Lyrics for Nobody Home as interpreted by Demau Senae

Nobody Home Lyrics
I've got a little black book with my poems in
I've got a bag with a toothbrush and a comb in
When I'm a good dog they sometimes throw me a bone in
I got elastic bands keeping my shoes on
Got those swollen hand blues.
Got thirteen channels of shit on the T.V. to choose from
I've got electric light
And I've got second sight
I've got amazing powers of observation
And that is how I know
When I try to get through
On the telephone to you
There'll be nobody home
I've got the obligatory Hendrix perm
And I've got the inevitable pinhole burns
All down the front of my favorite satin shirt
I've got nicotine stains on my fingers
I've got a silver spoon on a chain
I've got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains
I've got wild staring eyes
I've got a strong urge to fly
But I've got nowhere to fly to
Ooooh Babe when I pick up the phone
There's still nobody home
I've got a pair of Gohills boots
And I've got fading roots.

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  • 53 Comments
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superbutters
07-23-2002

Rated 0 
i love this song, it's so sad. makes me think of school.....we have no cable.....only 3 channels of shit to choose from.

floyd rocks

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FelixCloud
07-27-2002

Rated 0 
Some of the lyrics make me think of Syd Barrett. Waters has said that the 'elastic bands' line is an allusion to the great man.

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NicoleInWonderland
07-30-2002

Rated 0 
This is one of my favorate songs off of The Wall. I love the vibe it gives off. Its like the vibe i get from dong everyday things when someone around me dies. Even though thats prolly not what hes aiming for. or something.

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SwornToTheBlack
08-19-2002

Rated 0 
the lyrics are about Syd Barrett, in fact so was most of The Wall. It's sad to think about really. This song lets you step inside his personal degredation.

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Fool_in_the_rain
06-22-2003

Rated 0 
This album is like mother's milk to me. I was raised with this album and it has always had a very special place in my music lover's heart. This song was always reminiscent of those really hard times, when you have nothing and those people you were once close to no longer keep in touch. Very very sad and depressing song. BUt god, do I love it all the same!

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BrainDamage
07-06-2003

Rated 0 
I think this song describes how every guy feels at some point in their life.

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LP
04-18-2004

Rated +1 
By far, my absolute favorite of the album. So eclectic, and yet humble. I can not describe how much this song, with its echoing lyrics and distracting television sounds, captures my attention. There is no other Pink Floyd song that exemplifies their style of coming close to breaking loose only to be held back. Like in the song Time: "Hanging on in quiet desparation is the English way". He just can't seem to let himself go off: "I've got wild staring eyes. I've got a strong urge to fly. But I've got nowhere to fly to (fly to, fly to, fly to)"

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Thunderbolt
06-23-2004

Rated 0 
Reminds me of The Great Gatsby.

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Iamexpirienced
06-25-2004

Rated 0 
This is such a great song. i think this symbolizes when pink hs became so depressed he jsut does drugs to pass the time. also its when hes trying to talk to his wife, hence "when i pick up the phone, theres still nobody home". his wife is cheating on him because hes never around to be with her. the part that tells me hes doing drugs to pass the time is the line " i got nicotine stains on my fingers(i no ciggarettes aint really a drug but bear with me :P) and a silver spoon on a chain"(heroin). Trust me, there have been times when i was so bores that ive smoked a whole pack of ciggarettes jsut to past the time.(at work, go figure) any way thatss my interpretation

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MtterOFctItsAllDrk
10-06-2004

Rated 0 
I've got the obligatory Hendrix perm
And I've got the inevitable pinhole burns
All down the front of my favorite satin shirt

This is about a time the band went to play without Syd, who was to screwed up in the head to play at that specific time. Syd ended up putting a bunch of crap in his hair and coming out on stage. Before long it was a total mess dripping down on his shirt. "the obligatory Hendrix perm" is what Waters called Syd's hair style.

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aquarianarchist
10-30-2004

Rated 0 
it's about depression, and how you may appear to have everything you need in life on the outside, but something is missing.

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Olex
10-31-2004

Rated 0 
I love this song, that one part "I got elastic bands keepin' my shoes on" reminds me of me, I'm to lazy to tie my shoes, so I just tie 'em with rubber bands

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jon azlan
12-10-2004

Rated 0 
i have my small things, my little black book meenz the most,no matter which channel i choose i find mindless rubish,, the real thing must be love, but in general every song that the floyd ever produced waz in some way ,, about, uz n them ,, or them n uz, it iz all a matter ov perspective,, how you look at things

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VonBlade
12-26-2004

Rated 0 
Had to sign up to add something because I am amazed no-one has commented. It's so obviously a song from the perspective of being in a mental institution. Speaking from experience the rooms tend to just have a light, a sink and a bed in them. So if you are unhinged then you would just have a bag with some personal care items etc.

Because of the suicide risk you aren't allowed shoe-laces hence the elastic bands.And when you are allowed a phone call you tend to ring your partner. In some cases they have taken your absence as a chance to be elsewhere.

An urge to fly is strong within anyone being held against their will, but because you aren't allowed to leave the institution then you have nowhere to fly to.

Just how it's always come across to me following my own experiences in this.

