Lyrics for A Lack of Color as interpreted by minette

A Lack of Color Lyrics
And when I see you
I really see you upside down
But my brain knows better
It picks you up and turns you around
Turns you around
Turns you around

If you feel discouraged
When there's a lack of color here
Please don't worry lover
It's really bursting at the seams
Absorbing everything
The spectrum's A to Z

This is fact, not fiction
For the first time in years
All the girls in every girlie magazine
Can't make me feel any less alone
I'm reaching for the phone

To call at 7:03
And on your machine, I slur a plea
For you to come home
But I know it's too late
I should have given you a reason to stay
Given you a reason to stay
Given you a reason to stay
Given you a reason to stay

This is fact, not fiction
For the first time in years...

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cheFFy
04-09-2004

Rated 0 
best song ever, the way he opens himself up for so much, the way he whispers what we all think.

"all the girls in every girlie magazine cant make me feel, any less alone. I'm reaching for the phone, to call at 7:03, and on your machine i slur a plea for you to come home"
(this is where i die, over again)

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hot___pursuit
04-10-2004

Rated 0 
this song is so amazing.
it opens me like a book.

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onlyCASTLESburning
04-12-2004

Rated 0 
the sentiment that it is our fault that the ones who we loved have left us...because we simply became too boring for their day-to-day...seems to drip.

i'm connected to this song.

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a subtle allegory
04-14-2004

Rated +1 
reading these lyrics makes me want to sing "I should have given you a reason to stay, given you a reason to stay."

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strykerchick
04-19-2004

Rated +1 
Only thing I'm confused about is the part of him seeing her upside down. Is that a metaphor for something?

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4 Replies
Yanksm2
04-21-2004

Rated 0 
i think the part of her being upside down is actually a reference to the way vision works. When we see something, the eye "sees" the image upside down, and the brain flips it around before we truly see the image. I think the lens of our eye causes the outside image to reflect upside down to the back of the eye/brain or something around there...

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fish eat steel
04-29-2004

Rated 0 
i love the way he sings this

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fish eat steel
04-29-2004

Rated 0 
yes tabjsm2 is correct, i happened to understand that the first time i heard it :p

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fish eat steel
04-29-2004

Rated 0 
i think this song is talking about a girl he is in love with and how it has changed him, such as "And the girls in every girlie magazine
Can't make me feel any less alone"

and "This is fact not fiction
For the first time in years" is reffering to him being in love.

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NumbVox
05-01-2004

Rated 0 
Perhaps I'll post more later... But for now I just want to say how beautiful this song is... I know I wish I had given her a reason to stay.

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sambo28
05-04-2004

Rated 0 
yes the eye sees images upside down, and the brain flips them around... but whats the relevance of that??
do you think its about not understanding that person, or being confused by them, or not being able to read them very well?

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2 Replies
AmericanSuperHeros
05-10-2004

Rated 0 
I think it's just going along with the whole this is how things work, sorry it's not more interesting deal.

It always bothers me that this song starts with the word "and" it seems unnecessary.

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1 Reply
Alsatian
05-20-2004

Rated +6 
The whole song is a study of reality through the lens of opposites: inside vs. outside, fact vs. fiction, heart vs. brain. When looking at something, which view shows the soul or the truth of the matter, and which is just a shadow or filter of the truth.

In the midst of his loneliness in the aftermath of being left, he's perfecting his idea of what he had. He's longing for a perfection that he never really had. Is he longing for fact or a fiction he's created for himself?

The first stanza sets this up with the heart vs. the mind contradiction. The eye with vision (just like the heart with relationships) is the first receptor, the first judge. Because, it's first, is it closer to the original and therefore more true? or is the brain more true after it's had time to correct our eye's vision. Our brain tends to do the same thing to our heart after a while in a relationship. The brain is always catching up with our instincts.

By repeating "turns you around" several times, he's emphasizing that the brain does more than just a physical function of inverting an image, but the brain also locks onto the idea and dwells on it, dissects it, considers it over and over again and thinks it over constantly.

But is all that thinking and interpretation bringing him closer to the truth, or further from the truth. Did he really have a perfect relationship, or is he weaving a myth of perfection. Which is fact, which is fiction? The heart or the mind?

In the last lines of the song I think he realizes that he's longing for a false perfection. His reality is that he's alone now. That's the fact. The fiction is the relationship that's now over: they were together, but it couldn't work because it wasn't true. All the time they spent together was just a sham because at the heart of the matter it couldn't work.

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emo_babah07
05-20-2004

Rated 0 
"I should have given you a reason to stay"... the thinks you regret not saying before it ended. Just if you would have given a good excuse to stay together. This song is incredible and i really like how its acoustic and it makes it more emotional just being that way. The first time i listened to this album and this song, it really made an impact on me and i seriously am in love with it. so damn good.

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Jonnyxx
05-25-2004

Rated 0 
the guitar reminds me of a dashboard song, cant think of which one, and they vocals at the begining sound like Treble Chargers 'Mores The Pity'.

still a good song though! :-)

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emogreen
06-01-2004

Rated 0 
Definitely the best song on Transatlantism... he's in love with someone and he's seeing them for who they really are, "absorbing everything". The real them. Just true love. And then she left.

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miserablefailure
06-06-2004

Rated 0 
Alsatian, really really great interpretation. I enjoyed it much.

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odhinn178
06-12-2004

Rated 0 
Yes, Alsatian, excellent deconstruction.

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cheFFy
06-21-2004

Rated 0 
this is such a break up song.
"upside down": a show of being literal, almost scientific that adds through the entire song.
"color": used to show the emotion of his love, their love.
"fact not fiction": lies or stretching in the relationship.

He misses her so much and it's shown so easily in the last few lines, both "all the girls in every girlie magazine" and "i slur a plea, for you to come home"
He realizes that he's made a mistake, and that she had a reason to leave, but still doesnt want to accept it. he still wants her. he wants to make it right.

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aviaticsquad
07-05-2004

Rated 0 
the verse about the color is the one that gets me.
when you think about it, the way color works is the absorbing of all the colors and reflection of one..
so the lack of color is like the intake of everything, under the surface, and there's only one representation... but it's absolutely "bursting at the seams" with everything that's not showing.
absolutely gorgeous

ben gibbard is so good with his words, so expressive in his voice, all of the dcfc music (and postal service) is so real. he makes you really feel the music

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strangelittlesecret
09-23-2004

Rated 0 
This song is absolute lyrical perfection, in my opinion. Ben Gibbard is an amazing writer. I think it's incredible how well he can convey these thoughts and emotions through writing and then balance them so gracefully with the accompanying music. Lovely, lovely song. I would try and choose a favorite part, but I don't think that would be possible. The entire thing is wonderful.

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1 Reply
Not_Like_The_Rest
09-26-2004

Rated 0 
I cry everytime I hear this song. It brings back so many memories, both good and bad. I agree basically with what everyone has said about the meaning.

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asianlikesgoodmusic
09-28-2004

Rated 0 
i dnt really cry but it does really bring alot of emotions esepcially during relationship troubles

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mynameisemo
10-12-2004

Rated 0 
Read Plato. I think this song has A LOT to do with Dialogues. Everything starts from opposites and dies in opposites. It's the way the mind fools the soul (knowledge) and eventually destroys him. If you read or have read Plato, you'll know what I'm trying to say... Amazing and oh-so-sad song. Please stay, baby...

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clairebaby
10-14-2004

Rated 0 
i LOVE this song. it's quite depressing to me, though. reminds me of when i was having problems in a relationship.. listened to it non-stop.

This is fact not fiction
For the first time in years

beaaaaautiful.

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