Hell

just thought I'd throw this up here since it pretty much sums up the meaning

"I wrote the single, Hell, about my neighborhood in Vancouver. The song is actually about more than that though. When I moved into my new neighborhood in December of 2006, the Vancouver Sun had an aerial photo of my neighborhood with the headline “Vancouver’s four blocks of hell” on the front cover. Welcome home, I thought. The song was also a clever metaphor for my unrequited feelings, for a girl, not drugs. In the end I got the girl, but the struggle for most people here on the Downtown Eastside continues." -tegan at the tns website

I don't think it's possible for Tegan and Sara to release a song that I don't love. No doubt the rest of the album will be just as great.

Seems to me like it's about saying "I love you" in the chorus. "I know you feel it too, these words get overused, when we get up and over it and over them" and "I know you feel it too, it all seems so untrue." Maybe it's about saying "I love you" too soon in a relationship, like all the teenagers do once they start going out. But the words are overused, and it all seems so untrue- the people aren't truly in love; the words are empty. And so it's silly to say "I love you" so soon, when the relationships don't last long, and you "get up and over it and over them."

I am addicted to Tegan and Sara!

I like to interpret the lyrics,

"I know you feel it too These words get overused When we get up and over it and over them Up and over it and over them I know you feel it too It all seems so untrue When you get up and over it and over them"

As when people in a relationship are pretty much like robots. Not passionate about eachother and just say the scripted words a couple "should" say. People stay together longer than they should because of familiarity. Or when people are in a relationship and the words are getting to feel too familiar and things just don't seem to give them that warm feeling. Basically someone has to end the relationship even if the other really means what they say.

I believe this song is about homophobic people trying to change the way gays or bisexuals think. Like the first line, "I'm not ready for a big bad step in that direction" is saying they're not ready to change for them because this is who they are. The "Four blocks, run and hide, Don't walk alone at night" part explains how it feels to be judged or maybe even in danger because people know about their sexuality and they're so against it, they might even be willing to harm them, but it could just be about being judged. The chorus is about homophobic words and how they can hurt and have an effect on people. "No we're not ready for Hell" reminds me of Christian criticism, saying the gays and lesbians will go to Hell. "Why slide along and say Girl's afraid, girl will change, just move away" explains that people say "Oh, it's just a phase, you'll get over it." "get ahead, get her hand and bring her with you" could either be about how people think gays 'convert' others or it could be about taking someone somewhere to possibly be 'fixed' or treated because they think it's an illness. "Four ways to remove all the bad that we do From the heart and the soul of the city, sad and cold Four ways to collect what we say and what we save To discard and discover a brand new way" I think is about getting people to open their minds and listen about it, and actually learn to understand that it isn't an illness and the people who are highly against it need to change, not them. I want to say that "It all seems so untrue When you get up and over it and over them" is a lyric about someone accepting their sexuality and how it is surprising but it's a good thing. Possibly this song could be about a friend or family member they had who didn't accept them or just about their fans who understand them, but I do believe it's more of a gay rights song than anything else.

wow you did great on these =D well I'm loving this song! I'm so excited for the album <3

i think you used the wrong for/four in this verse:

"FOUR blocks, run and hide Don't walk alone at night Cityscapes, cities change before they die FOUR blocks, I should mention in a song"

just because of what the song is about and the way tegan explained it.

"Uh oh, hell no."

if anyone is curious, here's the neighborhood that Tegan is talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downtown_Eastside

It's about the music industry.

"No I'm not ready for big bad step in the direction No I'm not ready for downtown trash before collection" Tegan and Sara are facing pressure to conform to mainstream music to maintain success. Which is btw trash.

"If I want to get along to change who doesn't want to change this I know you feel it too These words get overused When we get up and over it and over them"

Pop music is extremely repetitive and Redundant. Boring.

"No we're not ready for fair distribution Just determine the solution for No we're not ready for hell hell no for hell hell no"

They are not getting their fair share as indie artists. The solution? Pop, Hell.

"For ways to remove all the bad that we do From the heart and the soul of the city side and cold For ways to collect what we say and what we save To discard and discover a brand new way"

They need to change up their act, "what they say", "discard", "discover a brand new way".

Fast forward to 2014. sure enough this song practically happened to them. "Heartthrob" just came out in 2013. I can't really fault them though, just wish they more creative with their problems. They used to title "Hell" to describe their emotion about going mainstream. Just look at them at interviews now, uncomfortable and awkward.