From an interviewer with Carl Newman (lyricist and lead singer):
Mark Prindle: [Do] lyrics like "Letter From An Occupant" actually mean something or [are they] just a bunch of words that sound cool together (like the Pixies and Pavement have been known to do)?
Carl Newman: Some of the lyrics have literal meaning. Some of them i just like the sound of. I've never cared about the meaning of lyrics, I'm more interested in the sound and the force that they have. T-Rex was a great lyricist but it was all meaningless, his lyrics were just a translation of the rock'n'roll soul that was there in the music. I don't know what a "letter from an occupant" is, but I'm hoping that I will figure it out at some point. It sounds like it must mean something. It simply must.
"Centre For Holy Wars" seemed like mostly gibberish when I wrote it , but now I listen to it and it sounds like it's about 9/11, all that talk about buildings coming down, floating through the air, holy wars. Does that mean I'm a psychic that channels events before they happen and turns them into pop songs? Yes. I'm a genius."
From an interviewer with Carl Newman (lyricist and lead singer):
Mark Prindle: [Do] lyrics like "Letter From An Occupant" actually mean something or [are they] just a bunch of words that sound cool together (like the Pixies and Pavement have been known to do)?
Carl Newman: Some of the lyrics have literal meaning. Some of them i just like the sound of. I've never cared about the meaning of lyrics, I'm more interested in the sound and the force that they have. T-Rex was a great lyricist but it was all meaningless, his lyrics were just a translation of the rock'n'roll soul that was there in the music. I don't know what a "letter from an occupant" is, but I'm hoping that I will figure it out at some point. It sounds like it must mean something. It simply must.
"Centre For Holy Wars" seemed like mostly gibberish when I wrote it , but now I listen to it and it sounds like it's about 9/11, all that talk about buildings coming down, floating through the air, holy wars. Does that mean I'm a psychic that channels events before they happen and turns them into pop songs? Yes. I'm a genius."
That explains so very very many songs.