This is a long post, but bear with me.. I’ve loved this song for so many years, and listened to it in multiple stages of my life. It doesn’t look like anyone’s posted anything about this song in a long time, which means most of us first interpreted it when we were kids - and our understanding changes a lot as we grow up. With Brand New back on tour, I thought I’d share my adult-viewpoint over -analysis of one of my favorite cynical angsty songs from my teen years growing up.
I think the overall theme to this song is that things are not always as they appear on the surface, and that the true meanings of things are often hidden away. The verses give multiple examples as outlined below.
There’s also a lot of double meanings in the lyrics, and references to the band being on tour, the writers relationship, and even references to religion and writing songs to reveal the “quiet things”.
WE SAW THE WESTERN COAST
The band is on tour through the west coast, which sounds great and fun on the surface. Remember, these are East Coast kids probably seeing the West Coast for the first time while on tour for their earlier albums, and simultaneously writing songs for their future albums, like this one.
I SAW THE HOSPITAL
He got sick and ended up in the hospital, which is not fun. What appeared to be great fun touring the West Coast, actually wasn’t all that great in reality since he was sick (this is the bad part that no one knows). Jesse’s dad was a nurse, so I bet he made him go to a hospital while on tour because he wasn’t feeling well.
AND NURSED THE SHORELINE LIKE A WOUND
Double meaning here. 1) The band toured the cities on the shore 2) Going to the beach made him physically feel better, helped him “nurse his wound” whatever it was… physically sick or emotionally or both.
REPORTS OF A LOVERS’ TRYSTS
WERE NEITHER CLEAR NOR DESCRIPT
WE KEPT IT SAFE AND SLOW
THE QUIET THINGS THAT NO ONE EVER KNOWS
People thought that him and his girlfriend were having a passionate affair while on tour, and there were unspecific rumors about it… it seemed like they were… but in reality they were actually taking is slow to make sure they don’t get hurt. Again, their relationship wasn’t as it appeared, and nobody knew the real story. They just assumed a rock star must be having a passionate affair - in reality they were just normal guys, and in a normal young relationship, trying to take it slow and concentrating on music and the tour.
SO KEEP THE BLOOD IN YOUR HEAD
This refers to not having sex. It’s an old saying that when you’re aroused, the blood leaves your head travels to other places… which also means you’re not thinking straight because the blood left your head. Again, they are taking it slow - so he’s reminding himself to not have sex. Others think this is about suicide… I don’t see that at all.
AND KEEP YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND
Feet on the ground means your feet aren’t up in bed, having sex. Again, this is taking the relationship safe and slow. This was a saying used when girls or guys were in each others bedrooms - “keep your feet on the ground”, but is also a reference to saying grounded in life and in a relationship.
IF TODAY’S THE DAY WE GET TIRED
TODAYS THE DAY WE DROP OUT
As referenced above, they are keeping their relationship safe and slow… so if they get tired of the relationship, it’s no problem - they’ll just end it, no strings attached mentality. Or at least this is what they’re telling themselves.
GAVE UP MY BODY AND BED
ALL FOR AN EMPTY HOTEL
This is referring to being in tour again. He gave up his bed at home to stay in hotels on tour. Tours are also tough on your body, which is probably why he ended up sick and in the hospital. So he gave up his home and health to be on tour.
WASTING WORDS ON LOWERCASES AND CAPITALS
This refers to either writing or singing songs. Capitals probably has a double meaning, because they tour through the capitals in each state… or at least the bigger cities. You can imagine Jesse sitting in boring hotels, traveling from city to city, writing song lyrics in his free time while he’s not feeling well.
I CONTEMPLATE THE DAY WE WED
YOUR FRIENDS ARE BORING ME TO DEATH
More examples of things not being as they appear. Their wedding day is supposedly exiting, but he’s secretly bored. This is all a theoretical story too - he’s imagining how their wedding day might be, if they ever got married, and probably talking himself out of ever doing it by thinking about it, or even being so cynical that he decides to break up because it won’t end well anyway.
YOUR VEIL IS RUINED IN THE RAIN
I love this line - lots of meaning here.
1) Rain on your wedding day is symbolic of having kids. Since they are taking their relationship slow right now, he’s imagining them getting married, finally having sex, and getting pregnant and having kids, which is a blessing on the surface… but again the negative that’s not apparent is mentioned in the following lines. The quiet things that you don’t normally think about when you idealize marriage and kids.
