Till My Head Falls Off

It's not a song about suicide. It's a song about old age and forgetfulness.

Verse one, he's lost track of how many Advil he's taken since the bottle was new, and wonders who could have taken the missing pills, as he compulsively counts them again and again.

Verse two, he nervously rehearses a speech in front of the bathroom mirror, but can't find it in his pockets, and briefly forgets that he's just standing in the bathroom practicing. The "lecturn" he's gripping is the sink in front of his bathroom mirror. (The "audience" is his reflection, the description of which is what is really going on. Hence: Clearing my throat and gripping the lecturn I smile and face my audience clearing its throat and smiling with his hands on the bathroom sink. Kind of reminds you of the word pallendromes from "I Palendrome I", doesn't it?)

The references to not recognizing himself and seeing the "broken figure" will become all to familiar to you as you get older. We tend to hold a memory of what we look like, and that's what we see most of the time when looking in the mirror, except for occational moments of clarity when we suddenly see a new face where our young image once was. Trust me on this if you have not experienced it.

The comment about his head falling off, and how it "may not be a long way off" is a play on the old saying about absent-minded people who keep misplacing their glasses and stuff: "He would lose his head if it wasn't attached." It has nothing to do with self-decapitation.

I always thought it was about getting old

I always thought this was about somebody trying to kill themself with Advil, but after reading DavidGrimmer's post, I agree with him. Especially because in the remix on Severe Tire Damage, they change one line to: "have some respect for someone more decrepid than yourself"

One vote for it about being getting older. The not recognizing yourself line is particularly good.

first of all, these lyrics are slighty wrong, instead of "clearing my throat and dripping the liquer" it should read "clearing my throat and gripping the lectern" it makes more sense then. i believe its about a guy, trying to overdose on advil.

Does anyone else ever get the feeling sometimes that the Johns or someone they know is addicted to painkillers? They make a lot of references to that sort of thing, especially in their old songs, like this one and "Lie Still, Little Bottle"

If this is a song about being addicted to pain killers, Advil is a pretty lame drug to choose. Maybe that's another testament to this guy: he's kind of pathetic. The only addiction he can get is Advil. Very sad. Anyway, just a thought.

personally, i think David Grimmer is on the right path, but i dont think its about old age in particular. i think the person described is a guy with simply many mental issues. he's obsesive compulsive (counting the advil), overly paranoid (why do you suspiciously), short term memory loss (someone more forgetful than yourself), afraid of speaking in front of large crowds, ect... this song i dobut is about any one thing in particular, seeing as how most of their songs are nonsense.

Rodan2000

it's either hinting towards suicide, or it's what rodan said... somebody with a lot of mental disorders. it could also be both, part of it make me certain that it's either.

It's about a kid in the bathroom, that's getting school-related(don't know where i put my notes) stress headaches(87 advil...), and locked himself in the bathroom to do something-suicide?, or maybe find the Advil- and his sibling(s) are asking if he's done yet. he gives the typical response "I'm NOT DONE YET, and I won't be 'til my head falls off. that's it.Oh, and the lyrics are wrong. It's not "dripping the liquer" it's "gripping the lectern (sink)"