Youth Decay

great song. but i have no clue what it means.

It's about eating disorders I would think ... spokenx.

I think its about holding one's tongue. You want to, but in the end you end up speaking out until it becomes a problem. (Hence, eating sweet things to keep one's mouth occupied [closed], but it backfires with tooth decay, er, youth decay.)

It's about bulimia. "Acid tooth"; "Am I rotting out?" describe the effects of the disorder. No one except her mother sees this as a problem; they think that it is in her head. With every doctor she sees, she feels herself slip away. They chip away at her, leaving her as good as dead.

sure. heh. yeah. i like this song. very much.

iheartnitz, you're right on the most part, but the mom was a bulimic too because, "Daddy says I got my mama's mouth."

only chanbara's right...she held it all in until she just spit bile...she has mama's mouth because mama was repressed until she split and it's happening to her too

I think it has a little to do with both bulimia AND speaking her mind. A friend of mine who was a counselor for years told me that girls with eating disorders developed them as a way to feel in control of their lives.

"Close my mouth Was I born to accommodate I'm so good at playing dead Words just don't seem to come out" It seems like she is expected to behave and mind her tongue by her father, but she wants to speak her mind. Instead she eats sweet things and spits them back up ("stomachache... food just doesn't seem to work out") to deal with her problems.

I also think "how many doctors will it take before I disintegrate" is being critical of how the medical establishment treats cases of eating disorders instead of addressing the ways that societal expectations placed on girls (and boys) lead to the disorders in the first place.

Sleater-Kinney+ best friends+ beer on a night with the curtains shut, pretending it's hot and bright outside= what it's all about

I think there are refs to bulemia, but also sexual abuse. The "daddy says I got my mama's mouth" line always sounded creepy to me. And perhaps her mother was a victim as well?

Mom has said Yes this happened to me long ago But no one would believe me when O said Close my mouth

Her mother was abused by a family member, but nobody would believe her given it was a less elightened time.

Was I born to accommodate I'm so good at playing dead Words just don't seem to come out

She's gotten used to shutting up and trying to forget the abuse and pretend it isn't happening.