“Tough luck, I s'pose it's ‘ow a man is built”
You say yr father called you Admiral, you couldn't drink yr mother's milk.
Well it takes a little more than that to make you,
after all that you've been tampered with and toyed,
Yr just a tiny swimmer in a million, meets a tiny tissue in the void.

I never thought I would amount to much,
But I thought it might be much more than this,
Writing jingles for the factory, selling memories and sinking piss.
But when I saw that Mooney Hill balloon go up, that's when I first began to know,
And the last little puppy fat left, and that other kind of fat began to grow…

Who was the thief?

Having heard the story of the headstrong man, of the unhappy heartfelt woman,
When the fire came one up and ran, and didn't worry that the other couldn't,
To take a refuge in the boiling basin, to the flesh and to the midnight maul,
where the mood is for erasing, where the memory is of the Fall,
O but there's too many sharks in that harbor, and you don't have to swim in it to know,
You can hear the bells ringin' out for every shriekin', flappin' soul

Who was the thief
Who stole my self belief?

As the pieces floated by I saw a vacant eye, an obscene sight but I moved in overnight,
Now I can see all the sea can see, and I know the story of the coward's flight.
Well did he graduate from a lower class?
Or did he tumble from a great height?
If you're always lookin' after your own arse
You're gonna stumble on some hindsight.
But to the past there is no returning, from the past there is no reprieve,
There's no sleeping past check out,
You've gotta pack yr bags and leave.

Who was the thief
Who stole my self belief?

Now I'm trading nightmares on the stark exchange,
Where hearts are fat and hair is thin,
I just know I can make a killing
If I can tally up enough sin,
And then I'll buy myself a house on the harbor,
And every song my hummingbird heart will sing
Is gonna have the same refrain,
“One day my ship will come in”


Lyrics submitted by cutcopypaste

Middle of the Road Class War Terra Nullius Blu hoos song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

1 Comment

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think this is brilliant. to have it hidden away on an e.p that hasn't been heard much shows the depth of glenn richards song writing- every augie march fan should hear this song. it makes reference to the australian author c.j. dennis in the first line. the sound of the bells, along with the references to the harbour, 'shriekin', flappin' souls' & the sea are all allusions to the poem five bells by kenneth slessor. in a lot of ways it's a very similar view to that poem, written more than fifty years later it shows the isolated male trying to make sense in a very australian landscape/mindset. but it's hopeful, too. the music is hopeful even beside the doubts in the lyrics. hot damn. what a great thing. this would have to be my favourite song in the whole world.

    thegirlwholivedon February 25, 2007   Link

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

Album art
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
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.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "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" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "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"
Album art
Mountain Song
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."
Album art
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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,
Album art
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.