You got me pushing imaginary buttons
Step away from me lover, away from me lover
You got me counting imaginary school children
Get away from me lover, away from me lover

Yes, I can see that your carpet is animated
Walk away from me lover, away from me lover
Yes, I see open wounds in everyone I've dated
Away from me lover, get away from me lover

I am no good for you
I'm seeing ghosts in everything I do
I am no good for you
I'm seeing ghosts in everything I do

I am no good for you
I'm seeing ghosts in everything I do, oh oh oh oh
I am no good for you
I'm seeing ghosts in everything I do, oh oh oh oh

You got me turning all the lights on and off
Walk away from me lover, away from me lover
When will you see that I am carrying this stuff?
Walk away from me lover, away from me lover

Can't you see that I am losing my marbles?
It's marvelous losing another, losing another

I am no good for you
I'm seeing ghosts in everything I do
I am no good for you
I'm seeing ghosts in everything I do

I am no good for you
I'm seeing ghosts in everything I do, oh oh oh oh
I am no good for you
I'm seeing ghosts in everything I do, oh oh oh oh

Walk away from me lover, away from me lover
Get away from me lover, away from me lover
Step away from me lover, away from me lover
Walk away from me lover, away from me lover


Lyrics submitted by fgtfgtfgt

Buttons Lyrics as written by Nick Huntington Sia Furler

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Buttons song meanings
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25 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    its absolutely about a girl warning a potential lover about her emotional baggage and past relationship snafus. like a surgeon general's warning for herself.

    clairvoyanceon September 30, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    amazing song.

    halesterron December 06, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think there are a couple errors in the first verse:

    Yes I can see that YOUR carpet is animated Walk away from me lover, away from me lover Yes I see open wounds in everyone I’ve dated Away from me lover, get away from me lover

    This song is clearly about someone pushing another person away because they are sure they'll hurt them.

    "Open wounds in everyone I've dated"
    "Carrying this stuff" "Ghosts in everything I do".

    GREAT SONG!

    MidC80on March 02, 2008   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    Taken from an interview:

    "OK, OK, I gotta tell you, I was at the end of the rope! There are four cycles for the process of doing my job; there’s writing, recording, promo and touring, and I was at the end of my writing cycle, which can sometimes, between albums, and in this case, can be up to three years! I was writing with all sorts of different writers and I wasn’t really having any experiences, I was just going into work every day and writing one or two songs a day, like accumulating songs, for me, for other pop stars — 'cos at one point I thought it wasn’t going to happen for me so I should just start writing for other people if I can. So it was like the last session I did, and I had literally nothing, and I was so bored of myself and I hadn’t done anything or had any experiences for like a year, and so I wrote nonsense!"

    ratmuffinon May 26, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    agreed with above

    killstaron October 18, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i agree with clairvoyance... and also i didn´t know the term snafu before (i'm not a native english speaker)... but anyway... i love this song, this new record has revived my admiration for sia and turned me into a fan!

    i think that when she says: walk away from me, lover... it´s not that she really WANTS the lover to go... at least taken from how i relate to it... i´d say it´s fear, fear of being rejected or f%&ing it up (like you've done in the past: hence the ghosts) and that fear makes you sometimes get into that defensive pattern of pushing the other away even if -maybe- you'd love it if the relationship could work...

    snafu! hehe... great...

    the humour with which she dressed the topic though, it's so human and real, it's brilliant!

    PS. I also love how the first advertisement under this song's lyrics is "Depression Cured in 3 Min" that's right... the three minutes that the song lasts, & then i play it again

    cheefooskaon January 13, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    To me, as stated above, this song makes me think of a girl who likes this guy and he likes her, but she's putting her hand up all 80's style and saying, 'hey, watch out, I'm a ticking bomb'.

    Shes' afraid that they guy will find out later and be angry, hurt, etc, and that things will get worse. It's like a defense mechanism.

    Great song, wonderful artist.

    sketchymurron January 21, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song,,seems to be different with all her songs. Much brighter and upbeat..make me like it so much But of course the other songs....are really good!

    bear_hug20on March 12, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    makes me shake my bootay :)

    !!!

    BrianJosephon March 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    makes me shake my bootay :)

    !!!fabulous songgg, so fierce.

    BrianJosephon March 24, 2008   Link

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