2) This is another example of a quiet thing…. Your wedding day is supposed to be perfect, but rain on your wedding day is a classic example of it not being as perfect as it seems. Nobody imagines rain on your wedding day, but it happens often… so it’s poetic that this is how he imagines it in a song about the quiet things that aren’t as positive as people imagine them to be.
3) The veil covers the brides face, or metaphorically the truth about who they are. It puts a pretty cover over the truth. The fact that the “rain ruined” the veil means that it reveals the truth of the person or the situation… consistent with the song title and theme once again.
BY THEN IT’S YOU I CAN DO WITHOUT
THERE’S NOTHING NEW TO TALK ABOUT
AND THOUGH OUR KIDS ARE BLESSED
THEIR PARENTS LET THEM SHOULDER ALL THE BLAME
As mentioned above, he’s taking a cynical view of their potential marriage - they’ll probably loose interest once the “veil” is ruined, they have sex, and have kids. And when marriages with kids end, the kids often end up blaming themselves. If the kids are well off and seem “blessed”, but secretly hiding the guilt that they think they caused their parents unhappiness, then this again is a “quiet thing” per the song theme. This is a cynical view of a relationship for sure, but a reality for many people in a bad marriage or a broken home.
I LIE FOR ONLY YOU
Another poetic double meaning of the word lie. In the first line, it’s straightforward - he “lies with” only her in the biblical sense (in the bible they use this wording to refer to sex.) After you get married, you promise to only have sex with your partner. This is the main point of having a wedding - to say you’ll only lie with your partner.
AND I LIE WELL, HALLELUJA
This time, lie means to not tell the truth. He’s hiding his true feeling about things, and nobody ever knows, as the song title says, and also probably lying about the relationship, being faithful, being in love, etc. The juxtaposition between what he says on his wedding day, and the quiet things he thinks inside is another reference to the theme of the song.
Hallelujah may be reference to the wedding being a religious ceremony too, meaning he’s taking his vows, and secretly knowing he lying. Another quiet thing.
Hallelujah also means “let is be”, so he’s accepting that this is the case, and he can’t change it. He’s accepting that nobody knows the truth, and that he’ll just hide the way he feels forever about the quiet things. This is the reality of life from a metaphysical sense - nobody ever knows the real truth behind anything, only your own point of view interpreted by your experiences and opinions.
Adding to the meaning of this line, I think of some cheap hotel rooms that are particularly sparse - practically nothing in them at all. He mentions in the chorus an empty hotel while on tour, so I imagine he’s in a sparse hotel room like this, or staying in a series of them while on tour. Sometimes the only thing in these rooms is a bible in a drawer. If you’re depressed and feeling cynical, trying to be inspired and writing songs in a room like this, then I bet you pick up the Bible at some point, even if just briefly… maybe this long and drawn out accentuated line said repeatedly and very slowly is referencing that bible, the quiet thing in the hotel room - Hallelujah is so emphasized and even seemingly out of place in the song, like a bible being out of place in a crappy hotel room.
Hallelujah could also be a reference to a cynical view of the underlying truth to religion vs. the ideal surface viewpoint, going back to the main theme again.
This all might seem like reading too much into a single line or two, but think about the fact that this line is repeated multiple times and such a core focus of the song and that it’s so moving - it’s obvious that it was important to the writer.
Also interesting is that he sings this line twice, once low and slow, and then repeats it again an octave higher and shouting it. This is true Brand New fashion… they do this same thing in lots of their songs… but the meaning behind doing this could be:
1) keeping it safe and slow in the first repetition, and then going all in for the second, referencing the relationship mentioned in the song and jumping the shark from taking it slow to imagining being married.
2) keeping it quiet in the first repetition, but then shouting it the second time - meaning in reality you keep the quiet things quiet, but on the inside the truth is shouting at you. The truth is quiet on the outside, but loud on the inside.
3) It could be referencing that in singing this song and revealing the truth behind how he secretly feels, all the truths revealed go from being quiet on the inside, to physically being shared with everyone and shouted publicly through the song. Making your true inner feelings revealed and making yourself vulnerable is part of being an honest poet, and being in an honest relationship too… not to mention being emotionally healthy. So ironically, by writing this song, everyone does know the quiet things he’s thinking, and perhaps him being so vulnerable helps us all be honest about how we truly feel. I think this gets to the heart about why the song feels so heavy and moving, and so honest and freeing.
