Lyric discussion by Been24 

Cover art for Bend to Squares lyrics by Death Cab for Cutie

I think that to me it seems like selling into a trashy lifestyle. i could be wrong tho, cuz when i saw death cab, they were all drinking so they might not be condemning it. who knows. here goes. "Gravitated towards a taste For foreign films and modern plays " kind of seems like maybe the social drinker, like a glass of wine. classy. "But that machine could only Bend to squares five to six times Before your fingers came unwired..." that system can only last so long. it's like what they teach u in DARE - at first u get a sensation, then after a while it takes longer and longer to reach that same "high" and then u have to drink/do drugs to be urself. "Weights down so that you could move forwards Pinch to snub that restless nerve" u need it to function, and like those people (i have some friends like this, sadly, and im only 16) who have to drink like alone in their rooms cuz they r depressed.
"And knock the wind from one last urge" or like those ones that drink so they can be wild and like hook up with random people at parties, cuz they have low self esteem. "With two fingers IN a rock glass," like a drink, on the rocks. ? maybe. "Time passed and that was that Quite a slip (a loosened grasp) " like, time goes on and u lose control over it. "... what a way to cut lengthwise..." ur ultimately killing urself with such a habit. if these songs are biographical at all, it makes sense bc of styrofoam plates - about an alcoholic father. i wanna hear what u guys think tho. im rly curious.