Green hills and enemies
These things they make us sentimental inside
Your words are gelignite
Or just another sentimental aside

We're catching bullets in our teeth
And though it's easy when you know how it's done
They split the secret up six ways before they gave it to us just before dawn
And now we don't remember

Our blood and guts are out
We spread our bones across the table at night
We cut our fingers off
To give ourselves those little extra insights

We're catching bullets in our teeth
And though they try hard not to say how it's done
They always do
They spill the secret out six ways
And beg for our forgiveness
Just before dawn
And now we don't remember

We're catching bullets in our teeth
It's hard to do but they're so sweet
And if they take a couple out
We try to work things out
We catching bullets with our
Heads and hearts and all the darkest parts of us
It's strange to find such light
In such endless night

So sweet to lose a friend
You leave the church and taste
The air in your lungs
Old lies and fireflies
Carve angels on your eyes
And all is undone
You whisper prayers into the dark
Up to a god in whom you've never believed
You always do
You split the secret up six ways
But it won't make it any easier to see
And now we don't remember

We're catching bullets in our teeth
Its hard to do but they're so sweet
And if they take a couple out
We try to work things out
We're catching bullets with our
Heads and hearts and all the darkest parts of us
It's strange to find such light
In such endless night
We're catching bullets in our backs
We sent the undertaker back
Into the garden in the drought
To try to work things out
We're catching bullets with the best resources that we've got
We're happy then again we're not
We shout through the endless doubt


Lyrics submitted by bugoff, edited by dodgerblue

Bullets Lyrics as written by Edward Owen Lay Christopher Dominic Urbanowicz

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Bullets song meanings
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19 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    To me this song is about a solider being prepared for war. and the general brutality of humanity. "We're catching bullets in our teeth And though it's easy when you know how it's done They split the secret up six ways before they gave it to us just before dawn And now we don't remember"

    they soldiers were taught how to kill in 6 steps and they were told its easy once you know how its done. now that bullets are being fired at them "catching bullets in their teeth" they dont remember how to kill cause its different when someone else is trying to kill you

    "Our blood and guts are out" they are getting killed

    "We spread our bones across the table at night We cut our fingers off To give ourselves those little extra insights this part is about an age old game that soldiers use to play putting their hands on the table to play a stabbing game. to have a little insight of the pain of dying and killing another,

    schultzkyle1on March 10, 2014   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think this song is about how we can sometimes savor emotional pain. Like when we discuss our deepest secrets and feelings or even when a friend dies, there is somthing 'sweet' in that depth of emotion. It is dangerous, like catching bullets in your teeth, and you can even go so far as inflicting pain on yourself to get at your innermost emotions, but there is light in all that darkness that's inside you and we want to get at it, sometimes at any cost. "We're happy, and then again we're not." There is a touch of irony in the song, like the singer isn't sure that they are right in enjoying the pain, so he is trying to justify it. I don't really get the part about 'and now we don't remember'. Maybe just that we don't remember how badly we can hurt, so we do it all over again.

    songyoneon March 26, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    To me, the song is about taking risks and not knowing the outcome. The secret is split up six ways - the answer's out there, but you have no hope of knowing it. This is a jaw-dropping song. The effects at 1:50 in the album version in the song sound like guns. My favorite line is "you leave the church and taste the air in your lungs" - it shows how sweet life can taste even when you take flack from uncertainty.

    Birdieballon April 23, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    im not so sure but my opinion is: its someone with guilt and tells the person who they feel guilty towards everything they've kept a secret from them. [but he tells the person while the person is drunk] so he feels better about telling him, but the person can't remember.

    Any Other Thoughts ?

    twixelpixelon October 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is about how getting the truth can be hard, but knowing it is sweet so this person got a friend drunk to get the truth- "We're catching bullets in our teeth And though they try hard not to say how it's done They always do They spill the secret out six ways And beg for our forgiveness Just before dawn And now we don't remember"

    i think it's also about regret but accepting what you did happened and now you have to move on

    it's a very important song for me and it's so captivating tunng is just a great band and i love their work

    YourEmoHeroon December 10, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    god its so hard to say, and i it can be taken in so many differnt ways but i atleast know it is some type of metaphore (obviously right?). i think its about doing something that not many other people can do and someone taught them how to do it but it hard to remember. nonetheless, when they finally are able to do it, it feels great.

    karottopon December 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I like songyone's interpretation, I really can't settle on what it means myself.

    TheTreefingerson April 19, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is about looking for answers and not finding them but also, similar to what songyone said, being happy at how much depth is in each of your problems ("we're happy then again we're not"). "Catching bullets" is about how things, literally, get thrown your way and you have to find out how to deal with them. "We're catching bullets in our teeth Its hard to do but they're so sweet"

    We have all of these problems (bullets) but they make us feel important, responsible, or special (sweet).

    "We cut our fingers off To give ourselves those little extra insights"

    Looking to pain to give him an insight.

    "You whisper prayers into the dark Up to a god in whom you've never believed You always do You split the secret up six ways But it won't make it any easier to see"

    Looking to religion.

    "It's strange to find such light In such endless night"

    Although your sitation is so problematic, you're still somewhat glad that you can take it upon yourself.

    "And now we don't remember"

    The process will start all over again because a new problem is coming your way.

    It's a classic bittersweet song. You want to hate yourself for enjoying these bad things but you can't help but feeling a little proud.

    oldliesandfireflieson June 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think it's about getting drunk and having deep discussions with your friends late at night.

    frostybroccolion January 19, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i always had a feeling this song was dark. but after watching the episode of weeds with this song, it actually makes sense to think about it as someone being interrogated/tortured: "We're catching bullets in our teeth It's hard to do but they're so sweet" could mean pulling teeth physically out of the mouth/getting shot in the mouth

    "And if they take a couple out We try to work things out" the person is willing to cooperate since pulling teeth is painful. can also be pulling teeth in the metaphorical sense to get an answer.

    "We catching bullets with our Heads and hearts and all the darkest parts of us" being shot at

    "We're catching bullets in our teeth And though they try hard not to say how it's done They always do They spill the secret out six ways And beg for our forgiveness" they try hard not to give in but they always do. and then they try to beg for their lives.

    the whole so sweet to lose a friend, one of their partners may have been captured/killed and they are now at the funeral. cutting off fingers to get extra insight, to persuade them to remember/tell what they know.

    im really hopping this isnt what was in mind when the song was written, but it fits pretty well. it's probably a more broad meaning like trying to get the truth out of a friend and how there are arguments and fights and what not while trying to do so. it's just one of those "i'm in a dark place" songs for me.

    edorason June 15, 2009   Link

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