What do you think Great Romances of the 20th Century means?

Taking Back Sunday: Great Romances of the 20th Century Meaning

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Album cover for Great Romances of the 20th Century album cover

Song Released: 2002


Great Romances of the 20th Century Lyrics

(spoken)
A beautiful girl can make you dizzy,
Like you've been drinking jack and coke all morning.
She can make you feel high,
Full of the single greatest commodity known to man:
Promise. promise of a better day,
promise of a greater...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    plasticcup_politics
    click a star to vote
    Apr 2nd 2006 !⃝

    Yessum, it's so not cute and sweeta to all. He's totally in love with this girl and he knows she doesn't feels the same but he loves her so much it doesn't matter.

    Even when she makes up excuses to him he doecnt care because he adores the way she does it even if it actually kills him inside that she's brshing him off. He manages to cope as a lot of us do by living in denial, saying tomorrow is another day and none of her lies will matter then...but we all know they will and deep down so does he.he can't sleep at night because he's so in awe of this girl and to comfort himself about her lies he's reminds himself that he's managed to deal with worse things from her them this before.thats suppose to be comforting but I can't seem how it would actually help. In the end neither can he and he being to lose his patience with her and he's basically begging her to be honest or he's gonna leave which he doesn't want to do because he's so in love with her.

    I don't quite get this part. It would fit with the orgasm theory, but I think there could be more to it.Help?

  2. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 26th 2010 !⃝

    I never said I'd take this lying down" means hes submitting to her. "i've crawled home from worse than this" is him swallowing his pride after he lets her use him as a sexy toy. He's either okay with it or being sarcastic in the end. But clearly this is a case of She gets hers and he doesn't get his.
    "You always come close but this never comes easy
    You always come close but you never come easy
    You always come... you come in close"

    total jizz factor right there.

    plus he wants more of a romantic relationship rather than sexual. "If it's not keeping you up nights
    then what’s the point "

    He's still totally gonna give it to her tho.

    -Southboy (Alex)

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 1st 2007 !⃝

    This song clearly is about losing your virginity. "I'm on the corner of your bed practically naked, are you turned on, are you turned on?" Is the feeling of nervousness and not being ready for your first time. It also is about the stress and rush to do it because you feel you have to, when Adam Lazzara says, "Come on, come on, lets just get this over with." The song goes, "I've crawled home from worse than this, so please, I'm running out of sympathy, I never said I'd take this lying down." I think what he is trying to say is that its not the worst that could happen and it might be a mix of emotions but it will all be okay. I think when he is telling the girl that he is running out of sympathy, he means that he's getting impatient with her and he's standing up to her and he never expected it to be that way.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 3rd 2007 !⃝

    Can anyone e-mail me the mp3 of the version of this song with the spoken word intro? I only have the newer tell all your friends version...i really want to hear the spoken part though! If you like old TBS then check out www.oldtakingbacksunday.com great site

  5. jon
    click a star to vote
    Aug 19th 2006 !⃝

    This songs about knowing everything's about to end, but playin it up like it's not, and it wouldn't mean a thing to you if it did anyway.

  6. staygoldx3
    click a star to vote
    Jun 17th 2006 !⃝

    This song is actually about my older cousin. She and Adam dated for a while... But then she broke up with him because the relationship wasnt what she was looking for. The song is about Adam's feelings towards the end of the relationship.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  7. moomal06
    click a star to vote
    Jan 19th 2006 !⃝

    I think it's about fake orgasms. But not just in a sexual way. like she's faking it in bed and in life. He loves her, and he's doing everything he can to make her happy, and she pretends, but she doesn't mean it and he knows it.

    so it's pretty much the opposite of being cute and sweet..it's depressing, sad, and a little funny. poor guy.

  8. _..princess
    click a star to vote
    Jan 9th 2006 !⃝

    It's not that cute.. It's kind of sad actually.
    Basically he just loves everything about her; even though she hurts him a lot.
    "I just love the way you roll; excuses off the tip of your tongue."
    And it obviously matters a lot more to him than to her ..
    "This won't mean a thing tomorrow"
    But he's getting tired of her.
    "I'm running out of sympathies."

  9. WeJustFuckFriends
    click a star to vote
    Jan 7th 2006 !⃝

    I love this song. I think it is so cute. Its not all about sex and gettin with girls. It's about their personality, their smile and 'how girls make every rotten thing in life seem like its gonna be ok.' this song is very good :)


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