Flathead

A flathead is a devotee of Michael Flatley who is famous for his creation of the Riverdance Irish dance ensemble. Also, Flatley won the Golden Gloves

Championship in 1975. In the context of this song, flathead probably refers to someone with an intense, edge-of-the-cliff life style.

Barazoku was Japan's oldest gay magazine, and was in print for 33 years. First published in 1971, Barazoku was known as a trailblazer for other gay

publications and a leader in Japanese gay culture. In this song Bara is probably used as a non-gay reference to heterosexual, young, attractive men.

Just because she feeds me well

Just because she has oral sex with me

And she made me talk dirty in a pink hotel

And she made me talk dirty during sex (pink hotel: vagina)

Doesn't mean she's got eyes for me

Doesn't mean she loves me

She might just want my bones you see

She may just want me for sex (bones: penis erections)

Hey flathead don't you get mean

Hey flathead don't get mean

She's the second best killer that I ever have seen

She’s the second prettiest women I ever seen

They don't come much more sick Than you

sick: cool in a crazy fashion

I could go on if you want me to

I could continue to say nice things about you if you want me to

It's just so wrong so very nice I told you Once and you killed me twice

I said something nice about you and you replied negatively twice

I saw you one time at the back of the Club chewing on glass and a ticket stub

Glass: crystal (high purity) methamphetamine Ticket stub: paper soaked with LSD

I heard they kicked the boy til he bled

kicked: break an addiction boy: heroin til he bled: until the addiction is broken The above is mixed drug/sex metaphor

Then stood and said oh my god til she said

Then had an orgasm until she said

Bara bap bara ra ra ra bara bap bara ra ra ra......

young, handsome men…

Everybody knows you're the one to call

Everybody knows you’re the one to ask for sex When the girls get ugly round the back of the wall When other girls are not interested in sex because of drug usage

Josephine says you got bleedin nose

Josephine says you have cocaine connections

Shes takin it with her wherever she goes

Josephine will stay in touch with her in order to get cocaine

Hey flathead don't check me in

Flathead, don’t ask me for sex

Well hers is a tonic and mine is a gin

we are not compatible

They don't come much more slick than you

Vaginas don’t come anymore lubricated than hers

I'd drive your car if you ask me to

I’d have sex with you if you ask

Said the boy's not right in the head

The boy’s confused about wheter to be involved with flathead

So he stood and got a kickin instead til she said

So he had sex with Flathead and then was rejected by Flathead until she went looking for a different boy to have sex with

Bara bap bara ra ra ra bara bap bara ra ra ra......

And she said the boy's not right in the head

And then she rejects the next boy

Then stood and said oh my god til she said

She has an orgasm until she looks for a new sex partner

Bara bap bara ra ra ra bara bap bara ra ra ra......

Obviously I should elaborate a little bit to put my interpretation into perspective. I’ve gotten quite a few questions regarding what I wrote. Admittedly I dashed it off in roughly 10 minutes. So, it is not perfect work.

First of all, I consider the lyrics to be quite artful and I personally am quite impressed by the overall musical arrangement. I apologize if I’ve upset anyone with my interpretation, but I think the Fratellis have created a reasonably tasteful evocation of what part of the current generation Y alternative rock environment entails. Granted, it is not going to be competing with Raffi for the G rated music segment. Perhaps my writing is a little too direct to the point by using certain human anatomical vocabulary.

I’m a Yank (specifically a Texan) and I wrote my interpretation for a Yank audience assuming they might be a little sketchy regarding Brit slang. So my blather at the beginning about Michael Flatley was just my attempt to explain to Yanks that there is a little history on the other side of the pond regarding the term Flathead. In the US, I think Flathead is used often to indicate someone of low intelligence (e.g. a cave man). I’m positive that is not what Flathead means in this song. It is obviously a name for a girl/women who has a pretty wild and uninhibited lifestyle. I think Brit mod/alternative rockers would use that term for individuals who are over-the-top and excessive like a Michael Flatley Flathead. As far as I know, the Brits do not have a widely used meaning for Flatheads other than what I mentioned.

Now, as for the perhaps nonsense chorus of Bara bap bara ra ra ra. At first I did think it was just nonsense. But, then I remembered that Brits use the term in a number of ways. On further reflection, I think my Barazoku interpretation is wrong. I think perhaps Bara means penis and bab means vagina. I don’t think this is a matter of my mind being in the gutter. It seems pretty clear to me that the song at this point is about a girl uttering dirty slang during sexual orgasm. Also, ra ra is a common Brit utterance for where Yanks would exclaim yea yea. It’s been along time since I’ve hung-out with Brits, but I’m relatively sure about my latest interpretation and I checked it against some slang dictionaries.

Does anyone else hear the lyrics a little bit differently? In the first verse I hear:

"Said I heard YOU kicked the boy until he bled AND YOU stood and said oh my God until she said"

In the second verse I hear:

"AND YOU stood and got a kicking instead until she said"

In the very end I hear:

"AND YOU stood and said oh my God until she said"

no comments... terrible.... no idea what it means but quality song neva the less!!

I'm totally addicted to this song, really great!!

The IPod Song!

I think its about a night out with friends, on a weekend away. He just realises he is basically the lapdog of his girlfriend, but more pressing matters (the state of his friend after a fight) is of more concern then.

i love this song!

wicked catchy lol

Fantastic!