Lyrics for I Palindrome I as interpreted by sawg

I Palindrome I Lyrics
Someday mother will die and I'll get the money
Mom leans down and says, "My sentiments exactly,
You son of a bitch"
I palindrome I (I palindrome I)
I palindrome I (I palindrome I)
And I am a snake head eating (snake head)
The head on the opposite side (snake head)
I palindrome I (manonam)
I palindrome I (manonam)

See that bulletproof dress hanging from the clothesline
See the medical chart with the random zig-zag
Now I'll help it decide
I palindrome I (I palindrome I)
I palindrome I (I palindrome I)
And I am a snake head eating (snake head)
The head on the opposite side (snake head)
I palindrome I (manonam)
I palindrome I (manonam)
I palindrome I (manonam)
I palindrome I (manonam)

"Son I am able," she said "though you scare me."
"Watch," said I
"Beloved," I said "watch me scare you though." said she,
"Able am I, Son."

See the spring of the grandfather clock unwinding
(Egad, a base tone denotes a bad age)
See the hands of my offspring making windmills
(Egad, a base tone denotes a bad age)
Dad palindrome Dad
I palindrome I (I palindrome I)
I palindrome I (I palindrome I)
And I am a snake head eating (snake head)
The head on the opposite side (snake head)
I palindrome I (manonam)
I palindrome I (manonam)
I palindrome I (manonam)
I palindrome I (manonam)

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cprompt
11-25-2001

Rated 0 
This song is filled with palindromes, and a somewhat twisted meaning.
The first one, "I". I is only a single letter, so it is a palindrome. I is still I both forward and backward. The title, "I Palindrome I" is a palindrome if you consider each word, instead of each letter. Mom, dad, and I are palindromes.
While not exactly a palindrome, the irony of your mother calling a son of a bitch, well...if you're HER son...anyway, the idea is that they are both waiting for the other to die so they can collect insurance, inheritance, etc.
Next, is man-o-nam. Man of VIETnam? *shrug* It's still a palindrome.
The bulletproof dress hanging from the clothesline is hanging there because it was not worn! As a result, someone is in the hospital, presumably the narrator's mother. The medical charts random zig-zag gets some personification, IT is deciding whether the mother will live. The son can "help it decide" by either killing her outright or by disconnecting her life support.

The "Son I am able" verse is a palindrome word by word. It could mean that the mother says she doesn't need any support from her son (Son I am able) but she fears he will kill her (though you scare me). The son basically says "Watch! I'll scare you yet!"

The next palindrome is "Egad a base tone denotes a bad age". It is a palindrome by letter. Lastly, we have "Dad palindrome Dad", another palindrome by word.

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JamesD
04-17-2002

Rated 0 
Could I have put it better myself, I think not!

Now, Dad, see: Logo-Lee's Dad won


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EmothicA
04-29-2002

Rated 0 
cpromt- you mention how "Son I am able," she said "though you scare me."
"Watch," said I
"Beloved," I said "watch me scare you though." said she,
"Able am I, Son."
talks about whether or not the sone will kill/scare his mother, but i didn't see you mention that it was a palindrome by letter also! just thought i'd add that!


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beefinit
04-30-2002

Rated 0 
EmothicA, how is that a palindrome by letter? a palindrome by letter is like "race car", when spelled forwards and backwards is the same. That verse spelled backwards is:
"nos I ma elba ehs dias hguoht uoy eracs em hctaw dias i devoleb i dias hctaw em eracs uoy hguoht dias ehs elba ma i nos"
so by letter this isn't a palindrome, as far as i understand!

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RainyEar
05-01-2002

Rated 0 
Real World Occurance: Every so often a snake is born with two heads (very rare). However the snake doesn't stay that way for long, as one of the heads will bite the other off eventually. I think the metaphor relates to the mother and son both being heads of the family and one has to kill the other.

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namingway
05-01-2002

Rated 0 
I always thought the "snake head eating the head on the opposite side" referred to AURYN, the amulet/symbol on the cover of The Neverending Story, depicting two snakes eating each other's tails and forming a closed circle with their bodies. But now that I think about it, that's more tail-eating than head-eating, so maybe I've been off base all this time.

Isn't it silly when that happens?

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heir2beulah
05-04-2002

Rated 0 
this song is an expression of pure genius.

not 2 mention that it is hugely entertainig

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doortodoor
05-28-2002

Rated 0 
My thinking on the snake head eating the head on the opposite side, is from the thought of a snake eating its own tail and around until it swallows itself. Completely nonsensical, but I remember seeing it portrayed in cartoons. So when the lyric says the snake eating the head on the opposite side it's eating it's own head only from the back side (opposite side). This meaning would be that the mother and son (in this case the son because that is who is narrating) are trying to kill the other one but in doing so are killing themself as well.

