Fruit Fly Lyrics

Lyric discussion by ronbenatia 

Cover art for Fruit Fly lyrics by Nada Surf

(Sorry about my english)

I think this song has two parts :

One in which matthew writes about "the story that happened in his kitchen" about how he saw the fruit flies

And another part in which he compares himself to a fruit fly.

he says that no matter which direction he goes he can't find a reason for it at all : "left straight right straight i can’t find a reason i know i’ll keep going but i can’t find a reason"

he is saying that he can't "land" from the situation he's in : "nothing looks right nothing smells right i can’t land"

"geometric patterns smearing out of control" : in this part of the song i think he's talking about the fruit flies like he did before : "flying jerky patterns like snowflakes in the air"

then he compares himself to a fruit fly again, he says that he dosen't have the energy to do too much or go to far : "only have enough gas left for the beercan to the bowl" just like the fruit fly have only enough energy to fly from a beer can to a bowl.

"what can you do but go on?" : at this point of the song I think he's talking to himself : what can you do but go on when your in a bad place or situation. (awesome line by the way!)

"oh no you make your own mistakes i cannot bring them back to you oh no you make your own mistakes i cannot measure up to you" : at this point I think matthew is talking to himself again about how he makes he's own mistakes or something like that... I don't really know how to try to explain these lines but you can take it wherever you want :)

this second part begins when all of the band starts to play after the line : "you’ve got nowhere to go"

I think this is why the song is called : "Fruit fly" and not : "Fruit flies" because matthew is comparing himself to a fruit fly

Well, at least that's how I see it :)

My Interpretation