This is a long post, but bear with me.. I’ve loved this song for so many years, and listened to it in multiple stages of my life. It doesn’t look like anyone’s posted anything about this song in a long time, which means most of us first interpreted it when we were kids - and our understanding changes a lot as we grow up. With Brand New back on tour, I thought I’d share my adult-viewpoint over -analysis of one of my favorite cynical angsty songs from my teen years growing up.
I think the overall theme to this song is that things are not always as they appear on the surface, and that the true meanings of things are often hidden away. The verses give multiple examples as outlined below.
There’s also a lot of double meanings in the lyrics, and references to the band being on tour, the writers relationship, and even references to religion and writing songs to reveal the “quiet things”.
WE SAW THE WESTERN COAST The band is on tour through the west coast, which sounds great and fun on the surface. Remember, these are East Coast kids probably seeing the West Coast for the first time while on tour for their earlier albums, and simultaneously writing songs for their future albums, like this one.
I SAW THE HOSPITAL He got sick and ended up in the hospital, which is not fun. What appeared to be great fun touring the West Coast, actually wasn’t all that great in reality since he was sick (this is the bad part that no one knows). Jesse’s dad was a nurse, so I bet he made him go to a hospital while on tour because he wasn’t feeling well.
AND NURSED THE SHORELINE LIKE A WOUND Double meaning here. 1) The band toured the cities on the shore 2) Going to the beach made him physically feel better, helped him “nurse his wound” whatever it was… physically sick or emotionally or both.
REPORTS OF A LOVERS’ TRYSTS WERE NEITHER CLEAR NOR DESCRIPT WE KEPT IT SAFE AND SLOW THE QUIET THINGS THAT NO ONE EVER KNOWS People thought that him and his girlfriend were having a passionate affair while on tour, and there were unspecific rumors about it… it seemed like they were… but in reality they were actually taking is slow to make sure they don’t get hurt. Again, their relationship wasn’t as it appeared, and nobody knew the real story. They just assumed a rock star must be having a passionate affair - in reality they were just normal guys, and in a normal young relationship, trying to take it slow and concentrating on music and the tour.
SO KEEP THE BLOOD IN YOUR HEAD This refers to not having sex. It’s an old saying that when you’re aroused, the blood leaves your head travels to other places… which also means you’re not thinking straight because the blood left your head. Again, they are taking it slow - so he’s reminding himself to not have sex. Others think this is about suicide… I don’t see that at all.
AND KEEP YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND Feet on the ground means your feet aren’t up in bed, having sex. Again, this is taking the relationship safe and slow. This was a saying used when girls or guys were in each others bedrooms - “keep your feet on the ground”, but is also a reference to saying grounded in life and in a relationship.
IF TODAY’S THE DAY WE GET TIRED TODAYS THE DAY WE DROP OUT As referenced above, they are keeping their relationship safe and slow… so if they get tired of the relationship, it’s no problem - they’ll just end it, no strings attached mentality. Or at least this is what they’re telling themselves.
GAVE UP MY BODY AND BED ALL FOR AN EMPTY HOTEL This is referring to being in tour again. He gave up his bed at home to stay in hotels on tour. Tours are also tough on your body, which is probably why he ended up sick and in the hospital. So he gave up his home and health to be on tour.
WASTING WORDS ON LOWERCASES AND CAPITALS This refers to either writing or singing songs. Capitals probably has a double meaning, because they tour through the capitals in each state… or at least the bigger cities. You can imagine Jesse sitting in boring hotels, traveling from city to city, writing song lyrics in his free time while he’s not feeling well.
I CONTEMPLATE THE DAY WE WED YOUR FRIENDS ARE BORING ME TO DEATH More examples of things not being as they appear. Their wedding day is supposedly exiting, but he’s secretly bored. This is all a theoretical story too - he’s imagining how their wedding day might be, if they ever got married, and probably talking himself out of ever doing it by thinking about it, or even being so cynical that he decides to break up because it won’t end well anyway.
YOUR VEIL IS RUINED IN THE RAIN I love this line - lots of meaning here.
1) Rain on your wedding day is symbolic of having kids. Since they are taking their relationship slow right now, he’s imagining them getting married, finally having sex, and getting pregnant and having kids, which is a blessing on the surface… but again the negative that’s not apparent is mentioned in the following lines. The quiet things that you don’t normally think about when you idealize marriage and kids.
