Semisonic – Closing Time

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  My Interpretation:I stand with those who see this as a graduation song.
  
  "Open all the doors and let you out into the world" - The ceremony has ended, the doors are opened.
  "Turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl" - The stadium/arena lights, or the sun
  "One last call for alcohol, so finish your whiskey or beer" - One last day to be a college student, to drink, to party, to be care-free for a while
  "You don't have to go home, but you can't, stay, here" - Self-explanatory. No need to go 'home', but there's no hanging on.
  
  "I know who I want to take me home" - the only line that doesn't fit perfectly, but a college sweetheart is plausible.
  "Time for you to go out to the places you will be from" - Off into the world, to the new home - but it won't feel like that for a while, it'll just be "I'm from"
  "This room won't be open 'til your brothers or your sisters come" - The next generation - some colleges refer to their student body as 'family', this needn't even be relatives
  "So gather up your jackets, move it to the exits" - caps more than jackets
  "I hope you have found a friend" - Self-explanatory, but need not be literal. Found a friend, had an experience, changed your life, lived.
  
  "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" - yep.

  Flag k0naneon April 26, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:Ok This song is indeed about being born. Dan wilson has said so in more than one interview. He wrote it in anticipation of being a father because he was about to have a kid in real life. He disguised it as an allegory because he didn't think the band would go for a song about his kid. Many of the lyrics shown above are wrong btw. So I am going to go through this line by line, because the allegory does not break down. Every line is meant to be a metaphor for being born.
  "Closing time, open all the doors and let you out into the world."-Fairly obvious that this could be about being born
  "Closing time, turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl"-This could be about seeing all the babies when they are put into the nursery at the hospital
  Closing time, one last call for alcohol..." This is more cryptic. It could be about his girlfriend not being able to drink during pregnancy, or about himself not being able to go out and party because he has a child to care for. Eg: his party days are over
  "Closing time, you don't have to go home but you can't stay here"-This is likely after the nursery stage, the baby can't stay there any longer than needed
  
  the chorus is more than likely just about the baby naturally wanting its mother early on
  
  "Closing time, time for you to go out to the places you will be from"-So everyone thinks this doesn't make sense with the allegory. It does, especially because the posted lyric is wrong. It's go out, not go back. The baby is now going home, and eventually this is where the child "...will be from"
  "Closing time, this room won't be open till your brothers..."-This is about the womb being the room.
  "So gather up your jackets, move it to the exits. I hope you have found a friend."-This is the toughest line for me. I don't know for sure, but I have some ideas. 1. It could be about bundling the baby up to leave the nursery and wondering/hoping if it's possible that the baby could have made friends with another baby. 2. This is probably a stretch, but the jacket could mean condoms, and the exits are a woman's lady parts. Meaning he's going back to using condoms now. 3. Similar to the first theory with bundling up the baby, but the friend part could be talking about how he met his child for the first time, and hopes the kid has met a friend.
  
  The rest of the lyrics are repeats of previous ones

  Flag goatpunchtheateron March 11, 2012   Link

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    I saw Dan Wilson a few years ago at a concert in Hollywood and he totally said it's about the birth of his kid. Spot on, my friend. Though, I think that it's probably NOT about a condom at that last line. :)

    Flag Sugar5783on April 15, 2013  
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  General Comment:20 minutes to work his magic. Can he do it? Let's take a vote. I'm guessing there's always some sucker left behind at the bar who would go home with anyone, especially if s/he faked some charm:)

  Flag SweetCheeks2on March 06, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:Not a bad song. It's a perfect song for a guy whose girlfriend dumped him because he accused her of cheating so now when he's not blowing smoke up someone's arse on line he is out looking for his next girlfriend to take him through the beautiful summer months.

  Flag ashesashesweallfalldownon January 14, 2012   Link

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  Song Meaning:I believe this song means somewhat about relationships and moving on in life. Sometimes relationships don't always work, so "It's closing time, open all the doors and let you out into the world"(there's plenty of fish in the sea to have a relationship with or there's plenty of places to go so go outside and see the world). "Turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl" meaning if a relationship ends don't be sad or depressed about it, let the light shine on you and rise above it. "One last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer" meaning you have to stop drinking over your past relationships and move on in life(alcohol just brings you behind and leads you to be depressed). "You don't have to go home but you can't stay here" this is a really hard meaning to understand, but I believe it means a girl wants the guy to leave(shes done with him or parents kicking their kids out when they've grown up enough), but doesn't have to go home he can go someother place else he wishes."I know who I want to take me home" obviously meaning the guy knows who he wants to be with and he says, "take me home" in his head, but than gets rejected, "Closing time". "This room won't be open till your brothers or your sisters come so gather up your jackets, move it to the exits" this pretty much means there's no room for everyone to sit in the same place all the time, move on with your life so others can explore what you explored at your time or age. Then we go to this phrase, "Time for you to go out to the places you will be from" I think this means to start getting realistic and go to the places where you will be living. The last lyrics of the song.. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" Basically this part means there will always be another beginning for someone and sometimes things have to end to start a new beginning. This song to me means all about exploration and understanding what life is all about. I also believe it's about how every life is different and unique and will have thier struggles in life and will also have their own ways(going different directions in life). You can't always follow someone, YOU have to make decisions for yourself. To sum all this up in one general statement, it's pretty much about moving on in life, getting yourself motivated, to improve and move forward. Go as far as you can go and don't ever stop, keep on striving through life. Peace, and I hope you all have a wonderful life to live. -Gurt
  
  All opinions or statements about my comments may be looked at differently, but this is what the song means to me.

  Flag gurton December 29, 2011   Link

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  Song Meaning:I know Dan Wilson said it was about anticipating becoming a father but to me it's about death with being in a bar as an analogy of life. When dying you have to leave & where you go depends on how you lived your life but you can no longer stay in this world. "The room will be open till your brothers & sisters come" meaning you've gone before them. "I know who I want to take me home" alludes to a loved one who has died before you & will lead into the next life. "The places you will be from" could be reliving your past memories as you go through death. "I hope you have found a friend" could mean that you were able to find love in your life because love is what life is all about.

  Flag ledhed09on November 07, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:HAHAHA Someone had to get to the bars before they closed so there was time to pick up someone new. Gonna be playing some NIN's, Kings of Leon, and AC/DC tonight! WOOT WOOT

  Flag spinachsaladon October 30, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:i think almost everyone is trying to pinpoint a specific meaning to this song when you just gotta broaden your outlook at it
  the song seems to be about growing up.... that moreless covers graduating, leaving the bars, child birth, moving away..
  
  i might be wrong but it works with every line in my head

  Flag wiseass25on October 03, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:I heard something on the radio once about this being the perfect song to pick up a chick in a bar. When you think about it it could be at last call. Your in a bar having a good time when you notice a beautiful girl across the bar, unfortunately your too drunk to think of something smart to say. Suddenly the bartender calls last call and this song comes on and you make your move just as it starts into "i know who i want to take me home" starts up. A few hours later your sneaking out of her apartement or engaged in some akward conversation. I wonder if that senario could actually happen.

  Flag icedt45on August 22, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:I heard something on the radio once about this being the perfect song to pick up a chick in a bar. When you think about it it could be at last call. Your in a bar having a good time when you notice a beautiful girl across the bar, unfortunately your too drunk to think of something smart to say. Suddenly the bartender calls last call and this song comes on and you make your move just as it starts into "i know who i want to take me home" starts up. A few hours later your sneaking out of her apartement or engaged in some akward conversation. I wonder if that senario could actually happen.

  Flag icedt45on August 22, 2011   Link

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