I've been waiting
Waiting under things
That rise in the morning
I've been holding
Holding back so long
You can own it
Take it off my hands
Do me a favor
Nothin' wasted
Just fingerfucked and
Busted up all at once

I'm so lost out on the highway
With no direction left to go
Everyday sit up and wonder
Where it was I started from

The more you've found
The less you've been around



Lyrics submitted by Elin

Track duration: 03:45

"The Bronze" as written by Josh Homme

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

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The Bronze song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment:To me it's about a girl. I was always worrying about this girl, so I was up early when the sun rose. I knew she wasn't true and that my best friend liked her, but I held back for so long. After a while I was just sort of like fuck it, take it away, let it be your burden. "Take it off my hands, do me a favor." I hadn't wasted any time because my time with her taught me a lot. "Nothin' wasted." And as for the last part, I think he means he fingerfucked a girl during foreplay and then said "Sorry bitch, gotta go, been good knowin' ya."

    Then of course after that he was thinking a lot about things as we all do. Getting lost on the highway with nowhere to go just thinking about what went wrong, etc.

    The last part really stands out to me, because the friend who liked my girlfriend is still a virgin and almost 18, and he always has something quasi-intellectual to say and he's always got to be the know-it-all. Hence, the more you find, or the more you've found, the less you've been around. The more you have to prove shit and be that one that's found all the knowledge and is the smartest and the bragart, the more insecure you are, the less you've been around.

    This song means a lot to me and every line means something. I always wanted to just fuck that girl one last time and say see ya. It all fits. I think it's about a girl. That's just me.
    Flag Niggardlyon September 07, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Been obsessing over Queens for quite some time and I finally found a download of it when I was introduced to Torrents. My god the guitars are amazing, Josh you just cannot disappoint me!
    Flag PilotKelson1056on October 12, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:the guitar in this song is amazing. to me this song talks about wasted potential
    Flag Lock3don July 02, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I love that ambivalent style. Explaining life conclusions through sex and/or drugs. (In this case it´s obviuos).
    Dangilman summed it up pretty well.
    I rather think that the 1st verse describes laziness in general. "Waiting under things that rise in the morning"(maybe he is "imprisoned" by the day/sun by following constant routines repeating every day).
    "I been holding, holding back so long"(starting to regret his prior way of life).
    And with "You can own it etc....do me a favour...nothin wasted,fingerfucked" and so on. confirming it.
    He realizes the every day routine by seeing his loss of focus. "I´m so lost out on the highway, with no direction left to go". "Everyday sit up and wonder where it was I started from"(due to his everyday routine).
    And the final conclusion out of this one..."The more you´ve found the less you´ve been around". It is describing the fact that everytime you get your ass up to do something you planned or whatever you don´t fall back into that state of routine laziness (regular bronze dude). You can be someone who actually does something (no.1 gold winner). And with doing so you can find out what you actually do/don´t want out of life (finding things).
    Flag 4kum4on September 14, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I think you must begin by looking at the title of the track: The Bronze. As opposed to the Gold or the Silver, the bronze medal is relatively disreputable. The bronze has a relative social stigma attached. The first verse relies on the title of the song to give the lyrics weight and direction.

    “I’ve been waiting under things that rise in the morning.” ‘Things that rise in the morning’ are the early birds that get the worm. Things that rise in the morning are the 1st place gold winners that Homme feels inferior to. He’s been “holding back so long,” and now that he has had this self-realization he is willing to “take [the bronze] off [his] hands,” because it is a burden to carry (“finger fucked and busted up”).

    The solo after the first verse is powerful because it’s a highly technical and intricate pattern that erodes into complete chaos until it literally slides and screeches into the 2nd verse. The structure of the solo itself indicates the transition, from the highly structured 1st verse, into the 2nd verse’s chaotic, formless, existential self-analysis.