2) This is another example of a quiet thing…. Your wedding day is supposed to be perfect, but rain on your wedding day is a classic example of it not being as perfect as it seems. Nobody imagines rain on your wedding day, but it happens often… so it’s poetic that this is how he imagines it in a song about the quiet things that aren’t as positive as people imagine them to be.
3) The veil covers the brides face, or metaphorically the truth about who they are. It puts a pretty cover over the truth. The fact that the “rain ruined” the veil means that it reveals the truth of the person or the situation… consistent with the song title and theme once again.
BY THEN IT’S YOU I CAN DO WITHOUT THERE’S NOTHING NEW TO TALK ABOUT AND THOUGH OUR KIDS ARE BLESSED THEIR PARENTS LET THEM SHOULDER ALL THE BLAME As mentioned above, he’s taking a cynical view of their potential marriage - they’ll probably loose interest once the “veil” is ruined, they have sex, and have kids. And when marriages with kids end, the kids often end up blaming themselves. If the kids are well off and seem “blessed”, but secretly hiding the guilt that they think they caused their parents unhappiness, then this again is a “quiet thing” per the song theme. This is a cynical view of a relationship for sure, but a reality for many people in a bad marriage or a broken home.
I LIE FOR ONLY YOU Another poetic double meaning of the word lie. In the first line, it’s straightforward - he “lies with” only her in the biblical sense (in the bible they use this wording to refer to sex.) After you get married, you promise to only have sex with your partner. This is the main point of having a wedding - to say you’ll only lie with your partner.
AND I LIE WELL, HALLELUJA This time, lie means to not tell the truth. He’s hiding his true feeling about things, and nobody ever knows, as the song title says, and also probably lying about the relationship, being faithful, being in love, etc. The juxtaposition between what he says on his wedding day, and the quiet things he thinks inside is another reference to the theme of the song.
Hallelujah may be reference to the wedding being a religious ceremony too, meaning he’s taking his vows, and secretly knowing he lying. Another quiet thing.
Hallelujah also means “let is be”, so he’s accepting that this is the case, and he can’t change it. He’s accepting that nobody knows the truth, and that he’ll just hide the way he feels forever about the quiet things. This is the reality of life from a metaphysical sense - nobody ever knows the real truth behind anything, only your own point of view interpreted by your experiences and opinions.
Adding to the meaning of this line, I think of some cheap hotel rooms that are particularly sparse - practically nothing in them at all. He mentions in the chorus an empty hotel while on tour, so I imagine he’s in a sparse hotel room like this, or staying in a series of them while on tour. Sometimes the only thing in these rooms is a bible in a drawer. If you’re depressed and feeling cynical, trying to be inspired and writing songs in a room like this, then I bet you pick up the Bible at some point, even if just briefly… maybe this long and drawn out accentuated line said repeatedly and very slowly is referencing that bible, the quiet thing in the hotel room - Hallelujah is so emphasized and even seemingly out of place in the song, like a bible being out of place in a crappy hotel room.
Hallelujah could also be a reference to a cynical view of the underlying truth to religion vs. the ideal surface viewpoint, going back to the main theme again.
This all might seem like reading too much into a single line or two, but think about the fact that this line is repeated multiple times and such a core focus of the song and that it’s so moving - it’s obvious that it was important to the writer.
Also interesting is that he sings this line twice, once low and slow, and then repeats it again an octave higher and shouting it. This is true Brand New fashion… they do this same thing in lots of their songs… but the meaning behind doing this could be:
1) keeping it safe and slow in the first repetition, and then going all in for the second, referencing the relationship mentioned in the song and jumping the shark from taking it slow to imagining being married.
2) keeping it quiet in the first repetition, but then shouting it the second time - meaning in reality you keep the quiet things quiet, but on the inside the truth is shouting at you. The truth is quiet on the outside, but loud on the inside.
3) It could be referencing that in singing this song and revealing the truth behind how he secretly feels, all the truths revealed go from being quiet on the inside, to physically being shared with everyone and shouted publicly through the song. Making your true inner feelings revealed and making yourself vulnerable is part of being an honest poet, and being in an honest relationship too… not to mention being emotionally healthy. So ironically, by writing this song, everyone does know the quiet things he’s thinking, and perhaps him being so vulnerable helps us all be honest about how we truly feel. I think this gets to the heart about why the song feels so heavy and moving, and so honest and freeing.