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Stop Breathing Lyrics
Got struck by the first volley
Of the war in the courts
Never held my serve
Send'em a wire, give'em my best
This ammunition never rests
No one serves coffee, no one wakes up
Stop breathin'
Stop breathin'
Breathin' for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad, they broke me
Dad, they broke me
Stop breathin'
Stop breathin'
Breathin' for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad, they broke me
Dad, they broke me
I can see the lines open shutters
And the leaves flocked on a grid
That's what they made my hero say
Nothing gets me off so completely
Then when you put it down, ten feet down in the ground
Call it response (to a) negative home
Stop breathin'
Stop breathin'
Breathin' for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad, they broke me
Dad, they broke me
Stop breathin'
Stop breathin'
Breathin' for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad, they broke me
Of the war in the courts
Never held my serve
Send'em a wire, give'em my best
This ammunition never rests
No one serves coffee, no one wakes up
Stop breathin'
Breathin' for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad, they broke me
Dad, they broke me
Stop breathin'
Breathin' for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad, they broke me
Dad, they broke me
And the leaves flocked on a grid
That's what they made my hero say
Nothing gets me off so completely
Then when you put it down, ten feet down in the ground
Call it response (to a) negative home
Stop breathin'
Breathin' for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad, they broke me
Dad, they broke me
Stop breathin'
Breathin' for me now
Write it on a postcard
Dad, they broke me
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i LOVE the bridge of this song. right around 2min16sec into it. the how the bass comes in at 3min 16sec adding the coolest little layer before the song comes to an end.
crooked rain, crooked rain = perfect 90s indie rock from start to finish
hmm, definitely does not sound like mayonaise.
Ahh crap I meant chorus. The stop breathing bit.
although it does the silliness of war and tennis whites, 'stop breathing' is a great piece of off-kilter melancholy pop. i loved how pavement played with tunings so that the guitars sounded off-key but still melodic and right; and 'write it on a postcard - dad they broke me...dad they broke me' slays me every time i hear it.
I always felt this song wasn't about war nor tennis or anything related to that....to me, it was a collegiate post-hangover song about the morning after in a fraternity house or dorms ("...no one serves coffee, no one wakes up"). The narrator is remembering the previous night in a weird way which gets him thinking about writing his dad and beg for money.
I think it's about divorce [his own or his parent's] and/or death, or death as divorce, or even divorce/death/tennis as a metaphor for a terrible breakup. He never said his peace, having been beaten down right at the get-go. He is either telling himself to stop breathing, or telling his dad to stop breathing, thus ending the terrible onslaught. Looking through a window down at a tennis court, covered with leaves, remembering, perhaps thinking about the court lines as a division of property. It's so bad that he's even getting off on the burial scene. The deathwish of a broken man.
It sounds like he says "war in the corps" as in marine corps, etc. This mixes war-like imagery with the sports-like imagery of tennis. I think the song is a very general metaphor for young adults in modern social situations. He may feel as if his family, or father in particular, has a hand in too many aspects of his life, and is essentially "breathing" for him, as if he is unable to do so himself. To me, it expresses a desire for independence, while at the same time recognizing a very personal weakness: "Dad, they broke me."...
It sounds like he says "war in the corps" as in marine corps, etc. This mixes war-like imagery with the sports-like imagery of tennis. I think the song is a very general metaphor for young adults in modern social situations. He may feel as if his family, or father in particular, has a hand in too many aspects of his life, and is essentially "breathing" for him, as if he is unable to do so himself. To me, it expresses a desire for independence, while at the same time recognizing a very personal weakness: "Dad, they broke me."
"Although it's about war, there's a deliberate double entendre about volleys and tennis. The title is supposed to be being shouted by some challenger who's losing in the U.S. Open. You know how they start getting upset at the slightest noise? Well, he's telling the crowd to 'stop breathing'. Literally." - SM
Sounds an awful lot like the Smashing Pumkins' "Mayonaise", but still a great song nonetheless. Pretty neat thing posted above me, too. Beautiful song.
The first two verse chords are the same as Mayonaise, but doesn't sound too much like it.
love this song. i don't know what it is about it but the chorus just gets me every time, following me around in my head for hours.