Carry the Zero

Um... I don't think it has anything to do with a relationship. It's about faking. Saying you don't like yourself and finding your faults and stuff, "putting back on your blemishes" and everyone else is just "waiting for you guard to fall so they can see it all" And then it says that you're so concerned with what everyone else is thinking, and vice versa... They're so vain, just thinking about how others view them. And you're just like them! "you've become what you thought was dumb"

You try to help but there's really nothing you can do cuz you could push to far and everyone will just get pissed off and hurt.. so you just have to live with the guise and the tension and everyone faking.... you can't even touch it or it will fall apart. the friendships are all so fake and fragile.

This song is actually about my father who was a former band mate of dougs (pat schmaljohn aka pat brown) he is no longer alive and his cod is pretty obvious if you listen to the song. The song pat on their new album is about him also. They were wonderful friends and he is very missed.

I think the first verse and closing line of the song uses the metaphor of a broken thin (which for simplicity's sake I will refer to as a vase from here on out) for a relationship that's suddenly fallen apart, and in spite of what the singer (from this point forward referred to as "he" or "him") see's as the best interest of the song's subject (from this point forward referred to as "she" or "her"), it has been shoddily repaired, but no longer retains any value.

"I'm not knocking your want to carry that home" seems to refer to her remaining attached to a broken piece. The vase will never be repaired to it's original form, and the relationship is not salvageable.

"Took it with you when you moved and got it broke," I think in this line he's talking strictly about the literal meaning rather than the metaphorical meaning. How often when you box things up to move a fragile item, regardless of how much newspaper you throw in there, do you open the box at the new place to find that it's broke?

"Found the pieces, we counted them all alone. Didn't add up, forgot to carry a zero" She opens the box to find the broken vase, and even though theoretically every piece should be in the box, since it was intact the last time she saw it, she can't recreate it using the pieces in the box. It doesn't make sense why. Carrying a zero is absurd math. Saying that your forgot to carry a zero is not an explanation for why a math problem is wrong. It doesn't make sense why the relationship can't go back to the way it was. They're still the same people, but somehow there are pieces missing.

At this point the metaphor is dropped, and he responds to her clinging to the broken relationship, and he's not happy about it. He can't keep making excuses for (I can't be your apologist very long), he's surprised that she is being so irrational (I'm surprised you'd want to carry that on), and he remembers a time when she would ridicule others for doing what she's doing now (You have become what you thought was dumb).

And at the end he finally returns to the metaphor.

"And now we can't even touch it. Afraid it'll fall apart." Apparently, she has decided to go back to trying to make the failed relationship work, and like a vase that's been glued together with parts missing, it's so fragile you can't touch it.

no offense to the emo crowd... but that emo/pop-punk stuff usually deals with a relationship. this is more indie rock - and these guys are more cerebral than to be talking on and on about broken relationships. save that for bright eyes and other shitty bands. oh yea and of course the zero is the narrator or someone really close. because the first line he says im nnot knocking your want to "carry" that home. and then he says about infers that he is indeed the zero. i think its about losing faith in yourself, and the others around you. he constantly refers to "carrying" something. its most likely the weight of self-awareness, consciousness. because at the end he pretty much is speaking to himself. saying that he's become a lot more watered down as a result of carrying whatever it is hes carrying

To me, Carry The Zero is about a girl who is afraid to be herself, and it causes Doug sadness. Doug is the zero because he wants to be with her. But all she does is transform into whatever she thinks she should be, rather than what she is, and he's afraid to say anything or do anything because he think the relationship will fall apart.

Doug said his first priority with lyrics, is that they sounds great with the melody(he writes the melody first). I think there is a little philosopher in Doug as well. It has also been said his lyrics often has a different meaning from person to person. To me this song is about how a hard melancholic mind can confuse(math) a person so much that he/she can't consentrate about possibilities in the future.

a song about relationships and the passage of time. The lyrics describe a couple that has been together for a long time, and the challenges and changes they have faced over the years. The song reflects on the ups and downs of their relationship and the way they have been able to "carry the zero" - that is, to continue counting forward even when things get tough. The song is a nostalgic and introspective look at the nature of long-term relationships and the weight of shared history.

Part of the beauty in lyricism is that it'll be interpreted in vastly different ways by different people, as is with all art.

For me, this song reminds me of helping a friend through a break-up with someone they got back together with. This cycle repeated many times.

You don't want to criticize your friend for getting back with this person. But, when you hear time & time again how the relationship feels so wrong, you can't validate them and be their "apologist" forever.

They criticize the person they are with. Yet when they return, they essentially "okay" their partners behavior, becoming a "fraction of the sum," watering down their true self to fit into this persons life.

Insecurity is often a factor when it comes to toxic relationships. You become so occupied with what your partner thinks of you, and vice versa. This can become consuming to the point you no longer question what you think of yourself.

At a certain point, I "pushed too hard" when trying to advise my friend on leaving. I can no longer give advice or guidance, out of fear that our friendship will fall apart.

You have to let people learn on their own, and make mistakes. Despite the pain of seeing them spiral.

Truthfully, this is most definitely about a friendship. It starts with "Took it with you/ When you moved and got it broke/ Found the pieces/ We counted them all alone/ Didn't add up/ Forgot to carry a zero." What I think this is saying is that this friend of yours, for example, did something that's slowly tearing apart this friendship, but you guys are still in this friendship together because of the lyrics "Found the pieces we counted them all alone." But then a realization kicks in where something in this relationship/friendship isn't adding up. When you and your friend forget to "carry the zero," something that would keep this friendship intact, the friendship starts to fail in a sense (but later on in the song you realize that carrying a zero is impossible). Next is "I can't be your apologist very long," meaning that you can't be making excuses for them (your friend) anymore for what they are doing, which could be constantly making excuses or flaking on things, etc. The next lyric I wanna talk about is "Like they're waiting for your guard to fall/ So they can see it all and you're so/ Occupied with what other persons are /Occupied with/ And vice versa," which I think is basically saying that this person (friend) is putting up a facade or a mask that's covering up who they truly are, but they are so worried that people won't like them for who they are, which is why they are occupied with what people are occupied with. And then because your friend is so insecure and a people-pleaser, they move from being friends with you, to then being with the people they have always made fun of -- fake people --> "And you've become what you thought was dumb a fraction of the sum." The "fraction of the sum" part is referring to this friend not being themselves and someone who is so vain and careless that they themselves have become so small. Because this friend is a manipulator (people-pleaser), you are thinking that you did something wrong, hence the lyric "I was trying to help but I guess I pushed too hard." This friend has made you believe that you are part of the problem, but in reality, they were going to become this person no matter what.

this is a good sunny day song, im not too sure what its about but its good!