Great Lakes/Great Escapes Lyrics

Lyric discussion by tngbnhd 

Cover art for Great Lakes/Great Escapes lyrics by Lawrence Arms, The

The lyrics to this song are awesome! It seems like it's about getting over a relationship that has ended.

I scratched my name into the table. The knife and phone just fucking lay there.

I orchestrate a day of routine elements. These letters are so old and faded.

  • Whoever Brendan and Chris are singing about just sits around the house all day waiting for something to happen, but they aren't doing anything about it. All they think about is about the past, and how bad their present lives are.

And in the end we'll burn in history I'll take a chance and fall in love tonight. I'm lost and found. So lost again. I wonder as I'm wandering. (I don't worry when I'm wandering)

  • It's basically how a person may feel after a relationship has ended. Now everything is just another moment in the past. The only time they don't think about it is when they're just floating through life.

I used to paint myself with sentiment. But all my colors always turned to gray. I spent the night out on the wire again. But I wasn't looking for a savior.

  • He feels as if all the ways he's expressed himself are meaningless. Now he's acting reckless, but he doesn't care.

Great lake--I don't need a great escape. Tonight. I've got this city on my side.

-He realizes that there isn't any need to keep dwelling on the past, there's an entire city full of opportunities.

And in the end we'll burn in history. I could fall in love with her tonight. I'm lost and found. So lost again. Nothing to do but keep on wandering.

  • The past is still the past. He wants to fall in love again, but he still feels lost so he goes on doing nothing.

We can live with our mistakes. All my friends are going out tonight. And I can't sit her just waiting for another day to die..

Everyone has things in their past they regret doing, but still go on with their life. He starts wanting to do something with his life.

fuck all this ancient history

  • Fuck the past. What's done is done, and there's nothing you or anyone else can do about it, so get over it and move on.