Lyrics for No Children as interpreted by iagoAdmirer

No Children Lyrics
I hope that our few remaining friends
Give up on trying to save us
I hope we come out with a fail-safe plot
To piss off the dumb few that forgave us

I hope the fences we mended
Fall down beneath their own weight
And I hope we hang on past the last exit
I hope it's already too late

And I hope the junkyard a few blocks from here
Someday burns down
And I hope the rising black smoke carries me far away
And I never come back to this town again in my life

I hope I lie
And tell everyone you were a good wife
And I hope you die
I hope we both die

I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow
I hope it bleeds all day long
Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises
We're pretty sure they're all wrong

I hope it stays dark forever
I hope the worst isn't over
And I hope you blink before I do
And I hope I never get sober

And I hope when you think of me years down the line
You can't find one good thing to say
And I'd hope that if I found the strength to walk out
You'd stay the hell out of my way

I am drowning
There is no sign of land
You are coming down with me
Hand in unlovable hand

And I hope you die
I hope we both die



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katileka
05-08-2004

 Rated  +1 
This song is depressing, but also very well written.

My favourite line is: "I hope we come out with a fail-safe plot
to piss off the dumb few that forgave us."

(funny I'm listening to this song at this very moment)

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emly
05-16-2004

 Rated  0 
surely it's about a dead end marriage; nothing left to keep them together, no love, no children, doesn't even seem worth the effort of divorce, feeling like he's brought it all upon himself and so deserves worse punishment...

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1 Reply  · 
iagoAdmirer
05-17-2004

 Rated  0 
I happen to think that things are actually going rather well for the narrator of the song. I just don't believe he thinks he deserves it.

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emly
05-18-2004

 Rated  0 
yes. i think that's what i was trying to say, almost, kinda. it came out a bit wrong

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1 Reply  · 
SasquatchAttack
05-22-2004

 Rated  0 
The whole album is about this couple, called the alpha couple, and this is just another bitter song in their series. It is also fantastic.

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weezerific:cutlery
09-17-2004

 Rated  0 
so pessimistic. and that's what makes it great.

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1 Reply  · 
clasicrock
09-24-2004

 Rated  0 
One of my favorite songs of all time. So outrageously bitter, but sung in a sort of sing-songy happy manner. I like the juxtaposition.

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clasicrock
09-24-2004

 Rated  0 
I forgot one thing. When I saw them live, this was the last song he played, and he changed the lyrics from "I hope we both die" to "I hope you both die." I thought this was a very small surface-level change, but it leads to a new understanding of the story.

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1 Reply  · 
bamargero
11-30-2004

 Rated  +2 
how could anyone think things are going rather well for the narrator? are you kidding? he's obvoiusly depressed and in a total dead-end marriage that they can't get out of(they've hung on past the last exit). he hates himself and hates his wife, they're both drowning with no love at all between them anymore. he says "i hope you die, i hope we both die." how does that have any positive connotation?

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fromthehouseoflords
12-05-2004

 Rated  +1 
i read this interview about the mountain goats and it said that the alpha couple is this alcoholic couple who he wrote several albums from the perspective of. so no, iagoAdmirer, your interpretation is almost the opposite of the song. also, i read that the mountain goats wanted to stop writing about these people, hence the "i hope you die/ i hope you both die".. its not about him as a person.

whats remarkable about this song is its accuracy in portraying alcoholism. if you know any alcoholics closely, you know that they like their way of life as much as it kills them to. they are like walking juxtapositions, contradictions, etc. the mountain goats have this imminent doom within each song so reminiscent of addiction and.. oh. god. its brilliant

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rockbotle
12-07-2004

 Rated  +1 
This is my favorite love song, ever.
Have you ever met an old couple that argues all the time? It's great! Insults and threats fly back and forth throughout every conversation. But still the couple stays together because they do, in fact, love each other. It's just that after a certain point, "being in love" loses the youthful cluelessness that it once had. Love doesn't have to be defined by cutesy emotions and heart-felt letters.
I'm sick of songs that defend love like it's the special needs kid being picked on in the schoolyard, in need of constant support and encouragement. Sometimes love is so permenant that it doesn't have to be mentioned.