    Now that Homme has realized how pathetically he has wasted his own potential, he begins analyzing exactly how and why he came to this point. “I’m so lost out on the highway, with no direction left to go, every day sit up and wonder where it was I started from.” He’s trying to find his origin and error.

    Homme ends the song, “The more you’ve found the less you’ve been around.” This line is the conclusion of his self-analysis.

    IN SUMMARY: The 1st verse is about Homme realizing his predicament and refusing to live with it; the solo is a transition from realization to reflection; and the 2nd verse is an attempt to find a solution, which leads to a existential conclusion: “the more you’ve found the less you’ve been around.”

    That last line is highly interpretable, but I imagine it two ways: either literally that the more time you spend doing new things the less time you have to spend doing or thinking about anything else. Or you could look at it from any unique perspective of your own, because it’s a very fundamental suggestion that will apply to many things in life (such as becoming popular and not hanging out with your old friends, or picture Homme touring and not having any time for his family).

    Anyway. This is just my basic interpretation, determined by title, structure, and common sense. No one but Homme will ever know exactly why he wrote it, and anyone listening to it will interpret it the way he/she likes.

    Flag dangilmanon July 14, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Oh my god, this song is fucking amazing.
    The guitar solo....fucking FUCK
    Flag angiearaujoxon October 26, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Gotta agree with the comments about the guitar in this song, the way it's played is simply amazing, kudos to Homme.

    "I been waiting
    Waiting under things that rise in the morning" - This line obviously screams sexual imagery, specifically "morning glory" (also a good song, Oasis :P). If one was to take this literally, it could be talking about the sperm, underneath the "things that rise in the moooooorning :D" - this leads me to think that "The Bronze" = a metaphor for spunk.
    Flag StoneAgeEagleon September 06, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This song has long intrigued me. The opening verse is in line with both Homme’s tongue and cheek sense of humor and lyrical motif regarding sex. “Waiting under things that rise in the morning,” is a perfect description of waking up with morning-wood (if you sleep on your back). “Holding back so long,” and “waiting” have connotations that this poor bastard who suffers of morning-wood has also been suffering through a sexual dry spell. Then the line, “take it off my hands, do me a favor” which obviously hints at getting laid, or serviced in some way sexually (lets hope he is getting laid—hand jobs are lame). The matter (i.e. dick) is no longer in his own hands and he is much obliged. Then comes the eloquent “fingerfucked” lyric; which serves to continue the theme.
    Then the second verse happens. Homme goes all existential. Of course, there is a parallel between getting laid and “where it was I started from.” It is as though the sexual encounter has liberated the mind of the morning-wood man (a vice versa of a certain Seinfeld episode). He can now ponder the nature of the universe—in a manner that may not have been possible before.
    The last line: “The more you’ve found, the less you’ve been around” has Platonic implications. Socratic wisdom comes from the cognizance of the individual’s own ignorance—knowing that you are unwise is what makes one wise. This is the implication of the last line of the song and it keeps with the second verse’s existential questions and validates a Platonic/Socratic philosophical view of the world.
    Flag SaltoVonSexronon May 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I just have to say...

    I FUCKIN LOVE THIS SONG!!!!

    Ok. Now, the lyrics.

    Waiting under things that rise in the morning?
    Sun, day, work, breakfeast, sheets, bed..
    Or maybe the begginning of something.

    "The more you found the less you been around"
    "I went for gold, but only got the bronze" - Nick
    Like you left someone or something to find what
    you wanted. And the more you find the more time
    it took you. And the less time you spent where you
    wanted.

    PS: this song is much older than Stone age
    complications. On you tube there's them playing
    @ bizarre festival '98. on Stage only Josh, Niick and
    Alfredo Hernadez. Not only the guitar, but bass and
    drums are fuckin amazing... Never saw josh so concentrated on playing.
    Flag frost37on July 07, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:the guitar solo totally makes me horny. This is by far my favourite qotsa song ever!
    Flag Retrofilon April 23, 2007   Link

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