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"
I took the 405 and drilled a stake down into your center
And stated that it's never ever been better than this
I hung my favorite shirt on the floorboard
Wrinkled up from pulling, pushing, and tasting, tasting
You keep twisting the truth
That keeps me thrown askew
Misguided by the 405 'cause it lead me to an alcoholic summer
I missed the exit to you parents' house hours ago
Red wine and the cigarettes
Hide your bad habits underneath the patio, patio
You keep twisting the truth
That keeps me thrown askew
You keep twisting the truth
That keeps me thrown askew
And stated that it's never ever been better than this
I hung my favorite shirt on the floorboard
Wrinkled up from pulling, pushing, and tasting, tasting
You keep twisting the truth
That keeps me thrown askew
Misguided by the 405 'cause it lead me to an alcoholic summer
I missed the exit to you parents' house hours ago
Red wine and the cigarettes
Hide your bad habits underneath the patio, patio
You keep twisting the truth
That keeps me thrown askew
You keep twisting the truth
That keeps me thrown askew
Lyrics submitted by jephque, edited by jerrica114
405 Lyrics as written by Benjamin Gibbard
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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i actually dont think that the first line, "i took the 405 and drilled a stake down into your center" is actually a sexual reference. i think it is more like driving a pin into butterflies for viewing their beauty. I think this song is about a man who idolizes this woman but really the entire time she's making herself seem better than she really is. she "twists the truth" and makes things seem more perfect, more beautiful. the 405 i think represents, cheezy as it may sound, the path of the relationship. the 405 is notoriously confusing and circular, and i think that the relationship also is showing patterns of going nowhere. about missing the exit- this is only a reference to the carelessness of the relationship, perhaps saying that the relationship isnt going back or ahead; its just staying where it is. the entire alcohol part is confusing to me... i have a feeling one dragged the other into these bad habits. anyway... beautiful song. its one of my favs.
Yet another beautiful song. the acoustic version is just great, i have to roll down my windows in my car and just drive listening to it. the obvious guy would point out that he "pays tribute"? to highway 405 here in washington, the intellectual guy would say the highway is irrelevant, it's another song about a relationship, or hindsight of one.
ben gibbard is a freaking genius, i love the lyrics he writes! im so happy death cab is getting more recognized for their work, the same goes for the postal service. im from seattle, and with death cab being a seattle-band, im proud of them and ive been a fan a long time. this song, 405, is my favorite. im not really sure what this song is exactly about, but i know its about I-405, a highway that goes right into seattle and maybe this song is about memories of him always taking that freeway to get to this girls house or something
I-405 actually detours around Seattle. Ben Gibbard is from to 120 miles north of Seattle. He was driving down to Seattle to the girls parents house and either by purpose or accident took 405 around Seattle missed it.
no shit alternativeaddict06
I think he is conflicted about the girl he is dating. On one hand things are really good, but on the other hand she's manipulative ("twisting the truth"). So he fucks up kind of on purpose with the drinking and not meeting her parents & doing the things he would if he felt the situation was right.
Part of him wants to go, but she manipulates him to stay.
I think this song is about an intense, passionate relationship but the girl is keeping it a secret from everyone..her parents, her friends..and the guy dosent know why..he loves this girl and she loves him but he feels like an embarassment for her. He is the "Red wine and the cigarettes: hide your bad habits underneath the patio". He is frustrated and confusesd about where the relationship is going. "You keep twisting the truth That keeps me thrown askew" She keeps telling him that she will let him into her life but keeps making excuses.
I'm pretty sure it's "Drove a state down", not "drove a stake".
Such a beautiful song. What I get from it is that he's in a relationship, they're middle age and they're way past the first stage of the relationship; it's getting to be older and tiring. I got that from "I missed the turning to your parents' house hours ago" which is something you do in serious relationships (see the partner's parents for lunch etc etc when it's not something you really want to do) and the fact he's missing the turning shows his lack of care, it doesn't matter to him anymore: "it's never ever been better than this" Finally I find his driving is therapeutic to him in a way, he can reminisce over his life with his partner and understand how they're not really happy. His driving down the 405, I think, is also metaphoric as I just don't think, generally speaking, he's happy with how things are: "lead me to an alcoholic summer" and is unhappy with his partner's behaviour: "you keep twisting the truth, that throws me askew"
So, to sum up, I think it's about a tiring, no longer very happy relationship, and the man seeks that relief (in alcohol and the drive etc)
this song, the acoustic version, is my most favorite song in the entire world, by far. so beautiful.
words alone cant tell everyone how much this song is seriously so well written.