This song is pretty difficult to interpret, but I think it all boils down to the abuse that Brock suffered as child. Let me explain.
"i never even flipped right through it
so what'cha gonna do with
all this stuff thats scribbled to it
you say "theres nothin new"
and oh my god that might be true
but what'cha think youre gonna do"
Lets break this down line by line, as I think this is pretty much the core of the song as it is repeated constantly. I believe the scribbling was in reference to all of those drawings that kids do as a child, and his mother constantly insulting him for it. He would go home every night from school, and bring his mom a stack of artwork. Later, he'd ask her what she thought, and she'd reply "I never flipped through it." See? In response to that dialogue, Brock would ask "Whachha gonna do with it mom? With all this stuff scribbled to it?" (you can also see the infantile dialogue being used). His mom, obviously annoyed because he KEEPS bringing her loads of artwork would reply "There's nothing new!" Brock thought to himself about the unoriginality of his work, and realized with horror, nightly, that his bored expressionism replicated with pens, crayons, and pencils upon paper was redundant. Nonchalantly, and with the curiosity only children can render, he of course has to reply with "But yeah, whaccha think you're going to do with it?"
I think this constant negative and abusive dialogue probably pushed him to create new original art. It might even be responsible for him branching into the music industry to create new masterpieces to present to his mother. I'm glad she was so harsh on him, look at where modest mouse is now!
This song is pretty difficult to interpret, but I think it all boils down to the abuse that Brock suffered as child. Let me explain.
"i never even flipped right through it so what'cha gonna do with all this stuff thats scribbled to it you say "theres nothin new" and oh my god that might be true but what'cha think youre gonna do"
Lets break this down line by line, as I think this is pretty much the core of the song as it is repeated constantly. I believe the scribbling was in reference to all of those drawings that kids do as a child, and his mother constantly insulting him for it. He would go home every night from school, and bring his mom a stack of artwork. Later, he'd ask her what she thought, and she'd reply "I never flipped through it." See? In response to that dialogue, Brock would ask "Whachha gonna do with it mom? With all this stuff scribbled to it?" (you can also see the infantile dialogue being used). His mom, obviously annoyed because he KEEPS bringing her loads of artwork would reply "There's nothing new!" Brock thought to himself about the unoriginality of his work, and realized with horror, nightly, that his bored expressionism replicated with pens, crayons, and pencils upon paper was redundant. Nonchalantly, and with the curiosity only children can render, he of course has to reply with "But yeah, whaccha think you're going to do with it?"
I think this constant negative and abusive dialogue probably pushed him to create new original art. It might even be responsible for him branching into the music industry to create new masterpieces to present to his mother. I'm glad she was so harsh on him, look at where modest mouse is now!