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kineom34
06-07-2002

Rated 0 
Well, I read that the Johns said that the man-o-nam part is just a letter palindrome, not man of Vietnam. But, I think that they did say it was about a mom and son waiting for the other to die, or actually attempting to murder the other. I thought of the "snake head eating the head on the opposite side," as being like the oroborous(like on Millenium and the WoT Aes Sedai rings) with a head eating another head on the other side, instead of the tail, sort of showing that one of the two is already starting to kill the other, but most likely, will kill his/herself in the process.

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doortodoor
06-17-2002

Rated 0 
I think the man-o-nam is actually about the narrator's father. Maybe he died in Nam and that's what destroyed the family and maybe the money from his death is what they're talking about.

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belthazar
06-18-2002

Rated 0 
i think ur all looking a little too far into he fact that the entire band likes booze



A LOT!

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doortodoor
06-29-2002

Rated 0 
tee hee, you're clever.....

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cprompt
07-01-2002

Rated 0 
Are you kidding? When E! True Hollywood Stories comes out for They Might Be Giants, as The Onion suggested, they'll probably just talk about their horrible Pac-man addiction in the 80's.

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SocialParasite
09-06-2002

Rated 0 
A serpent eating its own tail is the symbol of eternity or infinity, depending on how you look at it.

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kenba
09-26-2002

Rated 0 
I'm with Belthazar, while highly entertaining and at times very smart, They Might Be Giants don't really have much in the deeper meaning area.

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Wabbajack
09-27-2002

Rated 0 
it's not about deep meaning; the song is cryptic, with non-traditional imagery, so puzzling out a mundane meaning can be a challenge in and of itself. that's what people are speculating.
(except for the snake-tail bits; they aren't in the song, though)
and remember: rats live on no evil star

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LittleBriddie
03-05-2003

Rated 0 
I don't think the Johns commonly write songs protesting war or on very many political thoughts, but I wouldn't say there is no meaning in their music. It's fun, witty, and introspective, often. Anyone who's is boozing it all the time couldn't come up with all the irony and wit in their music.

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theparasprinter
05-01-2003

Rated 0 
i highly diasgree with kenba!!
if you listen only a small collections of songs you won't notice any deeper meanings. man -o-nam is a bit far off,(its just a letter palidrome) but yes this song is about a son waiting for his mom to die.
check out some other songs like the end of the tour for example. its about killing somebody in a car accident, birds fly is about getting arrested for comitting a crime, s-e-x-x-y is either about transvestitism or a chromosone disorder, they'll need a crane is about ending a relationship ruined in part by alcohol.

thats why i love tmbg so much. their music is great, they're funny people, and they can so casualy throw in songs with hard to notice story lines.

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AlmightyDoerOfStuff
11-22-2004

Rated 0 
I love TMBG. Anyway, the bit saying "Mom leans down" implies that the son is probably a small child, making this song a bit more twisted. Good song.

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xcosx
12-08-2004

Rated +1 
I love the fact that the situation is the most obvious palindrome (not really, but somewhat), of them all.

Mother brings Son into this world, Son takes Mother out.

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UglinessMan
01-10-2005

Rated 0 
Just a note for those people saying "It doesn't mean that, you're looking too deep into the song, TMBG aren't presenting hidden messages"... keep in mind that the heading above the text box which we all type these comments says "What does this song mean to you?" By definition, we're talking about opinions and personal interpretations, not right and wrong.

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razajac
02-28-2005

Rated 0 
This is a song about the possibilities of good and evil. It's about choices. And the ending is perhaps a life affirming jump to the next reality where the singer now has his own family. It's all speculative.
It's important to understand that, by talking about matricide jokingly, the Johns are not subtly advocating matricidal attitudes. If anything, they are harbingers of the primal spiritual truth that if you don't cop to spiritual possibilities, you'll get blindsided by them.

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Cruxaphetica
02-28-2005

Rated 0 
xcosx mad an EXCELLENT point about that palindrome of life.

Excellent work by the johns, one of my favorite songs despite its... enigmatic meanings...

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angryrobot
04-12-2005

Rated +1 
the beauty of all TMBG songs is how they take really ugly truths about the world (that a son would care so little about a mother that he only values her for her bank account) and make it into a fun little song that you can whistle to. It's the secret to a bitterless existence. Just like George Carlin says: Life is a freak show and when we are born we all get a ticket. Enjoy the show.

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NQArbuckle
05-05-2005

Rated 0 
angryrobot: i've been trying to tell people this forever. (" the beauty of all TMBG songs is how they take really ugly truths about the world") thank you for agreeing

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