Everything Must Go!

It's there, it's just really quiet.

frankie i think thats the most adoreable thing ive ever heard.

the "or best offer" is my favorite part.

a sense of wonder, only slightly used, that has got to be the saddest thing ever. he's selling his sense of wonder, his childlike innocence, and he barely even used it while he had it. just another kid rushing to be an adult who looks back and wishes he could have enjoyed it while it lasted. but now he's got to give it all away, it's too late. and, i agree with alk3girl, frankie, that's so sad/cute. but don't steal stuff.

probably one of my fave weakerthans songs. i think its about him trying to move on from the past. has anyone else noticed how he phrases what his sings? its different to how you'd imagine one would speak it. and i have to agree with alk3girl & hab204, thats so sweet Frankie.

Also, best offer is definitely there..it's just tucked in with the cymbals and he kind of mumbles it.

Garage Sale. Saturday.I need to pay my heart's outstanding bills.A cracked-up compass and a pocket watch, some plastic daffodils. The cutlery and coffee cups I stole from all-night restaurants, a sense of wonder only slightly used. A year or two to haunt you in the dark. For a phone call from far away with a "Hi, how are you today?" And a sign recovery comes to the broken ones. A wage slave forty-hour work week weighs a thousand kilograms so bend your knees. Comes with a free fake smile for all your dumb demands. The cordless razor that my father bought when I turned 17, a puke-green sofa, and the outline too a complicated dream of dignity. For a laugh, too loud and too long. Or a place where awkward belong, and a sign recovery comes to the broken ones. To the broken ones.To the broken ones. For the broken ones. Or best offer.

He definitely says "Or best offer." It's at 4:18 to 4:20. Listen closely & you can hear it even with cheap speakers/headphones.

This song is so beautiful. It's sung in such a fragile way, (although you could say that about many of Samson's songs) which links up perfectly with the regretful, nervous narrator. He's holding a garage sale, he says, to pay his "HEART'S outstanding bills". This, just like the first couple lines in the next track, "Aside", essentially set up the action in the proceeding lines. All of this clutter has accumulated "sentimental value", a phrase I think holds a similar double entendre to the one presented here. It isn't just STUFF- everything has significance beyond what's implied in a physical description of it (even human beings, who have all of this beautiful internal detail at their command, who have beliefs, memories, etc.). So, "A cracked up compass and a pocket watch" suggests a directionless, wandering state and wasted time. The compass is broken and he is giving up his old timepiece, the latter's it's outmoded form- meaning, it's not a watch or even a clock- especially underscoring it's uselessness. Additionally, I think, his desire to get rid of his "pocket watch" expresses a desire for change, to literally live within the hours and minutes of a new life. "Some plastic daffodils" is one that impresses me as being very subtle. While daffodils represent beauty, they are inorganic, they are not real and pretty tacky. I think these represent our tendency to fall in love with things that we regret loving later on in life- women, art, or tacky decorative "plastic daffodils". By selling off "Cutlery and coffee cups (he) stole from all-night restaurants", he is at once suggesting a state of poverty, of impermanence (if you don't buy nice things, you are just using them temporarily- you aren't home-making), and ALSO, by pointing to the "ALL-NIGHT restaurants", hinting at lonely nights spent drinking coffee and brooding ("All-night restaurant North Kildonan/ lukewarm coffee tastes like soap/ I trace your outline in spilled sugar/ killing time and killing hope" - "None of the Above" from "Fallow"). God damn. I could go on forever but it would belabor the point. Just wanted to point out the double entendre upon which the whole song is based, and that, by selling these things that have basically come to symbolize his life, he is looking for acceptance, for "a place where akward belongs", and "a sign recovery comes to the broken ones". He's willing to let them go because, he reasons, if people will buy his possessions despite their shoddy quality, then maybe someone will love him. JKS is the most underrated songwriter today- how can anyone not be moved to tears by this? And this isn't even the best song on this album. Hope this helps some people.

this is such a great song. my favorite of all their music.

This song is how i feel every time i wake up. this might be the best song ive ever heard.