From the Hips

Tim Kasher does it again.

i didnt like this at first, but it slowly grew on me. amazing.

I think you got it right about overanalization, but I saw it through the point of a relationship. Like, when people first meet they try to put on this mask and seem perfect and ideal, but really this just makes things worst by doing this. We're really just best as sexual animals and we just work better when we don't try to hide ourselves.

This song is about the social formalities that we all perform in order to function as part of humanity. He is specifically referring to the way that we use words in attempts to promote ourselves in different ways. We have to rehearse what we are trying to say so that we can control how other people view us. However, it's clear that Kasher views this "rehearsal" negatively (i.e. "I'm at my best when I'm at my worst. I'm at my worst when it's not rehearsed."). This line sounds kind of backwards from the first time listenning to it; but, what Kasher means is that he is at his best when he is not rehearsing and trying to control other peoples' opinion of himself. He carries this theme throughout the song suggesting that it might do us some good to rid ourselves of these social formalities and revert back to animal instincts (i.e. We were better off as animals.) It sounds as if Kasher might be referring to using these instincts in the context of relationships since he is talking about sex (i.e. "We're at our best when it's from our hips From our hips we don't give a shit It just feels good"). However, I believe he thinks that these instincts might profit us other contexts as well since he talks about other contexts in which words have failed us (i.e. "From our lips we caused a rift and this world is falling in from Babel to barroom brawls our words have formed a death sentence). Toward the end of the song, Kasher also hints at the idea that hedonism might be the most the best mode of living (i.e. "We're at our best when it's from our hips From our hips we don't give a shit It just feels good, and that's no sin It's the only way to feel alive The closest thing to being born again And when baby comes, it's "job well done" Roll in the hay, or roll around the sun").

Fucking fabulous song!!

have to say, i like the live track on youtube better than the ablum version. fantastic jam either way.

Fantastic song. The Letterman version is great. I get the feeling that it's about overanalization:

Say you absolutely love music, and there is a certain song that is absolutely magical to you. Then you learn guitar, and you learn how to play that song... And then every time you hear the song, you know how the band is playing it and it sort of loses it's magic.

If I may quote an unknown source I came across via some Apple website, "If you idolize something, you almost don't want to know it too intimately because it might shatter".

glorification of instinct in animals over the reason of humans. i like the application on relationships (like in the music video) but i think it does have quite a bit of room for broad interpretation. basically why skirt your wants in the name of formality.

It seems pretty straight-forward... sometimes you hook up with someone and wind up fuckbuddies and things turn into a mess when you try to take it seriously.

this might well be my new favourite song =]

first song i heard from cursive's myspace and it's friggin sick!! i love how it progresses