Bats In The Belfry

[I’m pretty much combining a bunch of people’s ideas, as well as my own, on this]

Old man river [old man (wise) river (quick fast turns, life) – just wisdom] said you can just go your own way [once again, choosing your own way (down the river)] if you just leave him alone [just don’t bother him for the answers (do your own thang)]

It doesn't matter [the classic, “It doesn’t matter what other people think”] Do not deliver all your things today [ have you ever been in one of those situations where you try so hard to show a person who you are but it all just comes out in a jumble and wears you out? I think that’s what that is about] we are going home [this is letting go of trying to please]

Mama, we're now so hungry [mcm42085 explained it well- “hungry for a taste of freedom, to live life”] Mama, we're now so hungry Mama, we're now so hungry Mama, we're now so...hungry

I've got bats in the belfry [I’m going crazy… tired of society] I'm in the kitchen boiling society [so screw it…] I'm in the open catching all the leaves [dontcha just love that image? FREEDOM!!!] We all see what we want [More freedom…]

{Repeat whole thing}

[and now my favorite part J ] I have a crazy idiosyncrasy [I have a crazy ‘strange and individual characteristic’– meaning that they are themselves] Its affinity to serendipity [It’s ‘a natural attraction’ to ‘the occasion(s) of making lucky discoveries by accident’-that’s straightforward] And this eternal epiphany [And this ‘never-ending’ ‘demonstration of the essence or meaning of something’- aaahh, life.] No hypocrisy or duplicity [No ‘acts of such falseness’ or ‘deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech’– as so often presented by society]

[and the rest just repeats]

This song is about conformity and about someone who has decided to renounce the rules of obligations of society or live away from them. To most of society who live in conformity with societal rules and obligations, this person (or hermit) is crazy, or "has bats in the belfry" and may see someone who lives outside the rules of conformity as someone who is "boiling society," or who lives outside of conformity in order to show disdain for everyone else. Someone who is living outside the rules of conformity may see him or herself as "in the open, catching all the leaves" or in other words, living their life with a freedom that no one else has. "We all see what we want" is pretty self-explanatory...everyone sees something from their own perspective, whether it is the truth or not.

Not much variation in the lyrics but what a catchy tune!

oh! So that's what they're sayig! ... "Kitchen boiling society.." It sounded like to me, they were saying "Old lane society."... yeah, yeah, it makes no sense. Oh well.

rockin song. not sure what the song actually means. on gtv in the second time they say Mama, we're no hungry, at the end they say "We're so.....unclean" thats what it sounds like to me. anyone out there think so too? zach

rockin song. not sure what the song actually means. on gtv in the second time they say Mama, we're no hungry, at the end they say "We're so.....unclean" thats what it sounds like to me. anyone out there think so too? zach

rockin song. not sure what the song actually means. on gtv in the second time they say Mama, we're no hungry, at the end they say "We're so.....unclean" thats what it sounds like to me. anyone out there think so too? zach

I don't know how accurate I am, but this is what I was able to come up with. A "belfry" is a bell tower in a church, so i'm assuming that symbolizes peace and order. Everyday the belfry would ring, and that was part of this person's job. I think the song is about this person deciding he had had enough of pleasing everyone else. Bats in the belfry means he's abandoned his quarters, and he's boiling society, meaning "screw them". "Mamma we're now so hungry", hungry for a taste of freedom, to live life. "we all do what we want", fits right in there too. but like i said, that's only an idea.

this is probably my favorite dispatch song, although i love them all. I think its about freedom in general and getting away from what people are telling you what to do, think etc. I think the "i'm in the open catching all the leaves" line means that he is free from whatever is holding him down, and it almost has a sense of innocense to it..? and, "we all see what we want" means that he is just saying screw it to what other people are telling him to see and he's doing what he wants insted.. just my thoughts on it =) peace out

dispatch has been my favorite band for a few years now. now that that's out of the way..."bats in the belfry" is an old phrase that pretty much means that a person is crazy. i think the song is about an old man (old man river) who is just kind of starting to lose it. if you listen to the words with that in mind i think the song starts to make more sense.