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Fully Retractable Lyrics

Shooed out like a housefly
This house was half my mind
I don't dispute the doubts you've outlined
But it's my right to waste your time
And these things
It stands to reason
These things won't kill me
Your feelings
The spattering
It bores me
Don't tell me
Burned in on the 8th of May
She was spectacular
I walk a half-moon by the bus stop
Sliding 'cross the street to her
Three stings
Sequentially
Three strings
Won't kill me
Your spieling
Gracelessly
Is my grief
Please tell me
Half-masted, bass-boosted, slingbacked, fully retractable
Throw out the la-la by the busload
Match the photo to the description
I do indeed and shall continue
Dispatch the shiftless man to points beyond
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Cover art for Fully Retractable lyrics by Soul Coughing

I really like this song. Really different. It's like the lyrics become the melody.

Cover art for Fully Retractable lyrics by Soul Coughing

maybe it's another relationship song.. i figure he's talkin' about how unimportant emotions are when the genreal feeling is beneficial. sorry, was that too deep for you fools who come on here and all you have to say is "i like this song!" ..oh, my mistake, i won't let it happen again

Cover art for Fully Retractable lyrics by Soul Coughing

for some reason...this song seems to be about aftermath of a breakup and he wishes he could get the girl back..they had so much but it's fully retracted and they're through...or maybe not

Cover art for Fully Retractable lyrics by Soul Coughing

I think it is about the aftermath of a breakup, he's walking to the bus stop about to leave town, then he sees her and goes after her. I think may 8th may have been when they met and it's forever burnt in his mind the day he met her. He's telling her he will miss her, but what happened to him won't kill him either, that life will go on no matter what

"I do indeed and shall continue"

Cover art for Fully Retractable lyrics by Soul Coughing

Nothing about the meaning, but Doughty stated in an interview that he thinks that some of the lyrics are great, but then get shitty real fast.

Cover art for Fully Retractable lyrics by Soul Coughing

Doughty's own take on Fully Retractable:

Doughty: ... The thing that makes me so angry about the songs that I wrote when I was high is that they’re not done. There are like lines in there that are fudged. There’s some words in there, and I’ll figure it out later. But then I never figured it out, and it ended up on the record.

Rumpus: Are you willing to give an example of such a thing?

Doughty: Um, I’m not. Well… there’s a song called “Fully Retractable,” which is almost such a good song! But then, like, one line of every verse is just like, And muuhs mum muh muh… you know, just mumbled.

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