She ionizes and atomizes
Then turns to sunlight
He realizes and itemizes
Pulls harder than gravity
She ionizes and atomizes
Then turns to sunlight
Flourescent lightbulbs will make
An absense of dark, but
The light just ain't there still and she said
"I'm feeling empty
The real lights can make you heavy but
Never ever really empty
Flourescent lights will always equal empty"



Lyrics submitted by numb


She Ionizes and Atomizes song meanings
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47 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:Heres what I thought the song said:
    I think when she ionizes, she's changing herself to fit to what the guy wants. When atoms ionize they are not in their original state anymore, so following this metaphor she adds and substracts stuff to get the guy attracted to her. The guy in the song knows this, and instead of falling in love deeply and fully, he itemizes the good and bad things and makes a more cold rational approach at love. He also tries too hard to pull at the love instead of letting it come. That's why the couple gets flourescent empty light instead of the real stuff
    Flag jaredyankeeon September 29, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:i believe the girl in this relationship wasn't over a past relationship or just got into things too quick.
    so while Issac was completely in love, the girl feels pressured to give him back the same love, thus creating her fluorescent lights.
    she makes these lights because she knows it isn't love, but she's too deep in the relationship to step out of it. she tries to make herself feel better by pretending it's love, but just isn't.
    Flag nitsuaaaaaon August 07, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I think I've finally understood the meaning of "She Ionizes and Atomizes"
    In chemistry, one atom can take the other atom's electron, giving the atoms a positive and a negative charge respectively. In transferred sense, this means that the girl takes his heart and then dissolves into atoms(she disappears from his life); these atoms turn into sunlight, representing love.
    Of course, as others have mentioned, only flourescent light, and not real sunlight, shines upon her, meaning that she's not in love with him.
    My take on it anyway :)
    Flag MMfanon August 06, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:‘I’m feeling empty/The real lights can make you heavy but/never ever really empty/Fluorescent lights will always equal empty.’
    Flag Wheretofindyouon September 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"He itemizes"
    I think its talking about listing pros and cons of a partner like pretty much everyone has done in a relationship
    love this song
    Flag dharmabum47on August 17, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:God I love this song. and Modest Mouse. I can't think of any other band that leaves people so speechless. To love someone so much that they are your sunlight, they make you full and complete inside. You are empty when they leave. I love how Isaac is using scientific diction to explain something so un-scientific like love. So god damn beautiful
    Flag missproteinon July 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:She ionizes and atomizes
    Then turns to sunlight

    ----
    I think they're saying she analyzes the relationship, and then disappears and becomes out of reach,
    much like sunlight.
    ----

    He realizes and itemizes
    Pulls harder than gravity
    ------
    He realizes what's going on with her, and tries his hardest to make her stay
    -----

    Flourescent lightbulbs will make
    An absense of dark,
    ----
    Yes, the relationship makes her feel fulfilled,
    ------

    but
    The light just ain't there still and she said
    "I'm feeling empty"
    --------
    She doesn't feel loved or like she loves him anymore,
    and she feels empty about the relationship
    --------
    The real lights can make you heavy but
    Never ever really empty
    Flourescent lights will always equal empty
    -----
    Real love can bring you down, but will never make you empty.
    A loveless relationship means nothing.


    Flagged modestmousefan233on March 10, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i love this song...the rhythm and everything is perfect.
    Flag sounds_familiar06on June 04, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Oh man. Every time I hear a Modest Mouse album with friends, doesn't really matter which album, I say to them, "Oh, this is my favorite song." Three songs later, I say it again. Sometimes the next song. MM is my favorite band EVAR. I got a tattoo of a hot air balloon with an anchor instead of a carriage. :D
    Flag dojobugon April 17, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Memory:I like peteck727's interpretation the best. But this comment is a story related to the lyrics.

    At the time of this story, I was under the impression that the lyric was "She ionizes and atomizes then turns IT to sunlight"

    I had a best friend who didn't introduce me to Modest Mouse, but he had all the albums, so I would say he immersed me in them. Sometime later, he was dating a friend of mine who was also super into Modest Mouse(and got to see them at a gas station after a concert we attended- lucky $%#%) viewmorepics.myspace.com/…
    Anyway, one cold winter night all three of us were on my friends back porch which faced a street. She was sitting down on a bench and my friend noticed and pointed out to me that she was sitting where she was because she thought the fluorescent street light hitting the bench would warm her up. He then explained that sunlight would warm her, but not fluorescent light. Then I pointed out that they had been playing out the lyrics of this song:
    She was ionizing and atomizing the fluorescent light(the IT in my misheard lyrics) and turning it into sunlight. He was realizing what she was doing and itemizing the different forms of light.
    I suppose I was also realizing and itemizing the situation.
    Flag NoOutleton April 14, 2009   Link

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