My Chemical Romance: Cubicles Meaning
Cubicles Lyrics
Drowning out these gray-stained windows
And the view outside is sterile
And I'm only two cubes down
I'd photocopy all the things that we could be
If you took the time to notice me
But you can't now
I...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:This song is about obsession and rejection. He used cubicles as a metaphor to any situation where every day you see the same girl and fall in love with her. "It's the tearing sound of love-notes Casting out the gray stained windows " means that he writes love notes to her, but never has the nerve to give them to her, so he throws them out a window. basically the song is about loving someone who you see every day but doesn't even notice you exist.
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This song seems pretty obvious. The person whose perspective it is from, was in love with a girl. She worked at a place where either he worked too, or he came there regularly. However, he never talked to her, he was too afraid. And then one day she stopped working there.
'Now it's just a vacant three by four.' He thinks he's going to die alone, because he never has the guts to talk to a girl he likes.
'We could be in the park, dancing by a tree.' He has lots of fantasies about their future and stuff, and is heartbroken that she left. -
'tis aboot being a wee litlle scotsman. Rate this doon and I'll kill ye.
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Okay, first, I'm going to give you my take on the story- How I interpret it, and then I'm going to dissect the lyrics for you to better understand.
(I'm currently listening to the song on repeat as to not miss anything... Other than that, it's one of my favorites from my FAVORITE BAND EVER!!)
Okay, so the character works somewhere in an office with a girl whom he's completely infatuated with, but she doesn't even really know who he is. The only contact they share is at work having small talk in the break room(This water-cooler romance). They work with two cubicles in-between the two... So close yet so far away. He day-dreams about her constantly and even writes the same love notes to her daily, but in the end rips them apart and throws them away, telling himself that he'll work up the courage another day. One day she announces to everyone that she's been offered another job somewhere else so he begins counting down the days they have left together-the days he has to tell her. But he never does. So she finally leaves and the empty cubicle is a constant reminder of what could've been. But he's used to disappointments such as these, and it's not her fault he didn't tell her when he had the chance. He knows they'll fill her place but no one will ever compare to her. So he thinks he'll die alone.
-The End-
Okay, now for the lyric dissection...
It's the tearing sound of love-notes
[obviously the ripping apart of the love-notes he's written for her...]
Drowning out these grey stained windows...
[The translation above is better than anything I could've said...)
And the view outside is sterile...
[Could possibly mean outside his cubicle or mean outside in general (take your pick) outside the cubicle could mean the cleanliness of nobody else feeling mushy- in love and hiding it or if he means outside it could mean that he doesn't leave to go outside or he could be afraid...]
And I'm only two cubes down...
[Like someone said before me, I do also get this picture in my mind of hundreds of cubicles, and the two characters working with only two cubes between them...so close yet so far away...]
I'd photocopy all the things that we could be if you took the time to notice me...
[He often daydreams about her/ what they could be if he could make himself known to her...]
But you can't now I don't blame you, and it's not your fault that no one ever does...
[He knows that it's not his fault that he didn't tell her (obviously...), and he's used to disappointment but never this kind or to this degree...]
But you don't work here anymore, its just a vacant 3-by-4. They might fill your place, a temporary stand-in for your face...
[You don't work her anymore and the empty cubicle is a constant haunting of his mistake. And they might try to fill your place at work but they can't find anyone that would ever compare to you (a 'Temporary stand-in' for your face... That part is important).]
This happens all the time, and I can't help but think I'll die alone...
[Again addressing the numerous disappointments. He realizes that it's his fault and he believes he'll die alone.]
So I spend my time with strangers a condition and it's terminal in this water cooler romance, and it's coming to a close...
[His strangers could either be the people he works with (because he's invested so much time into the girl that he knows his co-workers but he doesn't 'KNOW' them) or it could also mean that maybe he has clients...? He was counting down the day he had left to tell her -This water cooler romance is coming to a close..]
