Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
I'd arrest you if I had handcuffs
I'd arrest you if I had the time
I'd throw you down in the back seat
As if you'd committed a terrible crime
I'd break in a town's worth of houses
And rob whole families blind
I'd do it to you like you do it to me
If you knew you would get away fine
I'd drown all these crying babies
If I knew that their mothers wouldn't cry
I'd hold them down and I'd squeeze real soft
To let a piece of myself die
It's hard to be the better man
When you forget you're trying
It's hard to be the better man
I'd arrest you if I had handcuffs
I'd arrest you if I had time
I'd wait for you outside the courtroom
Taunting when all your appeals were declined
I'd drive my car off of a bridge
If I knew that you weren't inside
With a pedal to the floor who could ask for more
A fantastic way to kill some time
And you could lay on your back and be beaten
You could put up your fists and fight
You could try and be way up
Way up, way up, way up
Way up, way up, way up
It's hard be the better man
When you forget you're trying
It's hard to be the better man
When you're still lying
It's hard to be the better man
When you forget you're trying
It's hard to be the better man
When you're still lying, you're still lying
I'd arrest you if I had the time
I'd throw you down in the back seat
As if you'd committed a terrible crime
I'd break in a town's worth of houses
And rob whole families blind
I'd do it to you like you do it to me
If you knew you would get away fine
I'd drown all these crying babies
If I knew that their mothers wouldn't cry
I'd hold them down and I'd squeeze real soft
To let a piece of myself die
It's hard to be the better man
When you forget you're trying
It's hard to be the better man
I'd arrest you if I had handcuffs
I'd arrest you if I had time
I'd wait for you outside the courtroom
Taunting when all your appeals were declined
I'd drive my car off of a bridge
If I knew that you weren't inside
With a pedal to the floor who could ask for more
A fantastic way to kill some time
And you could lay on your back and be beaten
You could put up your fists and fight
You could try and be way up
Way up, way up, way up
Way up, way up, way up
It's hard be the better man
When you forget you're trying
It's hard to be the better man
When you're still lying
It's hard to be the better man
When you forget you're trying
It's hard to be the better man
When you're still lying, you're still lying
Lyrics submitted by prayingmantis84, edited by toadling17, contraddiction
Handcuffs Lyrics as written by Vincent Accardi
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
Step
Ministry
Ministry
Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
The song 'Fortnight' by Taylor Swift and Post Malone tells a story about strong feelings, complicated relationships, and secret wishes. It talks about love, betrayal, and wanting someone who doesn't feel the same. The word 'fortnight' shows short-lived happiness and guilty pleasures, leading to sadness. It shows how messy relationships can be and the results of hiding emotions. “I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me,” she kickstarts the song in the first verse with lines suggesting an admission to a hospital for people with mental illnesses. She goes in the verse admitting her lover is the reason why she is like this. In the chorus, she sings about their time in love and reflects on how he has now settled with someone else. “I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary / And I love you, it’s ruining my life,” on the second verse she details her struggles to forget about him and the negative effects of her failure. “Thought of callin’ ya, but you won’t pick up / ‘Nother fortnight lost in America,” Post Malone sings in the outro.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Midnight Cowboy, by far, is the one that is most correct to me. There was no better way to explain and give an example of it. (that camping story was an immaculate example.) Brand New has always been blessed with that of a keen way of keeping their fans guessing on what their songs actually mean. Handcuffs is a perfect example of various the ways a songs writing can be interpreted, but the true meaning(to me) is pretty clear as well. Like it has been stated already, it is about the battle inside of someone. The never-ending battle of the good and the evil inside of a person. Two verses that give an explicable meaning of how the song should be construed is "i'd drown all these crying babies if i knew that their mothers wouldn't cry." AND "i'd drive my car off of a bridge if i knew that you weren't inside." BOTH verses are portraying the inner-struggle the narrator has. The evil in the narrator is filling his head with bad intentions and heinous actions. However, the good that is still and will forever be in him, is countering the bad, with an attack of conscience. This song is giving a sort of "shoulder angel," type depiction. The person in the song still has his morals and ethics, but they are momentarily being overtaken and clouded by the evil that is flowing through him subsquently. and vice versa. Brand New's new album has indeed mellowed out as far as sound goes, but their writing has become the most in depth yet, compared to their other two albums. Brand New is nothing short of amazing, and i am willing to argue it.