It's Nice to Know You Work Alone

Like many people above I think this song is about a relationship that has come to a close. The narrator of the song was in a relationship where he/she felt very strongly towards his /her partner but never felt that same level of love in return (unrequited love). During the breakup, the former partner lets them know that they still want to be friends. I think that the word "work" in the recurring line and title of the song means work in the sense of operate or function. It's a sarcastic way of saying its nice to know that you can get along with your day to day activities w/o me.

it's the beauty of confession in the sound when the levees break and all the air is wrong wrong [confession of not feeling the same way towards someone and the rush of emotions that] [follows as the levees break]

redesigning the connection [changing from lovers to friendship] a composition painted on my face with a smile drawn on drawn on [trying to act like everything is cool and "be friends"]

sit back and breathe [so i try to relax] it's nice to know you work alone [it's nice to know that you don't need me - sarcasm] my head is reeling [can't believe that this is happening]

disembody the infection with water marks on the pillow case and all my nerves turned on [love has become an infection, get rid of it by crying and being irritable]

overriding the obsession [realizing that maybe it wasnt love but it was an obsession] to take it all and be on my way [take all the benefits that were got out of the relationship and move on] dragging the lead along [like a dog that was on a lead/leash and followed their lover whereever they wanted] [and had unconditional love]

but all the grace is gone ... but the reveal is gone [the relationship has come to a close, all the previous things that were there are gone]

reaching the serene [finally come to the realization of what happened and are at peace with it bc there is] [a resolution]

my hands stopped bleeding [i finally stopped working so hard to be with you and please you]

"Disembody the move action" it's wrong...it should be "disembody the infection"

Don't think anyone has put this theory out there yet but to me the lyrics seem to be talking about a relationship where the girl (because lead singer is a guy) has cheated on here boyfriend/husband.... hence the name "it's nice to know you work alone." working alone standing for committing the cheating act... Also significant in "water marks on a pillow case"... all the crying done after he found out. I also think they are trying to move past the cheating and continue with the relationship but it just is not working. Disembody the infection... Redesigning a connection... overriding the obsession. To me the guy just cant get past what has happened which leads to "all the grace is gone" etc... Finally at the end with the line "reaching the serene" I think it is saying he has finally decided it will not work and is going to or has moved on...

"It's the beauty of confession..." the singer wants to confess their love/attraction for the person. "Sound when the levees break..." this is the actual act of confessing that those overwhelming feelings to the person. "The air is wrong..." there's an awkward pause in the air and those feelings arent reciprocated. "Redesigning a connection..." Singer is quickly trying to save face and steer out of the awkward conversation to something they can reconnect on. "With a smile drawn on..." the singer is feeling the rejection and it stings, but they are mature and politely smile.

"Sit back and breathe..." singer is talking to self. Calming self down. "Nice to know you work alone..." during the confession the rejector said something to singer along the lines of not looking for any relationship right now. Sounds a bit sarcastic and bitter. "My head is reeling..." they're shocked, in a daze, blown away. Apparently not what they were expecting or hoping for.

"Disembody the infection..." the singer is not trying to move on, psychologically. They want to remove the feelings they have. The attraction or feelings are like an infection. "With watermarks on a pillow case..." Drool on the pillow from the lover. They were intimate to the extent that the lover was sleeping over. "With all the nerves turned on..." I think this is either an orgasm, and the singer is remembering the love making and trying to forget those memories, or is trying to forget the live and it's very hard to do because they are so emotionally sensitive right now. "Overriding the obsession..." they're going to make themselves get over the obsession. "Take it all and be on my way..." they're giving up on this and moving on. "Dragging the lead along..." the lead it the part of themselves that has the attraction. They will have to drag that part of themself away from the idea of the relationship.

Chorus: sounds a bitter, sarcastic and hurt.

"But all the grace is gone..." the grace and beauty that made the relationship possibility attractive is gone after the confrontation. "All the tired scorn is gone..." they were bitter and defensive, but were getting tired of it. That defensiveness is gone. "All the fire is gone..." the chemistry, spark, attraction is all gone between them. Things just aren't the same amymore. "But the reveal is gone..." But despite the lover relationship crashing, the silver lining is the reveal is gone. It was a burden to carry around those feelings but now they are out and revealed.

Chorus: same hurt, confusion

"Reaching the serene..." Singer has breathed through it! They are reaching a better state of being being! They are making peace with it all! Things are returning to a more serene state!

"My head's STOPPED reeling..." Yes! The singer is over it!!! The singer is in a better mental state and they made it through that awkward, alone, bitter, confused, hurt disappointed mess of feelings! Their agony has stopped!

"It's nice to know you work alone..." Not meant bitter this time. They are glad they know the truth. They were assertive, made their confession, and the chips fell were they may. Outcome wasn't what they wanted but it's better to know and a nice feeling to know instead of wondering forever and holding it all in.

This is one of my favorite songs because of the emotional journey. It sounds and starts out sad but the singer comes out of it with a silverlining.

Brian uses different voice filters from line to line. I love it. I also dig the strings.

i really like the beat in this song, and he has the most interesting voice lol

I think this is probably reflection upon someone telling the speaker in the song that they "work alone," or don't do relationships. And the speaker is hurt by that. :(

I'm pretty sure that's Nikki backing Brian up in parts of the verses. But yeah, it's just a breakup song, really.

I can't help but get a sense of President Bush in this song: "in the sound when the levees break" and "with watermarks on a pillowcase" are lines that seem to refer to Bush being totally oblivious to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. This seems particularily true with the verse: "But all the grace is gone, gone And all the tired scorn is gone And all the fire is gone, gone But the reveal is gone, it's gone"

It seems like Bush had some grace to his job (I'm kidding...really) with the "mission accomplished" and stuff like that but he's gone. So is our tired scorn for him, the fire for our government has been put low by recession and it seems impossible to reveal what is in our future. It seems like the band is saying "It's nice to know you work alone..." to the ex-President Bush because we all know (because of Obama's outstanding job so far) the President doesn't work alone but somehow Bush got that impression of his job, probably because he has ADD and Dyslexia brought on by lots of cocaine.

I really like this one, mostly because it's one of the few you can hear Nikki on. Her voice is really under-used on this album. :( But other than that it's obviously incredible.