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Chicken Blows Lyrics

Chicken blows
I suppose we could have a girl or a boy
And I see what you mean
I'm not here to drink all the beer
In the fridge (oh, la la la)
In the room (oh)
In the house
In the place (oh, la la la)
That we both (oh)
So love
Can you sink to the depths (lots of "oh"ing)
I don't know
I don't even care
And our lives slip away
In the end we will probably reach
All the way (oh, la la la)
To the walls (oh)
over there
Have you flown? (oh, la la la)
Our courage (oh)
Is only a taste
And I'll get paid (ooh, ooh)
If you'll get laid (ooh, ooh)
It's our parade (ooh, ooh)
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Cover art for Chicken Blows lyrics by Guided by Voices

Fron what I get, this song is aboiut getting married or staying with someone in a long (read: lifelong) relationship. It's almost an ode to domesticity. You get married and have kids ("I suppose we could have a girl or a boy") and live that normal life. Somehow the beer seems to be symbolic of the domestic life, of drinking beer to take the edge off of life (although at UD they drink it to put the edge on).

The second verse (starting with "can you sink...") seems to be about how time wears couples down physically and emotionally: you seem to grow old, fat, and apathetic together. It reminds me so much of a line on the Foo Fighters' "Everlong": "Come down and waste away with me, down with me / slow, how you wanted it to be." But even this wasting away with time seems to carry some hope with it. There's something noble in this, something courageous about facing down time with your lover, as evidenced by "Have you flown? Our courage is only a taste." The last three lines sum it all up nicely: "And I'll get paid / if you'll get laid / it's our parade." Seems so much like your old 1950s picket-fence marraige.

This is such a beautiful song on Alien Lanes. I love the effects, especially the singing while blowing bubbles. This is a great slow dance song. Sometimes I wonder what impact some GV songs would have on people if they had the production values to go mainstream.

Cover art for Chicken Blows lyrics by Guided by Voices

I don't think that GbV would be accepted by the mainstream too well with lo-fi albums like Bee Thousand and Vampire on Titus. But we love them anyway. And yeah, I agree with your opinion.

 
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