4 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
American Flag Lyrics
My friend, sits at the drum
His magic hand feels nothing but time
Nothing but time
My only friend sits at the drum
His magic mind doesn't feel anything
American flag is behind
If I could stand to be less difficult
My new friend, plays drums all the time
Her magic heart feels everything
She plays the difficult parts and I play difficult
She goes,
Shoo
Shoo ba-doo
Shoo ba-doo
Shoo ba-doo-ba-doo
Ba-doo
We go,
Shoo
Shoo ba-doo
Shoo ba-doo
Shoo ba-doo-ba-doo
If I could stand to be less difficult
His magic hand feels nothing but time
Nothing but time
His magic mind doesn't feel anything
American flag is behind
If I could stand to be less difficult
Her magic heart feels everything
She plays the difficult parts and I play difficult
Shoo
Shoo ba-doo
Shoo ba-doo
Shoo ba-doo-ba-doo
Ba-doo
Shoo
Shoo ba-doo
Shoo ba-doo
Shoo ba-doo-ba-doo
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
ok a few comments, especially since nobody has commented: -"my old friend", not "my only friend"?...i know it's sorta hard to tell with the way she pronounces things, but it also seems to fit better since she later says "new friend"
-I thought of the connection between drums and the American flag being the drums that would be played going into battle in the American Revolution. A drummer would play a very constant beat ("nothing but time") for everyone to march to. But I guess it's a political statement in the second part, when she says "his magic mind doesn't feel anything" because even though those drums may represent something, the connection has lost any meaning. (i.e. patriots still have the drive but not the values)
-oh, and that drum beat underneath is sampled from the beastie boys
What I love about Chan is that she enjoys a very wide range of different music, and that you can hear it in the music she makes. I love the backwards Beastie Boys loop, as well as the "shoop shoop ba-doop" bit which I see as an obvious reference to Salt-n-Pepa.
@omfgmatty yes, agreed, but why?? Why in this song? It’s making me a little nuts, tbh… on the one hand, I feel like it could be or further the political statement that others have posited insofar as indirectly calling such lyrics meaningless, “mindless,” like a statement on pop culture or just modern America. And if only she weren’t “so difficult,” she could be like that too (and maybe even more successful musically, but she may or may not be considering that here even if the rest is accurate). Many of her songs are, at least in part, on her (and...
@omfgmatty yes, agreed, but why?? Why in this song? It’s making me a little nuts, tbh… on the one hand, I feel like it could be or further the political statement that others have posited insofar as indirectly calling such lyrics meaningless, “mindless,” like a statement on pop culture or just modern America. And if only she weren’t “so difficult,” she could be like that too (and maybe even more successful musically, but she may or may not be considering that here even if the rest is accurate). Many of her songs are, at least in part, on her (and others’, “I don’t blame you”) relationship with music/art, so these latter ideas about her just not being able to fit the mold of mainstream American music would be in keeping with that practice. I was going to say, “on the other hand,” but I’ve convinced myself this is the correct reading, lol
interesting theory on the lyrics, the battle part in particular. it's a real simple beat, do you think she might have just played it, then ran it backwards?
yeah, it's a backwards loop...but so is the original: the beastie boys' "paul revere". (only slowed down)