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2 Replies  · 
bonsor
12-23-2004

 Rated  +1 
Ive been listening to this song nonstop for about two weeks no. And the lyrics are what make it. Fed up. Melancholy with an optimistic tone. Every word is literal and blunt, but somehow there's still a little bit of ambiguity at the end. The whole song just completely embodies that kind of relationship. Having known old, drunk, mutually abusive couples that stay together until death, it's an all too accurate portrait, with bukowski-esque imagery.

Brilliant song.

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SasquatchAttack
01-07-2005

 Rated  0 
I hate to say that your interpertation is wrong, rockbotle, but it is. This song is about a couple, yes, but their love is dead and buried. They've got liquor and they've got eachother's bodies, but they sure as hell don't got love.

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fuckedupdog
02-08-2005

 Rated  0 
it strikes me that this is just one chapter in a long story of the alpha couple's relationship. if you would refer to the song oceanographer's choice (very weird tittle) the line

And then we fell down
And we locked arms
We knocked the dresser over as we rolled across the floor
I don't mean it when I tell you
That I don't love you any more

this happens to be the second to last song. perhaps they mearly expirence a wide range of feelings.
Thanx to fromthehouseoflords comment about the changing of lyrics live. i would give many a bodily appendage to see them. consider yourself blessed.

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think tank
02-17-2005

 Rated  0 
I head a live version of this song and as someone said above he changed the lyrics from "I hope we both die" but this time he says "I hope we all die". Its my favorite live bootleg just because the whole crowd is singing most of the song. So much energy live.

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fuckedupdog
02-18-2005

 Rated  0 
god damn that is kickass. where'd you find this bootleg???

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Raving Lunatic
03-06-2005

 Rated  0 
Yeah, this song is definitely about a happy couple. I think fromthehouseoflords was right on. All the lyrics make sense if you think of this song as being about an old loveless, drunk couple who don't even want to change their ways despite what the bottle is doing to them.

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fahriiiday
03-18-2005

 Rated  -4 
This is one of the sweetest songs ever, in my opinion. He's saying in a jaded way that he will always be there for this person. He actually hopes that their relationship will be put to the test and that they will both deteriorate together.

I am drowning.
There is no sign of land.
You are coming down with me,
hand in unlovable hand.

And I hope you die,
I hope we both die.

Beautiful.

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youforeah
09-17-2005

 Rated  0 
Awsome.

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TheEel
10-05-2005

 Rated  0 
the definative line, though, to me is "i hope that if i found the strength to walk out, you'd stay the hell out of my way"...there's no happiness, but i can see how bitterness can be mistaken for happiness. resolve, maybe? i've been through this. it's my favorite john darnielle song. hands down.

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thordfoss
01-06-2006

 Rated  0 
Why haven't anyone mentioned the melody? Surely that must be of some importance... It's certainly not depressing. Actually I think it's kind of funny.

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smashingthewine
01-25-2006

 Rated  0 
You are exactly right houseoflords... I know several couples who fit this song so perfectly you would have to see them to believe me. The happiness comes from their acceptance of their state of living... The mutual agreement of the futility and boredom of their relationship, and the use of alcohol and drugs without hesitation to deaden it. Ironically it is this mutual acceptance that brings them together. Also ironically they have no children... something that perhaps would give them meaning.

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bottledlife
02-18-2006

 Rated  0 
The first time I heard this song, I wasn't really concentrating on it, and i actually thought it was a pretty happy, bouncy sort of song. But then I actually listened to the lyrics... I definetely agree thordfoss. The melody is so contradictory to the venom that's behind the lyrics.

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marielb
02-27-2006

 Rated  0 
I can't stop listening to this song. It's perfect.

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catchxfire
03-04-2006

 Rated  0 
i dont think its a depressing song. it sounds to me more like a drinking song.

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