The Stitches Lyrics
The tequila whets my tongue
My fingers find the stitches
Firmly back and forth they run
I need no other memory
Of the bits of me I left
When all this lethal drinking
Is to hopefully forget about you
Like I even have a choice
The crew have killed the captain
But they still can hear his voice
A shadow on the water
A whisper in the wind
On long walks with my daughter
Who is lately full of questions about you
You answered, "Who are you?"
That sounds a bit defensive
Did you just bite off more than you could chew
I think it's called, In Stitches
When Job asked you the question, You responded, "Who are you To challenge your Creator?" Well if that one part is true, It makes you sound defensive Like you had not thought it through enough to have an answer or you might have bit off more than you could chew
and the version I last heard also replaces "tequila" with "some brown liquor"
The recipient of this letter, so to speak, is clearly God ("...full of questions about you" and "when Job asked you the question..."). It really sounds like it is about Bazan leaving God. There is this sort of bitter apprehension expressed in the lyrics "all this lethal drinking is to hopefully forget about you," and "the crew have killed the captain, but they still can hear his voice." I think it illustrates a truly painful end to a deep and committed relationship.
Maybe this is all obvious, but I am moved enough by it (due to some personal experience) that I felt an urge to comment.
I read an interview with David in which he said that he essentially has abandoned a lot of notions of God that were ingrained in him as a kid growing up. He went on to say that, some days when he is comfortable enough to consider the idea that God may exist, that he still attempts some sort of connection.
I think that's what he is referring to in the second verse. Still hearing the voice.. shadows on the water, whispers in the wind. Questions from his daughter. It's amazing how much the innocence of a child can make you feel some sort of faith again.
I think this song represents a bit of remaining traces of faith as closure to an album that spends every other second casting it off. I have also had this same experience, and I can say that it is a very sad, scary time when you find yourself basically rudderless when you cast off the faith of your childhood and try to figure out what exactly to connect to moving forward. David Bazan does a remarkable job of cataloging this transformation.