"Held my breath and drove through a maze of wealthy homes."
Vocalist George Clarke is most likely alluding to the children’s game of holding one’s breath while passing a graveyard, lest the tormented spirits within begin to haunt the passerby. To Clarke, the thought of American bourgeois lifestyle sickens him to a superstitious degree.
The metaphor also implies that the inhabitants of the houses are essentially dead: their comfort is their coffin.
In his words:
“That song just came to me when I was driving around. I grew up in an apartment my whole life. It was just me, my mom, and my brother— she supported us. And we’ve always liked driving through rich neighborhoods, especially around Christmas. We would always admire the wealth. I always had this strange feeling with it.”
"I watched you lay on a towel in grass that exceeded the height of your legs."
“After Roads was completed, I moved in with my mom to go to school for a bit and just chill out because life was really hectic. She lives in such a beautiful town— she moved there a few years after I moved out— but I got really depressed in this bourgeois, all-white seaside community. So one day I skipped class drove around and I just saw this girl in the nicest house, and she was just laying there, and I was totally overcome with immense depression. It looked so nice, and I was in that “what the fuck am I doing with my life?” mood at the time. I had a notepad with me, and the first half of that song was jotted down right then.”
"I cried against an ocean of light."
George Clarke clearly has emotional attachment to the area, and is most likely revisiting the home/neighborhood of a former lover. Although he details the appealingly rich, bright imagery of the affluent neighborhood, he has negative associations with it. He is pained by its beauty, as it calls forth memories of a lost love.
Also of note, the pink/orange gradient of the album’s cover is intended to simulate looking at the sun through one’s eyelids, the “ocean of light” makes his eyes water.
"Crippled by the cushion."
Clarke could be referring to the literal cushion of his car, or the fiscal cushioning enjoyed by the inhabitants of the neighborhood he’s driving through.
"My back shivered for your pressed granite nails."
He’s admitting to feeling a sexual desire for this woman...
"Dishonest and ugly through the space in my teeth."
…even though he also recognizes that she wouldn’t see him as worthy of her—and he knows that she’s probably right to see him that way. He feels not only ugly but dishonest, as if his entire presentation of self is a lie.
"The hardest part for the weak was stroking your fingers with rings full of teeth"
“Rose petal toes”, “granite nails” are metaphors of the neighborhood represented as the girl. The girl’s “rings full of teeth” are from slapping boys who try to kiss her like the neighborhood “breaks bones down to yellow and crush gums into blood” of those who do not belong, such as the author. Who is “dishonest and ugly” for having “space in my teeth” from not being able to afford braces, a must have for modern upper/middle class kids.
TL;DR It's about the vocalist having a crush on a woman he knows that he will never get with, as he is not part of their social class and he will never be accepted by her or her peers.
This song sends shivers down my spine every time I listen to it.
"Held my breath and drove through a maze of wealthy homes."
Vocalist George Clarke is most likely alluding to the children’s game of holding one’s breath while passing a graveyard, lest the tormented spirits within begin to haunt the passerby. To Clarke, the thought of American bourgeois lifestyle sickens him to a superstitious degree.
The metaphor also implies that the inhabitants of the houses are essentially dead: their comfort is their coffin.
In his words:
“That song just came to me when I was driving around. I grew up in an apartment my whole life. It was just me, my mom, and my brother— she supported us. And we’ve always liked driving through rich neighborhoods, especially around Christmas. We would always admire the wealth. I always had this strange feeling with it.”
"I watched you lay on a towel in grass that exceeded the height of your legs."
“After Roads was completed, I moved in with my mom to go to school for a bit and just chill out because life was really hectic. She lives in such a beautiful town— she moved there a few years after I moved out— but I got really depressed in this bourgeois, all-white seaside community. So one day I skipped class drove around and I just saw this girl in the nicest house, and she was just laying there, and I was totally overcome with immense depression. It looked so nice, and I was in that “what the fuck am I doing with my life?” mood at the time. I had a notepad with me, and the first half of that song was jotted down right then.”
"I cried against an ocean of light."
George Clarke clearly has emotional attachment to the area, and is most likely revisiting the home/neighborhood of a former lover. Although he details the appealingly rich, bright imagery of the affluent neighborhood, he has negative associations with it. He is pained by its beauty, as it calls forth memories of a lost love.
Also of note, the pink/orange gradient of the album’s cover is intended to simulate looking at the sun through one’s eyelids, the “ocean of light” makes his eyes water.
"Crippled by the cushion."
Clarke could be referring to the literal cushion of his car, or the fiscal cushioning enjoyed by the inhabitants of the neighborhood he’s driving through.
"My back shivered for your pressed granite nails."
He’s admitting to feeling a sexual desire for this woman...
"Dishonest and ugly through the space in my teeth."
…even though he also recognizes that she wouldn’t see him as worthy of her—and he knows that she’s probably right to see him that way. He feels not only ugly but dishonest, as if his entire presentation of self is a lie.
"The hardest part for the weak was stroking your fingers with rings full of teeth"
“Rose petal toes”, “granite nails” are metaphors of the neighborhood represented as the girl. The girl’s “rings full of teeth” are from slapping boys who try to kiss her like the neighborhood “breaks bones down to yellow and crush gums into blood” of those who do not belong, such as the author. Who is “dishonest and ugly” for having “space in my teeth” from not being able to afford braces, a must have for modern upper/middle class kids.
TL;DR It's about the vocalist having a crush on a woman he knows that he will never get with, as he is not part of their social class and he will never be accepted by her or her peers.
This song sends shivers down my spine every time I listen to it.