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SGT.PEPPER
05-27-2005

Rated 0 
i laid down cranked this song and just cried

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mikemac
08-08-2005

Rated 0 
The last bit "Ooooh Babe when I pick up the phone
There's still nobody home"... I think that is about insanity (most of you probably think it is about him trying to call someone, but theres my opinion)...

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Doffmeister
09-22-2005

Rated 0 
The "little black book" is a reference to the book Little Pink is scolded for in the beginning of the movie, during "The Happiest Days of our Lives", when the teacher makes fun of his poems (which are, in fact, part of the lyrics from "Money").

The song has strong referrals to drug abuse and anti-social behaviour.

To understand it completely you'll have to listen to the entire "The Wall" album as a whole.

"Pink" the artist starts building his wall as soon as he is born - months after his fathers death.
"Nobody Home" symbolises Pink's last efforts to reach out to his wife through the few holes in his "wall" that are left.
That fact the she - or anyone else - fails to answer his calls ultimately leads to Pink going crazy.
In the end Pink judges himself both for shutting himself away from the world around him AND for daring to show human emotions in a world that requires you to be as cold and inhuman as possible.

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wow thats awesome
11-10-2005

Rated 0 
I listen to this when I'm drunk and depressed, it makes alot of sense then.

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MrY
01-08-2006

Rated 0 
I think "pink" is obviously a depressed character at this point. He's got a strong urge to fly, But nowhere to fly to.

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vishal_wall
01-26-2006

Rated 0 
I think the song is about a successful man..It could be waters himself though i dont see waters so negative as this character

is so i presume this is just a fictional charachter (pink) who resembles waters in the flick 'The Wall'. The song is about a

successful depressed man..
lets take it line by line...
(I've got a little black book with my poems in)
Pink's lyrics book
(I've got a bag with a toothbrush and a comb in)
pink's bag while he's travelling as a superstar(comb is a desperate need))
(When I'm a good dog they sometimes throw me a bone in)
'They' could be sponsorers or fans
(I got elastic bands keeping my shoes on)
for suicidal purposes mad people are not allowed shoes with laces.
(Got those swollen hand blues)
i think waters is talking about a mad manacled man in an asylum or a drug which effects in swollen hands or somthing..but I

thing its about being a slave to something...
(Got thirteen channels of shit on the T.V. to choose from)
self exlplanatory..
(I've got electric light)
i always relate to electric shocks but am not too sure..
(And I've got second sight)
I am mad but still I can sense deception..
(I've got amazing powers of observation
And that is how I know
When I try to get through
On the telephone to you
There'll be nobody home )
I am sane enough to understand that even if your at home you'll not pick up the phone..

(I've got the obligatory Hendrix perm)
hendrix kindda hair
(And I've got the inevitable pinhole burns)
holes created using drugs through injections
(All down the front of my favorite satin shirt )
I think satin shirt is just an allusion of expensive shirt which stars wear(not sure)
(I've got nicotine stains on my fingers)
cigrette and nothing else...
(I've got a silver spoon on a chain)
lots of interpretation..mine says siver spoon (success) on a chain (slavery)
(I've got a grand piano to prop up my mortal remains)
a refrence to nothingness.. when a superstar dies his things are put in a museum and thats it..
(I've got wild staring eyes
I've got a strong urge to fly
But I've got nowhere to fly to
Ooooh Babe when I pick up the phone
There's still nobody home)
self explanatory

(I've got a pair of Gohills boots)
I think the adventurous nature of pink
(And I've got fading roots..)
dying...

People let me know If I have goofed up big time here...This is the closest I can get to this masterpiece..Everything is

double-meaning in this song...This is my interpretation unless its about world peace or somehing.. who knows..Long live Pink Floyd the kings of listenable 'Trans'..

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Rocklovinggirl
01-31-2006

Rated 0 
I like the interp. above but I have always believed this song to be about:
The antagonist is stating all these things that he has(good or bad) but the one thing he does not have is someone to call/someone who cares... which seems to be the most important to him.

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Gee wiz
02-21-2006

Rated 0 
this song is sad to me, my fav line is, "i've got wild staring eyes, i've got a strong urge to fly, but i've got nowhere to fly to. amazing song, the way the music is put together is lovely

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inpraiseoffolly
06-02-2006

Rated 0 
The lyrics are quite good (as is the case with most of the Wall), but the music needed to be further developed (as is the case with most of the Wall). All in all, this is a very typical Wall song.

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Grind838
06-04-2006

Rated 0 
"Alright, I'll take care of them part of the time, but there's somebody else that needs taking care of in Washington"
"Who's that?"
"Rose Pilchitt!"
"Rose Pilchitt? Who's that?"
"SHUT UP!"
"36-24-36. Does that answer your question?"
"Oi! I've got a little black book with me poems in!"
"Who's she?"
"She was 'Miss Armoured Division' in 1961"

"Where the hell are you?"
"Over 47 German planes were destroyed with the loss of only 15 of our own aircrafts"
"Where the hell are you, Simon?"

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Inganno
06-06-2006

Rated 0 
A note about the "swollen hands".

We know from "Comfortably Numb" that Pink has had some kind of childhood illness; "hands felt just like two balloons". These are indications of fever dreams, where one is locked in a delirious state and suffers hallucinatory dreams.

Therefore, these "swollen hand blues" could be the moments before Pink is afflicted with his childhood sickness again; "Comfortably Numb".

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