Twin Sized Mattress Lyrics
When the floodwater comes, it ain't gonna be clear, it's gonna look like mud
But I will help you swim, I will help you swim, I'm gonna help you swim
For the friends I've made, for the sleepless nights
For the warning signs I've completely ignored
There's an amount to take, reasons to take more
When they closed their eyes and prayed you would change
And they cut your hair and sent you away
You stopped by my house the night you escaped
With tears in my eyes I begged you to stay
You said "Hey man, I love you, but no fucking way"
Maybe shake a tambourine, or when I sing, you sing harmonies
And it shoulda felt good, but I could hear the Jaws theme song on repeat in the back of my mind
Make sure you kiss your knuckles before you punch me in the face
There are lessons to be learned, consequences for all the stupid things I say
And it is no big surprise you turned out this way
The spark in your eyes, the look on your face, I will not be brave
Maybe shake a tambourine, or when I sing, you sing harmonies.
Cause I am through finding blame. That is a decision that I have made
In somebody's attic or basement my whole life
Never graduating up in size to add another
And my nightmares will have nightmares every night, oh every night, every night
Im fairly certain this is about two male friends whom one is a closet homosexual (or both). the narrator realises his friend is gay and convinces him to be honest with himself and his family.The friend eventually finds the courage to tell his mother who trys to send him away to correctional camp. His mother blames the narrator for her sons homosexuality.
"This is for the lions living in the wiry broke down frames of my friends' bodies" His 'friends' are forcing themselves to be something theyre not because others have 'broke them'
"When the floodwater comes, it ain't gonna be clear, it's gonna look like mud" A biblical reference to the 40 days and 40 nights of rain to wash away mans sins
"But I will help you swim, I will help you swim, I'm gonna help you swim" The narrator wants to show his friend that its ok to be gay.
"This is for the snakes and the people they bite" Another biblical reference to the garden of eden and the snake that creates sin. The narrator is the snake in this line.
"For the friends I've made, for the sleepless nights" Worry from the persucution he is causing to his friend or possibly worried that his other friends will find out theyre gay and disown them.
"For the warning signs I've completely ignored" He is ignoring the fact that his friend is being persecuted
"There's an amount to take, reasons to take more" This could be a suicide reference (his friend is trying to kill himself to escape his mother and his feelings) or a reference to how the narrator feels he shouldnt have said anything and started this whole thing.
"It's no big surprise you turned out this way When they closed their eyes and prayed you would change" The pressure from his family trying to make him something hes not has made him the man he is.
"And they cut your hair and sent you away" Reference to being sent to a correctional camp.
"You stopped by my house the night you escaped With tears in my eyes I begged you to stay You said "Hey man, I love you, but no fucking way"" No explanation needed, other than the 'Hey man, I love you' is more likely in a friend loving another friend way, not necessarily in a romantic way.
"I'm sure that we could find something for you to do on stage Maybe shake a tambourine, or when I sing, you sing harmonies" The narrator wants his friend to stay with him and his other friends and not run off.
"This is for the lake that me and my friends swim in, naked and dumb on a drunken night And it shoulda felt good, but I could hear the Jaws theme song on repeat in the back of my mind" Hes either talking about the night he asked his friend if he was gay or an internal worry of becoming aroused by his naked friends and that braking their friendship apart.
"Make sure you kiss your knuckles before you punch me in the face" His friend reacted with harsh denial
"There are lessons to be learned, consequences for all the stupid things I say" The narrator regrets not approaching the situation with more sensitivity and feels he deserved to be hit.
"And it is no big surprise you turned out this way" Already explained
"The spark in *her eyes, the look on your face, I will not be brave" The narrator doesnt stand up for his friend when his mother confronts him
"I'm sure that we could find something for you to do on stage. Maybe shake a tambourine, or when I sing, you sing harmonies." Already explained
"I wanna contribute to the chaos, I don't wanna watch and then complain Cause I am through finding blame. That is a decision that I have made" The narrator finally stands up for his friend and refuses to let him down again
"She hopes I'm cursed forever to sleep on a twin sized mattress In somebody's attic or basement my whole life Never graduating up in size to add another And my nightmares will have nightmares every night, oh every night, every night" This line sums up the argument the narrator and his friends mother have. Basically shes saying she hopes he never finds love and dies alone.
@jonknutton Never seen a more accurate description of a song.
@jonknutton Never seen a more accurate description of a song.
@jonknutton hey, I know this is kinda old but the lyric "the spark in her eyes" is actually "the spark in your eyes" thanks.
@jonknutton hey, I know this is kinda old but the lyric "the spark in her eyes" is actually "the spark in your eyes" thanks.
Two lines of thought:
- A gay male friend being sent away to a religious "conversion" program.
- Supported by "It's no big surprise you turned out this way / When they closed their eyes and prayed you would change / And they cut your hair and sent you away..."
- The above lines makes sense if the subject of the song is male, since "they" might make a gay male with long hair cut it off in order to appear masculine.
- A male subject also explains the "Hey man," in the line "Hey man, I love you, but no fucking way" (though it's not impossible that a female would say this.)
- A male subject seems to fit with the stanza about being "naked and dumb on a drunken night" at the lake. To me that sounds like male friends hanging out and being stupid; it would probably be written more romantically if the subject was a female love interest (or a male love interest, for that matter).
