The Shins: New Slang Meaning
New Slang Lyrics
Only, i don't know how they got out, dear.
Turn me back into the pet that i was when we met.
I was happier then with no mind-set.
And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:In my opinion, this song is about a most-likley young, naive boy who saw the world from an optimistic point of view because he had never felt pain. Then he fell for a girl who didn't fall back, causing him to realize the world isn't as perfect as he had thought:
"gold teeth and a curse for this town were all in my mouth.
Only, I don't know how they got out, dear.
Turn me back into the pet that I was when we met.
I was happier then with no mind-set."
meaning he hadn't expierienced pain before this girl. When he met her he was clueless, but still in the back of his mind knew that the world wasnt as perfect as his life was. He is saying he liked it better when he didn't know.
"and if you'd 'a took to me like
a gull takes to the wind.
Well, i'd 'a jumped from my tree
and i'd a danced like the king of the eyesores
and the rest of our lives would 'a fared well. "
if the girl had liked him as much as he liked her, he would have been able to leave his sheltered life but become even more happy then he was before because he was in love.
"new slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.
Hope it's right when you die, old and bony.
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
never should have called
but my head's to the wall and I'm lonely."
wants this girl to keep on living her life as he did, and hopes when she finally realizes life isn't what she thinks it is she is old and won't have to live with that mind-set much longer. Also, he probably called her drunkenly or something and he knows he shouldnt have because he wants her to be happy and move on with her life, but he can't avoid how lonley he is without her.
"i'm looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find.
Without a trust or flaming fields am I too dumb to refine?"
he wants to be able to live a happy life again but is afraid he won't be able to, being not smart enough to improve his new take on life. -
I've always thought this song was about a guy and a girl who are in love, but her societal standards are predisposed to be higher than where he resides.
The tragedy of it is, he'd "dance like the king of the eye-sores" just so that both of their lives would be fruitful and happy....because everything he has to offer financially (trust or flaming field) is abysmal.
He feels inferior to his lover. Or, ex-lover I should say.
Summarized: I've always thought this song was about a guy getting broken up with because some rich bitch thought she was too good for him, and as it goes, this song proves she wasn't. -
I think the stripes refer simply to something that is not all uniform and perfect. Noticing the stripes would be like noticing that there are actually bad things integrated with the good. The dirt in your fries means when you start to notice all the little bad details in life that you don't see at first glance, but if you look closely you'll see them.
I think alot of this song is about people living blindly and ignorantly,not being happy but not doing anything to change it, while the speaker is tired of his relationship and of his town and he wants to move on to a better life.
One of the lines i love is "all the bakers at dawn may they all cut their thumbs, and bleed into their buns till they melt away." At first I had no clue what this meant, but then I realized he's comparing the bakers to people in relationships and how they injur themselves in their relationships (cut their thumbs) but they keep the relationship going even though theyre hurt (make the buns anyway even though theyre bleeding) until they feel like the pain is just gone (till they melt away), but deep down the pain is still there. This shows how people are stuck in relationships and situations in life that do them harm but they don't do anything to get out of it.
The speaker on the other hand, is trying to find a way out of it so he can be happy in life.
There's so much more to analyze in this song, but that's just a small part of my interpretation. -
My interpretation is pretty simple. Poor, uneducated guy (Without a trust or flaming fields am i too dumb to refine?) meets rich girl and falls in love, until their different lives just don't jive. Good teeth and a curse for this town refers to him leaving.
Soon he is homeless or very poor (New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries.) Have you ever walked a long distance? You notice the paint on the road, the stripes. Dirt in your fries happens when you eat someone's trash.
Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall - ever spent a night outside? Ever seen how early bakers get up?
All of the lyrics refer to what could have been if she "took to me like a gull takes to the wind". -
Maybe stripes are referring to prison stripes, when you notice that your a prisoner in your own town...
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Whoever said this song is about hometown blues got it right. James Mercer's hometown was Albuquerque, NM, which is legendarily cursed, according to native american myths.
The Shins got their start practicing in the basement of Fred's Bread and Bagel, a local bakery that supported local musicians by giving them jobs, practice space and free food. Touring musicians were always given free meals and a place to stay. Thus "the bakers at dawn..."
This song is about hating your hometown, feeling isolated and stuck and remembering the one who got away and the fantasy of what might have been. Saying that if she had let him he would have come out of his shell and given his all and they might have lived happily ever after...Juxtapozing his love/hate relationship with Albuquerque with his conflicting feelings for this girl is pretty brilliant. Albuquerque is beautiful, breathtakingly so, but every once in awhile it rears its ugly head and shows its underbelly. Its a blessing and a curse.
...but what of "when you notice the stripes?" Someone once said it was a reference to the Yankees uniform...a friend of mine always interpreted as the stripes your hand leaves when you slap someone across the face! I always thought it was the stripes of the underbelly...some inside joke or obscure reference or is it obvious?? -
I agree..sounds like the guy tried to make it right with hopes and the girl was finished trying so he was bitter and wanted to just let himself forget his pain and leave the town that reminded him of it.....
"And if you'd 'a took to me like
A gull takes to the wind.
Well, i'd 'a jumped from my tree
And i'd a danced like the king of the eyesores
And the rest of our lives would 'a fared well."
he apparently called her and make things right and it turned into a huge blow up mistake:
"Dawn breaks like a bull through the hall,
Never should have called
But my head's to the wall and I'm lonely." -
I think the other posts are good...but I cant help but think of a relationship that went sour and the guy wishes he could go back to when they first met and they were happy when the relationship was innocent and new. Where everything seemed perfect and they were soul mates. I think he is sick of the town because it reminds him what they used to be, and he wants to get out curse the town and leave it all behind.
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I think this song is about someone who is just sick of their hometown. We've all felt it. We've all wanted to just escape and find new places and find ourselves. The song does tie into the movie Garden State and that's why it is such a big part of the movie. Natalie Portman even refers to it as life-changing. Anyway,
The speaker feels like he is stuck in his hometown and thinking about an old lover.
"Never should have called but my head's to the wall and I'm lonely"
He is bored and lonely in his town and so he calls up someone that he probably shouldn't have called. The chorus continues saying that if this old friend/lover had responded positively to his call, he would have been really happy.
"I'm looking in on the good life I might be doomed never to find"
Maybe the speaker sees this old friend/lover with someone new or he/she has moved on with their life and done better things and he is somewhat jealous but mostly just longing to do the same.
That's just my vague interpretation. Any thoughts? -
I think that this song is about a guy who is a little angry at his ex girlfriend / lover because they broke up. He wants to go back to the point in time before they went out because he was happier then. (stanza 1) The chorus is saying that if she rode along with the relationship or with him he would have been really happy and their lives would have been better. The songwriter wishes the girl a good life and regrets calling her (stanza 2), maybe a case of drunken dialing. Stanza 3 is just him cursing the people of the town as the dawn is breaking. He's basically moving on and looking forward to life with a bit of pessimism (stanza 4).
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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