RE: Stacks

This song is using poker as a metaphor for being in a relationship, in this case, a failed relationship. When you play poker, you gamble, as you do in a relationship. In poker, you put your chips in the pot when you think you might win, but you are risking them, and they may all get taken away. In a relationship, if you are really committing, you put your heart into it. You risk getting your heart broken (all your chips taken away).

When you are drunk and gambling, you throw your chips into the pot and often make bad decisions, the liquor causing you to feel more optimistic about your hand than you should, causing you to gamble with reckless abandon. You behave the same way in love. You can become drunk with what you love about a person, with how you feel when you are with them, with how you envision the future with this person. Love actually changes the chemsitry of the human brain, like alcohol. Your vision gets clouded by love as it does by liquor. And you may not be able to see the downsides of the relationship in to which you are putting your chips (your heart), and you overplay your hand (put your heart into a relationship that's probably going to hurt you).

You are throwing down 200 at a time, losing your money (having your feelings hurt because of the issues in the relationship, your heart chipped away at).

And then your money's all gone and you are drunk as hell. Your heart's been broken and you are sitting there feeling the bad effects of the liquor.

I've twisting to the sun I needed to replace The fountain in the front yard is rusted out All my love was down In a frozen ground - this is talking about where he's at after the relationship was over. His love has been pushed under a frozen grown, but it's waiting for spring and will bloom again.

There's a black crow sitting across from me; his wiry legs are crossed And he's dangling my keys he even fakes a toss Whatever could it be That has brought me to this loss - I think of this as the black crow with the keys as an illusion as his mind wanders back and imagines that his love and relationship will come back, the black crow fake tossing his keys to her house back to him. Whatever could it be that brought me to this loss - a familiar feeling/question you experience as you morn the loss of your love. Why did this happen? How come I didn't see it? How could I have put my chips into this pot and had my heart broken so badly?

This is what I'm feeling now.

I interviewed Justin a few weeks back, and I made sure to ask him about this song (as it is my favorite off this album). He did not delve into specific lyric meanings; as they are deliberately (and appropriately) oblique. However, he did mention the last lyrics "this is not the sound of a new man/ or a crispy realization/ it's the sound of the unlocking and lift away" best described those months in the cabin. He said it was his liberation, and this song reflects it.

Who knows what many of his meanings refer to, the chorus certainly puzzles me. However, it is not hard to sense that this song represents his accomplished catharsis. "everything that happens is from now on ..." A beautiful, beautiful song.

change of words in the chorus reminds me of shuffling of cards in poker.. he's shuffling the cards in different ways but still getting the same outcome. I think there's also a hint that self-destructive tendencies got him into that rut he became stuck in - 'i keep throwing it down two-hundred at a time' etc. The use of the present tense might indicate that he perceives this tendency to still be present. The line 'it's hard to find it when you knew it' suggests to me that having a realization of love when you find it - doesn't necessarily mean you can accept someone else's love and love them in return - particularly when he's incapacitated by self-destructive habits (i.e spending recklessly, drinking too much). I think there's an interesting theme of paralysis throughout the song - the image of being immobilised with stacks on top of you and his own self-destructive tendencies, as well as the image of his love being down in a 'frozen' ground. He then ends by talking about the 'unlocking' and the 'lift away' from this paralysis. While he hasn't changed (i.e., into a new man) or made a new or 'crispy' realisation, he has finally moved from out under the load/stack (or let go of these burdens) and lifted himself out of the rut he got stuck in. As a result, he's now free to safely deal with someone else's love, because he has the emotional space to accept it and appreciate it, which wasn't possible when he was paralyzed with the weight of troubles. I like that he's ending on a hopeful note - he's no longer burdened and is starting over - 'everything that happens is from now on'.

it's actually Qumran, where the dead sea scrolls were found

I keep throwing it down two-hundred at a time It's hard to find it when you knew it When your money's gone And you're drunk as hell

all so true, with a cripplingly beautiful sense of reality behind the lyrics. What i cant decide for myself is what i want it to mean when he sings the chorus- what's the load?

Kumran is an alternate spelling for Qumran.

I finally understand this song-after years of listening. I understood the upfront lyrics-poker chips, etc. But I couldn't understand how a song so fucking tender, so quietly introspective, yet blatantly painful could be about POKER. One day, it finally hit me. It's about love; the metaphor is the poker game. "All my love was down in a frozen ground"-he is throwing his love down, giving it all hoping that the other person will do the same. It hurts when they don't.

This song, in my humble opinion, clearly reflects the catharsis of Justin's time in the cabin as he recovered from the anguish which led him there.

It's already been described quite well what the first few few verses mean, and no need to go into that again. I believe that the lines: "This is pouring rain, this is paralyzed" are indicative of that EXACT moment of both feeling the anguish that has led you to low places and also is the gateway to moving forward.

Much of the remainder is the use of gambling (some here have used poker though I don't think there's a need to be that specific) as a metaphor for hitting rock bottom. I used poker for a period of time to support myself, and it was an incredibly stressful process, so perhaps the chorus either a) appears more clear to me, or b) or is shaded based off of those experiences, but here would be my version of it:

Stacks = Your chips for any form of gambling. In this sense, it represents your lifeblood and energy you have to commit. Rack = This is the part that I don't think the thread has very clearly dealt (no pun intended) with to this point. When you go to a casino and have a lot of money to put into your night, you often receive a "rack" of chips to make it easier to carry them around. I would interpret the notion of a "rack" in Justin's song to mean that absolutely everything's been invested into this game (both with love and his previous bands).

So when I look at the chorus, if your "rack" ends up being your "stack" it implies that you've lost absolutely everything except the carrying vessel. It's in that sense that Justin felt stripped of everything he had to offer except his physical body. That's his "load" or burden.

I again think that the previous comments agree with my interpretation that the "black crow" is in some ways a metaphor for death or at least the apparition of it. In gambler's parlance, the notion of ending up after a long night where everything was lost and you now find yourself out on the curb, staring at the sun, without even the key to your car re-enforces the notion of having lost everything. Justin's clearly in a low place, but then the final verses are very telling....

"This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization It's the sound of the unlocking and the lift away"

This addresses several previous comments and fits in with Justin's theme of gambling. He's not experiencing (nor can any of us) experience a full catharsis. We are never free to completely leave the past behind and start anew. We'll always carry some of that baggage and there's always the chance of relapse. Addicts are addicts for a reason. Even a reformed or recovering one can easily experience relapse if exposed to the same situation. However, that realization that we've hit bottom and are vulnerable to relapse at least permits someone to potentially move forward. I think this also touches on the quote from Justin that "klaheth" quotes in the post above. Sometimes the worst things at least let us realize why they're bad and permit us to move forward. They're neither "good" nor "bad" in the sense that they're still a part of us, but at least we know it now.

A gamblers metaphor is so perfect for his experience....he knows his hurt and sorrow will always be with him, but at least now he recognizes that fact. Great song!

Something about this part really gets me:

There's a black crow sitting across from me; his wiry legs are crossed And he's dangling my keys he even fakes a toss Whatever could it be That has brought me to this loss?

Very lovely lyrics and imagery in this song.

Amazing song.

I love the self awareness in the lines "This is not the sound of a new man or crispy realization."