Houdini_The Great wrote: i usually tend to not want meanings or stories behind the songs because I like to keep that art/feeling to my own interpretations.-- Edited by Houdini_The Great at 21:39, 2006-03-17
That's how I see it.
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Penguin dust, bring me penguin dust, I want penguin dust--
Well...I've kind of mapped it out like this from what I have:
*Dreams of New Orleans: Jerry's talking about his home town, or at least a place that he's rather fond of. Now I dont know for sure, but doesn't Jerry orginally hail from NO. And moved to NJ later on in life??? I dunno, thats what I heard. But yeah...
*Baby Eskimo Kisses: Talking about the one girl that got away, drowing out your sorrows in liquor (I dont drink enough, and then I think too much. And then I drink too much, I dont think enough...), regret, heartache, all that good stuff...
*Jerry's The Name, Sociology's My Game: The not-to-nice breakup with a girl that was more than likely addicted to..uh...."substances of a less than therapeutic" nature( Everything you do, will make you like all the drugs that you abuse). And talking about how he's better off without her (I'm a little boy, just a little kid. I'm my own damn man with my own damn plans. And I'm glad you left me.)
*Hey Kiddo: Now.....of the millions upon millions of times I've listened to this song I have yet to grasp totally what its about. But from what I gather its the story of a guy (Our boy Jerry probably) who meets up with this hot little number from out of town/out of state. They meet at a bar, hit it off (in an odd drunken since), and they may or may NOT have decided to get it on. Now the tone of the song ranges on guilt because the girl (Danielle) has a boyfriend back in her home town (She has a boy back where shes from that consitutes a set of rules that I can't conform to). Now despite temptation "I think" our boy Jerry (probably) forces himself not to let himself get involved and bails (Its 3 am and I gotta get the **** outta here. Theres a girl calling my phone. Shes still at the bar I had just left and I wont go back in)....However this has yet to be written in stone, because from what I gather he really REALLY wanted to nail her...possibly even really liked her with the whole "Shes the girl that I could really marry" line. But then again it could be the opposite considering directly after that line comes the "Fuck these dreams" stanza. I dunno, coulda been just what most people would call a moment of clarity during inebriation. Who knows...but ya.
*Traps and Tricks and Such: Well...this one as far as I can tell....this ones about boning people....or being high....or about boning AND being high at the same time....I really havent a clue.
*Lesson 3: Reflective viewing on ones life, and how we all yearn for change and the feeling of accomplishment. I.E. "It just so happens the snow will change us all", as well as the whole metaphorical usage of "alchemy". Changing metal to gold, or making something from nothing out of life.
*Lindsay And The Endless Wall Of Alarm Clocks: ......Doing the do, and making it stick...Thats what I get from this one people.
So yeah, of course this long little rambling of concepts is by all means just my own interpretation. And those were just a few of the ones I THINK I have the slightest inkling of. Some of them could be on the mark, or totally off by a million miles. Who knows. Some of the lyrics are downright nutty, and I'd have to ask Jerry personally what the HELL he was trying to say. But hey, thats the beauty part about excellent lyrics. They dont have to be spelled out right in front of you. They make you think, AND they're fun as hell listening to and deciphering as you see fit. So....any questions/comments/digressions/or thoughts ???
Haha. You guys are awesome. Truth be told, most these are about Frankie.
To clarify things... no I'm not from New Orleans - in fact, I've never been there (and after you listen to alphabets. you will know why I will probably never go there)... intriguing? I think so. New Orleans is a mystified location embedded in superstition and art. Dreams of New Orleans is part of my existential philosophy that runs wild throughout all of my writings. Sinatra, death, caskets and... oh my god-she never got out of that car. This song is truly about my own funeral. As are many. I don't want to give too much away.. that's the beauty of "A"llegory.
Baby Eskimo Kisses is about my "ex-wife" (you'll hear about the conclusion of this in alphabets). Drew pretty much has it. There is a marginalized subtext about a miscarriage (please don't ask me about this) - only those close to her and me know about "Quinn".
"Jerry's the Name" is not about a messy break-up. The drug nods are all self-referential. The song is saturated in sarcasm and is a huge stab at myself. I'm more or less taking the easy way out in this one and getting away with it. I'm talking to myself about myself as a writer to a writer - I was obsessed with Charlie Kaufman's “Adaptation“. So now you know who sleeps alone.
"Hey Kiddo"... This is the most literal song on "goodnight". Danielle is a real person. The story is based on real events and events that I hallucinated during these real events (I’m sure you can all guess which is the hallucination and which is not). "Fcuk these dreams" is fcuck the hallucination - it's not real. Fairytales don't come true - so I should just go to bed. No dreams. But she knew and I knew we would be pretty good together. Hahaha. We are actually still very close and she is a very sweet person. Top 3 funniest girls I ever met - which is by far the most important quality to look for in someone you plan on seeing as more than just a friend over an extended period of minutes, months, or millennia.