- However if the subject of the song is a gay male then the "she" in the last stanza is mysterious.
- A drug-abusing female love interest being sent away to rehab.
- This is primarily supported by the last stanza: "She hopes I'm cursed forever to sleep on a twin sized mattress..."
- The above line makes sense if it was a bad breakup - as does the singer's decision that he is "through finding blame."
- However, you might ask what happened in between this female, in the third stanza, telling the singer that she loved him, and then in the last stanza wanting him to be cursed forever. There's an expository gap there.
I lean toward the first interpretation (or possibly a straight male friend who is a drug abuser/general fuck-up, and who is being sent away to military school.)
I agree with your first one more, and I always saw the "She" as someone in the situation like maybe the friend's mom or sister or something, or maybe a girl that the friend was dating before the friend came out or something.
I agree with your first one more, and I always saw the "She" as someone in the situation like maybe the friend's mom or sister or something, or maybe a girl that the friend was dating before the friend came out or something.
@megabyte800 I feel like if it's about a gay man than it's more of a friend situation rather than romantic one. Not sure about the jump to the girl than. Maybe she was jealous of their friendship
@megabyte800 I feel like if it's about a gay man than it's more of a friend situation rather than romantic one. Not sure about the jump to the girl than. Maybe she was jealous of their friendship
This song just pulls you in and gives you a cool ride and then lets you go. but you always come back.
Certain parts of this song (they cut your hair and sent you away) definitely seem to be about a close friend that was sent to military school/camp.
And to add on to some of the previous comments, I think this friend might actually be an actual person. This person is possibly a past band member, whom while have fun with Brian and Mat, was also doing bad things. As stated before, the friend got in trouble for being with this guys, and is sent to a military camp.
"Make sure you kiss your knuckles before you punch me in the face" This line in general is probably talking about the friend getting back at Brian, because while he had fun, his family hates him.
"I'm sure we could find something for you to do on stage Maybe shake a tambourine, or when I sing, you sing harmonies" This line is Brian just begging to have this friend, a band member, back. He is saying that whatever it is, he just wants this guy back.
This is an amazing song,hope you enjoy learning about it. IF I'm right..
First time ever commenting on here! The lyrics “It’s no big suprise you turned out this way when they closed their eyes and prayed you would change and they cut your hair and sent you away you stopped by my house the night you escaped you said hey man I love you but no fucking way” have always stood out to me through all my years of listening to the front bottoms, In my interpretation these lyrics have lots of strong symbolism pointing to the horrors of residentail schools in Canada especially the “They cut your hair and sent you away” and the “They closed their eyes and prayed you would change”. I interprate the “closed their eyes” line as how so many non indigenous people batted a blind eye to the mistreatment of indigenous children, and the “They cut your hair” as a reference to indigenous children having their long hair cut when arriving to residential schools. Having long hair is a very common tradition in most indigenous groups, and it is often only cut when a person has passed away.
I do understand why people would think it’s about a gay couple but I also interpret it to be about somebody who’s feeling left behind whilst in active addiction. When the song is referencing the lions living inside the frames of his friends wiry broke down bodies it then states “when the flood water clears it ain’t gonna be clear it’s gonna look like mud”. I took this is hes essentially feeling like his now clean and sober friends think they are better than addiction but when it comes down to it they call came from the same place and they aren’t perfect. And that the truth would come to light when asked about it. I think in the second verse he’s singing about a friend that was a lot closer that must’ve been physically dragged out of addiction by his parents and sent to somewhere like military school or rehab. I think he often reminisces about when he had all his friends with him, possibly as a teenager or a long time ago. The last verse is really sad and the “she” he references could be an old gf or a family member or a friend. He basically is stuck in this addiction whilst everybody else has moved on and begun their lives- and he feels bitter about it
[Edit: Miss spelling]
Certain parts of this song (they cut your hair and sent you away) definitely seem to be about a close friend that was sent to military school/camp.
I think this song is about a girl who deals with her problems through drugs and alcohol, and a guy who's good friends wit her, but also deep down in love with her.
Eventually, all the drinking and drugs get too much for her family and the decide to send her away to a rehab facility.
The night she finds out, she sneaks into the guts house through his bedroom window and tells him what her parents said. She then explains that she just can't do this anymore, and has decided to leave town forever.
The guy, of course, begs her to stay, but she says that she can't. He doesn't want to let go of her because he loves her, and he blames himself for everything that happened, even though he knows its not his fault.
He still wishes he could have helped her, and he wonders where she is right now, and if she's finally happy, or just as miserable, living in someone's attic or basement on a twin sized mattress.
I've read the comments about Military camp and their actual friend but when I first heard the song I thought it was about someone who is transexual/genderfluid, specifically a male who feels he should be female. "They closed their eyes and hoped you would change, and they cut your hair and sent you away", made me think that they would not accept this person as a girl. Then, from that person's perspective there are lines like "This is a decision that I've made" and "She hopes I'm cursed forever to sleep on a twin sized mattress in somebody's attic or basement my whole life, never graduating up in size to add another" feeling shunned by their mother, and seeing no hope in finding love while they cannot be who they are.