This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
So this is the new year
And I don't feel any different
The clanking of crystal
Explosions off in the distance
In the distance
So this is the new year
And I have no resolutions
Or self assigned penance
For problems with easy solutions
So everybody put your best suit or dress on
Let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
As thirty dialogues bleed into one
I wish the world was flat like the old days
Then I could travel just by folding a map
No more airplanes, or speed trains, or freeways
There'd be no distance that could hold us back
There'd be no distance that could hold us back
There'd be no distance that could hold us back
So this is the new year
So this is the new year
So this is the new year
So this is the new year
And I don't feel any different
The clanking of crystal
Explosions off in the distance
In the distance
So this is the new year
And I have no resolutions
Or self assigned penance
For problems with easy solutions
So everybody put your best suit or dress on
Let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once
Lighting firecrackers off on the front lawn
As thirty dialogues bleed into one
I wish the world was flat like the old days
Then I could travel just by folding a map
No more airplanes, or speed trains, or freeways
There'd be no distance that could hold us back
There'd be no distance that could hold us back
There'd be no distance that could hold us back
So this is the new year
So this is the new year
So this is the new year
So this is the new year
Lyrics submitted by heartattack
The New Year Lyrics as written by Christopher Walla Benjamin Gibbard
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Since it's the new year, I'll give this a shot:
I think many people are wrong about the "no distance that can hold us back" lines being about a romantic relationship. The song is consistently referring to more than one person ("clanking of crystal", "thirty dialogues bleed into one", the whole part about resolutions). Gibbard himself revealed that he spends so much time figuring out WHO to spend time with, that I think the "distance" is simply referring to his closest friends, and possibly family.
I know the overwhelming majority of this PERFECT album is about a relationship, but this song seems much more about his own alienation from society as a whole.
This song is mostly about the lies people tell themselves in times where you're obligated to be happy, like the New Year. The first two lines "So this is the new year/and I don't feel any different" sums a lot of the song up. The perception that things change and start over and get better after the New Year is a false perception. "The clanking of crystal/Explosions of in the distance" I believe is talking about fireworks, but the "explosions of in the distance" could also be about the horrible events to come.
The part where Gibbard talks about resolutions, and calls them "self asssigned penance/for problems with easy solutions" is about how everything everyone wants to solve with their resolutions is so easy to solve but instead we have to condemn ourselves to these BS resolutions that we're never going to follow through on.
"So everybody put your best suit or dress on/Let's make believe that we are wealthy for just this once" is about how people are pretending that things are going to get better but they're all sort of fake. At the same time, it doesn't sound like they're being condemned for their fakeness, in fact, it sounds as though the singer is joining in. The song is more a sad acknowledgement of the way we have to celebrate as opposed to a cynical barrage on people's happiness.
The next stanza is a musing about how the singer wants closeness with people and that modern advances meant to bring people together just make them feel farther apart. This is very similar to what Gibbard talks about in the album's title song "Transatlanticism."
@epicandy5 Yes!! thank you. You nailed it.
i can't believe no one has commented on this song. great lyrics and the music to match it..its got it all
If you read through all of the lyrics of Transatlanticism it's like an epic poem. It's so beautiful... thank you, DCFC.
this song is amazing
I saw them at club laga her in Pittsbhurgh a few weeks back. i never heard of them before that but i love them now and this is my favorite song, along witht the sound of settling, DCFC puts on one of the best live shows ive ever seen. This song is so pure and enjoyable, if you get a chance watch the video.
I saw that last show at Pittsburgh where they opened with this song- it was amazing. It is very uplifting musically. The basic idea is in the first two lines. "so this is the new year. and i don't feel any different." He sees past the crap about the new year being a time for change, to make yourself a better person. It is just an excuse to party.
Oh man. Death Cab are stunning!!
Love this one.
this is the song that got me into death cab.
"there'd be no distance that could hold us back"
the song is a little repetitive, not one of those songs that I could listen to over and over again and get addicted too, i love the lyrics though, i really hate New Years. It just makes me feel like crap, whether I party or not.
Ay. . .where have these people been all my life?