"Traps" (unfortunately) is not about boning people. It's about my childhood. And it touches on the base of hardcore, kinky sex and learning all the details of other people's bodies. Essentially about my "loss of innocence" - but way more introverted than that. This is about all my self conscious anxieties and desires and wanting to dump them all and go back to being a kid again. Being "new". My little sister Amy does some backing vocals on the end crescendo "rabbit and piglet and whinny the pooh!" Easily my favorite song I wrote on "goodnight" and my absolute most honest. I don’t want to grow up. Too bad I got all these cops in my tummy.
"Lesson 3" after Lessons 1 and 2 (which are lessons hidden in the subtext of other songs - i know one of you clever people will figure it out sooner or later) is again super existential. But Drew is right - except I’m not yearning so much for accomplishment but looking at my life in retrospect... how i wish i could go back and do some things differently and then… realizing that’s not important. what's important here is how the journey begins in every future second of your life. you can't change things - things will change themselves - and you will change - and the seasons change. wow. i totally trivialized that.... it's a huge idea i had and it's worth writing a novel over. i should (but I won‘t). it's about being more than something. it rejects the idea of being nothing. but that doesn't mean any of this matters. (even though there is no such thing as coincidences).
"Lindsay" is about me being overly confident in a situation that was kinda like Vietnam. Except it involved three people, me, myself, and "k". "k" flanked both of me and myself's plans. she really pulled the rug right from under us. then she lit it on fire. i thought i had it figured out... well i still know I’m amazing at oral sex and writing on the wall. What can’t my right hand do? Oh, throw a dart.
i hope i gave you a better insight into these songs... i really hate spoiling the magic you all create in your heads. i don't really like explaining these things but since this whole message board post is waiting for someone in the band to reply and so it seems Andy and i are the only ones who know how to use it i figured I’d throw it back atcha. Drew - you did an awesome job, man.....
Someone once asked me if "designed like dice" was about how I was going to get back at the record industry or how I hated lawyers... I scratched my head and shrugged my shoulders. I was confused. I told them to decide for themselves... (by the by "DLD" is not remotely about either). please feel free to mold my words around your own situations, temptations, and misadventures.
this is my new favorite smiley face that is some true, unembellished diapointment.
"i told you i wanted hand cream!! not these dumb papers with graphs on them! ya jerk!"
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Metal kettle unsettling treble howl, settler trembling, measureing mellow on the levitate off the mezzanine. Never seen a ton of bricks dressing clean/dapper 'til it's pin stripe and skull chunk 40 stories after.
Jerrrrru wrote: To clarify things... no I'm not from New Orleans - in fact, I've never been there (and after you listen to alphabets. you will know why I will probably never go there)... intriguing? I think so. New Orleans is a mystified location embedded in superstition and art. Dreams of New Orleans is part of my existential philosophy that runs wild throughout all of my writings. Sinatra, death, caskets and... oh my god-she never got out of that car. This song is truly about my own funeral. As are many. I don't want to give too much away.. that's the beauty of "A"llegory.
Yeah, Dreams of New Orleans always made me thing of Tom and Huck.. where they fake their deaths and see their own funeral. Yup... and they're southern. (Yay for me not knowing very much about literature but making it out that I do...)
Oh yes... What's going on behind the main vocals in Hosting a Murder. Is it Lesson 1 or 2? ...Pacific Ocean... where you live... that coral reef...
-- Edited by MissMae at 23:17, 2006-03-24
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Penguin dust, bring me penguin dust, I want penguin dust--
after the whole hurricane thing in New Orleans ive been thinkin about that song, and ikinda put together some random thing about Jerry "predicting" the hurrican...kinda?
heres like my ideas.
I'm coming home, I'm coming home (people going back to their moms and pops)
Tonight I dream, I dream of New Orleans (obvisouly nervous about their houses and their city)
But the taste of the ocean floors and time will tell (the waters in the houses rising)
We're spinning Out of control again (the winds and whatnot)
Maybe we'll meet again," Well, get out of your car, come on kiss me (people leaving their friends and loved ones)
And address books with no names," (all the empty houses)
and thats pretty much it for that song..?
lately ive been listeing to Dont fuss over spiders thrown. and ive been thinking what John and Jerry were fighting about. like. whats spiders thrown mean? is it just like another way over saying insulting one-another?
HOLY crap....well...Thanks Jerry. You have no idea how much of an honor it is dude. Your a fcukin lyrical madman, and I hope you know how much I TOTALLY admire you for that. I know you must hear **** like that all the time, and I dont mean to sound all giddy, but yeah, it totally means alot to me man. When you play some Southern CA shows keep an eye out for me ya. I'm more than likely gonna be the brud with the weird haircut crowd surfing or going buck wild in the pit. hahahaha !!!