We could be in the park and dancing by a tree kicking over blades we see or a dark beach with a black view...
[These are examples of his daydreams..]
And pinpricks in the velvet catch our fall...
[The pinpricks symbolize something snapping him out if his thoughts about her... Velvet symbolizes the thoughts about her... 'Catch our fall'- before he gets too into the thoughts...
-Chorus-
He continues to repeat 'I know you don't work hear anymore'... I think he's saying this more to himself, as in he's almost driven himself insane over his own fault.
Then he repeats 'Sometimes I think I'll die alone' and then this changes to 'I think I'd love to die alone'... He doesn't think he'll find anybody better than her so he's becoming okay with the idea that he's dying alone.
Maybe they aren't the correct translations, but this is just the way I interpret the song... So sue me...
Like I said before, this is one of my favorite songs, and this, in fact, IS my favorite band... EVER!!! -
Of course, the point is to interpret it in your own way, so I'm not saying that this is right, but this is how I see it.
It's the tearing sound of love notes
Drowning out these gray-stained windows
And the view outside is sterile
And I'm only two cubes down
He sees his world as looking through a window that maybe use to be clear and full of color, but now is stained gray. To "drown out" the gray in his life, he fantasizes about a girl in his office two cubes down. He writes her love notes, but never has the nerve to give them to her, so he tears them up instead. The "sterile view" is again how he views his life. Though tinted with gray, his life is clean and crisp and unchanging. Boring.
I'd photocopy all the things that we could be
If you took the time to notice me
But you can't now
I don't blame you
And it's not your fault that no one ever does
The word "Photocopy" I believe is just sticking with the office theme of the song, but he is really talking about looking at your stereotypical relationships, and how he could "photocopy" these stereotypes, and, if she would notice him, they could become them. As we learn she leaves the office, she can't anymore because she doesn't work there. It's not her fault that he blends in to the background and no one, including herself, ever notices him.
But you don't work here anymore
It's just a vacant three-by-four
And they might fill your place
A temporary stand-in for your face
This happens all the time
And I can't help but think I'll die alone
The vacant 3 by 4 is her cubicle, now that she left the job. She will be replaced by someone else, who will then be replaced, and thus creating "temporary stand-ins" for her face; this girl isn't special, she is replaced frequently and on a whim by other pretty girls he notices but don't bother to notice him. And because this happens so frequently, he can't help but think he'll die alone.
So I spend my time with strangers
A condition and it's terminal
In this watercooler romance
And it's coming to a close
Because none of these girls, or even just others he sees daily, will notice him, all of the people around him are strangers. This is how he is, and he know he'll never change. So it's a "terminal condition" he is living with. Running into this girl at the office watercooler is the extent of their romance, these breif moments that are in now way memorable are what is keeping is fantasys going. However, since she isn't there anymore, they are "coming to a close".
We could be in the park and dancing by a tree
Kicking over blades we see
Or a dark beach with a black view
And pinpricks in the velvet catch our fall
This part stumps me a little. Obviously, this is talking about the things they could have done together if his admiration would have bloomed into a relationship. Maybe the first part is talking about what could have happened if they had a happy, successful relationship. And the "dark beach with a black view" is saying maybe things wouldn't have been good, and maybe it would have been miserable for them both. And the "pinpricks in the velvet" are the little snags that stop and hurt their otherwise smooth "fall", or fall into love.
I believe the last half of the song is just him accepting that he will always be this way. "Just take me down" could be talking about how it is himself that is holding him back, and he's bitterly coming to terms with this, and allowing to be brought down. "Think I'd love to die alone" could be how he is making himself miserable, and how he thinks maybe this is because he secretly just wants to be miserable, and die alone.
