As I'm talking my words slip to the floor
And they crawl through your legs and slide under the back door
Rendering me freakish and dazed

Well here I am
Don't know how to say this
Only thing I know is awkward silence
Your eyelids close when you're around me to shut me out

So I'll go walking in the streets until my heels bleed
and I'll sing out my song in case the birds wish to sing along
And I'll dig a tunnel to the center of the universe

Well here I am
Don't know how to say this
Only thing I know is awkward silence
Your eyelids close when you're around me to shut me out

I'll make my way across the frozen sea
Beyond the blank horizon
Where I can forget "you and me"
And get a decent night's sleep.

Well here I am
Don't know how to say this
Only thing I know is awkward silence
Your eyelids close when you're around me to shut me out

Don't shut me out

And don't count me out


Lyrics submitted by PLANES

Freakish song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

157 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +3
    General Comment

    One of my favorite songs by them. In my opinion, this song makes s.w.y.a. worth owning. It's beautiful.

    "I'll make my way across the frozen sea, beyond the blank horizon, when I can forget 'you and me' and get a decent night's sleep."

    It sums up a break-up, and the emotions experienced afterwards. The fine art of being pushed out of someone's life, and finding them to be unforgettable.

    ThreeMilesDownon December 04, 2001   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    he is trying to tell a girl how much she means to him, he wants to express himself to her but he can't. whenever he is around her he becomes awkward and his words won't come out of his mouth. Her eyelids close when he's around, he feels like she doesn't see him the way he wants her to see him. he would bring himself to pain (by walking in the streets til his heels bleed) if he could finally express his true feelings. digging a tunnel to the center of the universe...she is the center of his universe. he wants to forget about his unrequited feelings for her so that he can sleep. BUT at the same time he doesn't want her to shut him out. he wants to just tell her how he feels, so he ends the song with "don't count me out." he is going to get the courage to tell her how he feels. I do NOT think this song is at all about a break-up.

    mlb3333on January 30, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    My goodness, this is SOOOO freakin pretty. His voice just makes me want to cry for some reason. this is the epitimy (how ever you spell that) of emo

    emofanon May 12, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Can anyone say "emotion"? This song has it... and lots of it. I agree with ThreeMilesDown (which is also a great song by STD) in the fact that this is one of my favorite songs. Crying is a given while listening to this one...

    XkannenXon December 09, 2001   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    just how he says those words in the chours have the power to make anyone shed a tear.., and then saying don't shut me out is just mind boggling to me cause, knowing that youwant someone so bad and do anyone for them and they try and 'shut you out' just kills you

    HollyHoxForgotsMeon December 12, 2001   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    do anything for them... thats what I mean

    HollyHoxForgotsMeon December 12, 2001   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is also one of my most favorite songs by STD. I can't really add anymore to the comments people have already made, I just wanted to say just how good it is. I just love the emotion that is present in this song.

    antifox64on December 14, 2001   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think we have all beeb in that situation where you need to talk to somebody, and the silence is just deafening because you are being shut out . . . this song is so important to me.

    jellofan11on January 05, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Man, me and my exboyfriend loved this CD and we would listen to this song just cuz it was good, but we never listened to the lyrics. Now that we broke up, this song means more than ever...

    maynotbeastarron January 23, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I've never been in a relationship, so maybe I'm not feeling the full force of the lyrics, but that doesn't stop me from thinking this song is awesome. "I'll make my way across the frozen sea, beyond the blank horizon, where I can forget "you and me" and get a decent night's sleep." I guess lyrics that are clever and have meaning make the song more than just a song.

    swashbucklingpunkon February 06, 2002   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song: Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.” That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version. Great version of a great song,
Album art
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.