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She says it helps with the lights out
Her rabid glow is like braille to the night.
She swears I’m a slave to the details
But if your life is such a big joke, why should I care?
The clock is set for nine but you know you’re gonna make it eight.
So that you two can take some time, teach each other to reciprocate.
She feels that my sentimental side should be held with kid gloves
But she doesn’t know that I left my urge in the icebox
She swears I’m just prey to the female,
Well then hook me up and throw me, baby cakes, cuz I like to get hooked.
The clock is set for nine but you know you’re gonna make it eight.
All the people that you’ve loved they’re all bound to leave some keepsakes.
I’ve been swinging all the time, think it’s time to learn your way.
I picture you and me together in the jungle it would be ok.
I’ll bring you when my lifeboat sails through the night
That is supposing that you don’t sleep tonight
It’s like learning a new a language
Helps me catch up on my mime
If you don’t bring up those lonely parts
This could be a good time
It’s like learning a new language
You come here to me
We’ll collect those lonely parts and set them down
You come here to me
She says brief things, her love’s a pony
My love’s subliminal
She says brief things, her love’s a pony
My love’s subliminal
Her rabid glow is like braille to the night.
She swears I’m a slave to the details
But if your life is such a big joke, why should I care?
The clock is set for nine but you know you’re gonna make it eight.
So that you two can take some time, teach each other to reciprocate.
She feels that my sentimental side should be held with kid gloves
But she doesn’t know that I left my urge in the icebox
She swears I’m just prey to the female,
Well then hook me up and throw me, baby cakes, cuz I like to get hooked.
The clock is set for nine but you know you’re gonna make it eight.
All the people that you’ve loved they’re all bound to leave some keepsakes.
I’ve been swinging all the time, think it’s time to learn your way.
I picture you and me together in the jungle it would be ok.
I’ll bring you when my lifeboat sails through the night
That is supposing that you don’t sleep tonight
It’s like learning a new a language
Helps me catch up on my mime
If you don’t bring up those lonely parts
This could be a good time
It’s like learning a new language
You come here to me
We’ll collect those lonely parts and set them down
You come here to me
She says brief things, her love’s a pony
My love’s subliminal
She says brief things, her love’s a pony
My love’s subliminal
Lyrics submitted by saturnine
Track duration: 04:00
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This whole lyric is about the psychosexual aspects of a relationship, as is Banks' trademark. I mean Stella, NARC, Say Hello to the Angels, Rest my Chemistry, No I in Threesome... Just sex. Nothing more. Which is cool with me.
He's more experienced and world-wise than she is, and she's judgemental rather than accepting. She will find fault with everything, even pretending the clock is wrong, even trying to change his ways and control how he should feel just because it's all new to her and she's unsure of herself. Maybe she's desperately trying to avoid intimacy. Anyway she's so wrapped up in her discomfort she doesn't even see how he's denying himself for her sake, holding certain things back to give her a chance to adjust. *she doesn't know that I left my urge in the icebox* = if she could only see the REAL me...
*She swears I was prey for the female* She thinks she can control how he acts with other women, maybe ex-girlfriends that make her nervous. He answers sarcastically oh yeah, I'm totally cheating on you every chance I get. Grow up.
He tells her *I've been swinging all this time, think It's time I learned your way* because maybe he IS jaded and used by her standards, and what he loves so much about her is her inexperience, her purity, the novelty of innocence. He could picture them making a serious commitment and it would be ok, despite their differences, in the jungle together.
She answers *I'll bring you when my lifeboat sails through the night, supposing you don't sleep tonight* Meaning if he can sit still and pay attention to the values that make her who she is, he can come aboard. But if he can't even bother to stay awake, to put in the effort, it'll be no good. Maybe she's asking him to make concessions about their relationship, things she can't allow herself to do.
He says to the therapist *it's like learning a new language* It'll be hard work. *helps me catch up on my mime* we'll figure something out, somehow. Then he says to the girl *If you don't bring up those lonely parts, this could be a good time* = She's making me slow down and get to know myself and it's hard to face the dark bits. I'm used to dulling them with sensation and she's never lived like that. It's a lot to adjust to, but I think it's worth it, I'll give it a shot. She could be amazing.
She answers him *you come here to me, we'll collect those lonely parts and set them down* = you'll figure it out, trust me I'll be there for you if you'll just be patient with me. Things will be good between us.
Forward in time, he muses to himself *she says brief things her love's a pony my love's subliminal* = maybe I screw around a lot and am more worldly than she is, but how I feel is genuine, sincere and perceptible, whereas she is more 'pure' and unspoiled, having lived a more sheltered life, but it doesn't mean that she loves me better. She says brief things = she's satisfied by shallow interactions. Her love's a pony = she's living this ideal of what love should be, the thing all little girls dream of, but it's not REAL. It's got no value. At least the way I am, subliminal as it may be, is true to myself and not some illusion of how I think I should be.
Maybe he regrets having put in the time. Maybe he just feels tired of her judgements. I think the relationship is about to fall apart at this point. Very sad song, really.
Given the sexual angst of this song, I would say that the line/album title dynamic lends itself to a kind of double meaning. It's the last song on the album, so in essence it's saying "Turn out the lights; the party's over." It's also saying that while Interpol (or Tony Banks) likes it (Sex I guess. Or whatever you want really.) with the lights on, it helps the girl in this song when the lights are out. If we're to keep the title of the album in mind during this song, then the narrator and the girl are at odds with one another. Basically they're at a sexual standstill.