Of course, the whole office could just be a metaphor for how he sees his life; straight forward and simple; unchanging, uninteresting, and a sort of trap he can't escape from. I'm not necessarily right, but this is what this song makes me think! :) -
I think when he mentions gray stained windows it means that when he looks out everything is gray and dull , also when he says " this happens all the time - a temporary stand in for your face " as in he likes other girls and stuff but youl only ever be the one MCR are my life and im only 12 xoxox XD
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I think this is about a guy falling in love with a girl he works with and the girl never has a clue or knows who he is
so he just assumes she's like everybody else that ignores him and he doesn't blame him and says it's his fault.
So this is MY opinion even though most of you haven't guessed this but I think he kills him self and that's what he means by the windows
and that's y he says now you never can
so he kills himself when she quits/or gets fired from her job. -
This song right off the bat is a metaphor. Gerard uses cubicles as a metaphor for a place where you have to see this person everyday like at work hence the title "Cubicles". You see this person everyday at work and you fall in love with them, but you are too shy to talk to them and they don't notice you. You write love-notes to the person but you can't bare to give them to the person, so you rip them up and throw them out the window. He doesn't wonder why she doesn't notice him, in fact he doesn't "blame her". Then she doesn't work there anymore and he misses her and thinks of all the thing he could do with her. This causes him to go into depression and he think that since she is gone he won't find anyone else and that he will die alone.
This is just my interpretation...i mean I could be wrong but yea...if you want to add to this you can. -
I think this song is about loving someone, but never actually being to tell them and thinking about how great life would be if that person felt the same way.
God, I can relate. -
I think it's about a guy who worked high up in the world trade centers and was just staring out at the amazing view from the little itty bitty crack in his cubicle and the saw the plane as it seemingly came straight for him and ended his life and the life of many others
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I really like the interpretation above me. It makes sense. I also love the "gray stained windows" part. Idk why, it just makes sense to me.
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ok so I see some people have given a basic view of the lyrics..lets just see if I can briefly run through them..please feel free to add on to this or disagree with me
It's the tearing sound of love-notes[ok so that's the love letters..thats are tearing..hurting him]
Drowning out these gray stained windows[ he's using the colour gray to paint a image of his emotions,i loved the stained bit..indicating that they werent always like this..windows are suppose to be breaks of opportunity hope and light..an exit if you will..but these are gray stained..so the most basic of things arnt working]
And the view outside is sterile[again he's kind of reflecting on his hiding away from the outsside..as if he's afraid]
And I'm only two cubes down[ this personally gices me the image of one of those huge offices with 100s of cubes..and even though she's so close and he see her all the time ther so far apart]
I'd photocopy all the things that we could be[hes obviously spent some time day dreaming and invisioning their future..which I swhat I kind of do with relationships too...he'll photocopy...so he writes these notes over and over..photo copy as in theyll all basically be the same-i like you.]
If you took the time to notice me
But you can't now, I don't blame you[he probally missed an opportunity and he's blaming himself I say it didn't affect him unti she moved jobs because it probally turned into one of thos things..o maybe tomorrow..and than a hundred tomorrows passed and he lost his chance]
And it's not your fault that no one ever does[again reffering to his life as a series of dissapointments..low self esteem]
But you don't work here anymore
It's just a vacant 3 by 4[as in the size of the cubical] -
hm. I'm actually not sure.
but idk, I bet all the girls that rejected Gerard are kicking themselves for it now! -
Personally, I think this song is about gerard loving a girl but never being able to tell her. He writes her letters everyday and wishes that he could give them to her. [HINT: the tearing sound of love notes...] he day dreams day after day. eventually, he realizes that he will never have her. all of this leads to depression, and feelings of dying alone, with no one that loves you.
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This song is about Gerard when he worked in New York and he liked this girl but he was so afried to tell her he wrote love notes but he never gave them to her he always threw them out his window "It's the tearing sound of love-notes,"Casting out the gray stained windows" and she never noticed him,"If you took the time to notice me", he never told her and she left,"I know you don't work here anymore, I know you don't work here anymore" and he's so shy to tell a girl that he likes her that he thinks he'll die alone,"Sometimes I think I'll die alone, sometimes I think I'll die alone" that's what I think..
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