wow what_would_jeff_do.
That was an amazing comment. I know what you mean. Very enlightening, opened my eyes.
Wow what_would_jeff_do.
That was an amazing comment. I know what you mean. Very enlightening, opened my eyes.
Are these the Nazis, Walter? No, Donny, these men are nihilists. There's nothing to be afraid of.
i am quite terrible at this whole interpretation bit and i dont see the song as one big theme but some good seperate points that you can kinda intertwine... butttt the lines
I don't really need to see so I don't need to see so I'll paint, I don't know I'll paint it black. I don't need to see, I don't see how you see out of your window. I don't need to see I'll paint mine black.
this, to me, screams frustration. Like not understanding how to do something, so you give up and spite yourself in the process of giving up... for example "im not even going to bother trying to figure out how you got that from that." HA
I don't really need to see so I don't need to see so I'll paint, I don't know I'll paint it black. I don't need to see, I don't see how you see out of your window. I don't need to see I'll paint mine black.
This to me conveys a sense of anxious aspiration. It describes a person who tries so hard to fit in with whatever it may be, that he doesn't care about what he thinks anymore so he automatically takes an easy route and instead of discovering himself, takes an ambiguous note. He sees other people enjoying what they have "out their window" but he doesnt want it, so he just makes everything the same. "I'll paint mine black"
there are alot of kids out there today that are exactly like this, it may just be social commentary, or it may depict a part of Isaac's mindset, either way it's surprisingly deep.
Who's the moron that changed the lyrics, especially the book of the stars and brackish lake lines, so they're totally off?
"Buried in the bottom of a brackish lake"
"in the bottom" is repeated actually, so the actual lyric is
"Buried in the bottom of the bottom of a brackish lake"
In other words, SUPER buried.