I think one important key to understanding is Paul’s intonation. In the louder parts he’s describing the situation, while in the parts with his voice more silent and calm he is speaking to himself, it’s a voice in his head, a plan he is having with this girl and their relationship, as well as his hesitation and feelings towards her.
Generally i understand that their relation has been based on sex, and now he wants to move it further, as he senses his feelings for her changing or growing, however he is scared of getting hurt or doesn’t really know how to do it, because he’s never been there, while she would prefer to keep it the non-binding way, probably for the same reasons as him, or she is simply still happy enough with the way it is, unlike him. Btw I think you can also apply the hooker theory on this :)
„She says It helps with the lights out
Her rabid glow is like braille to the night.“
He describes that she wants to enjoy the sex they are having and doesn’t want to be bothered with his emotions, or maybe even hers (which she wouldn’t admit). Hence she prefers the dark which hides all of this and shows only her lust and passion. He doesn’t feel the same anymore, so let’s himself be guided by it to keep up with her.
„She swears I'm a slave to the details
But if your life is such a big joke, why should I care?“
Whenever he tries to express he wants more from their relationship, she just brushes him off and says he worries to much. So he thinks to himself that if she wants to continue not giving a fuck about him, it’s not enough for him. He wants her to care for him. So he will try to make her care.
„The clock is set for nine but you know you're gonna make it eight.
So that you two can take some time, teach each other to reciprocate.“
He talks to himself. His plan is to spend more time with her in order to get to know each other better, to work on their relationship, to learn not only to take but to give as well.
„She feels that my sentimental side should be held with kids gloves
But she doesn't know that I left my urge in the icebox“
He describes that when he tries to do so, she rejects it, mocking his sentimental side, and wants to bring his attention back to sex. But this is not what he’d come for tonight, he says to himself.
„She swears I'm just prey for the female,
Well then hook me up and throw me baby cakes, cuz I like to get hooked.“
She basically expresses what he means to her. She enjoys having sex with him and doesn’t want to care for anything serious. Mocked and angry with her he resignedly and a bit sarcastically agrees to it (after all he wants to be with her).
„The clock is set for nine but you know you're gonna make it eight.“
This brings us back to the voice in his head – he continues on the thought „So that you two …“ in the following line.
„All the people that you've loved they're all bound to leave some keepsakes.“
He says to himself that he (or he might be reffering to both of them, as he does in the verse „So that you two …“) might have had relationships before that ended up badly and left bitter aftertaste ..
„I've been swinging all the time, think it's time I learned your way.“
.. so up to now he kept avoiding getting too involved (to prevent from being hurt), but this time he’s ready to take the risk and go for it.
„I picture you and me together in the jungle it will be ok.“
Inside, he believes that their relationship can work.
„I'll bring you when my lifeboat sails through the night
That is supposing that you don't sleep tonight“
He encourages her to try it with him, to spend their nights together not only having plain sex but getting to know each other. But, already knowing where her interest lies, he adds to himself, that she will probably sleep, meaning not care, not pay attention to him as always.
„It's like learning a new language
Helps me catch up on my mime“
He describes that expressing what his body wants (what his body has been miming – not feeling the lust, but something more) is very hard. He has probably never strived for such relationship so he doesn’t really know what to say, how to act, how to persuade her. So he doesn’t make himself clear and she doesn’t fully understand what he wants (and thus she makes fun of his sentiments).
„If you don't bring up those lonely parts
This could be a good time“
She or maybe the voice in his head is dicouraging him by reminding him of all the troubles and heart-breaks serious relationships can bring, so he asks her not to do so and try to see the bright side of it instead – that in the end they might experience something more interesting than they do now .
„It's like learning a new language“
He is running out of arguments ..
„You come here to me.
We'll collect those lonely parts and set them down
You come here to me...“
.. so more urgently he appeals to her to join him. If they both go for the same thing they might forget all the past disappointment and overcome future problems and be happy ..
„She says brief things, her love's a pony
My love's subliminal“
.. but she just brushes him off again, maybe even by saying that she loves him (which she doesn’t mean) staying the same, shallow, and leaving him alone with his feelings. But he can’t go back and be as carefree as her anymore, his feelings are too deep.
---
Maybe i got it all wrong, but it works for me :) more with every other listening to the song. The way Paul sings it is simply brilliant.
It's like learning a new language
Helps me catch up with my mime... (Brilliant lyrics!)
I also liked someone else's interpretation of it being about sex with a prostitute. I can see that too. :)
I think she's trying to be pragmatic, was probably hurt in the past. She recognizes (at least for herself) that things cannot strictly, and forever stay sexual... She probably has feelings for him that she doesn't want to feel.. she pushes it away.
"You come here to me
We'll collect those lonely parts and set them down
You come here to me"
This part is defo him saying (in my opinion)... just let go of the "lonely" parts... "this could be a good time". If she just lets her guard down, lets go. I don't believe it's him wanting a relationship..
"She feels that my sentimental side should be held with kid gloves
But she doesn't know that I left my urge in the icebox
She swears I'm just prey to the female,
Well then hook me up and throw me, baby cakes, cuz I like to get hooked."
Held with kid gloves... she feels she should avoid having feelings or engaging his feelings, but he assures her there are none (they've been left in the icebox).