Lyrics for Yellow Cat (Slash) Red Cat as interpreted by AllStarMe

Yellow Cat (Slash) Red Cat Lyrics
i watch my yellow cat
invade my red cat in the yard
the feline war has raged for years
so i assume it’d be too hard
for me to drive my foot between them
i would never risk the scratch
just to prove to one or both of them
a cat is just a cat

again, i watch my cousin greg
watch mtv inside his home
he makes fun of the hip hop videos
from the couch he rides alone
snug in the cushion of his cackling
he forgets his living doubts
he has relied on this for years
you will not yank the carpet out

these are my friends
this is who they have been for always
these are my days
this is how they stay

i watch this dude
each night, same table
he creates and crumples up
his eyes are wide from sipping endlessly
his endless coffee cup
he feeds me quotes
that lonely goat
i watch him grazing by himself
i will not stop him when he rambles
i’m becoming one myself

lou is bugged
shot up with drugs
he sweats this bird he hardly knows
all that he wants is to see someone
he respects without their clothes
so like some hybrid mother/lover
she’d soothe and heal his wounds
and kiss those dying ears so softly
that the reaper stops to swoon
oh please

these are my friends
this is who they have been for always
these are my days
this is how they stay

these are my friends
this is who they remain forever
this is how we stay

i watch my neighbor’s son
play with his shotgun in the street
i think i’ll blaze all day
and marvel at the massive food i eat
it’s strange, i’m skinny when i’m standing
but i’m buddha when i sit
and if i’m truly so enlightened
why’d i waste your time on it

as i look back at countless crossroads
and the middle where i stay
right up the beaten path to boredom
where the fakest fucks get laid
by the faux-finest finds
it’s been that way
god damn you, how you stay
with every scummy, crummy hour
of the scummy, crummy day

these are my friends
this is who they have been for always
these are my days
this is how they stay

these are my friends
this is who they remain forever
this is how we stay

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  • 52 Comments
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ryan...isarealboy
11-09-2004

Rated 0 
i cant believe no one has commented on this song yet...red cats and yellow cats symbolize people of different races attacking each other and max just observes these things but cant do anything about it. hell of a song, hell of a band.

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rbf737
11-21-2004

Rated 0 
i aree with some of that. one of the things i love about say anything is max's lyrics becos they have a unique way of saying things very honestly...it's really amazing. i think like in alot of their songs, this song touches on alot of different things max was thinking about. he reflects alot on mediocrity and mundane aspects of life and his friends and makes alot of observations. like i said max has a very unique way of seeing things and saying them and i think it's fantastic.

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chadforgot
01-10-2005

Rated 0 
the song is about war in metaphorically speaking yellow means peace and red means war the fight between the cats is speaking inwar terms

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ieatmelons
03-28-2005

Rated 0 
well, looking at this at a less meaningful angle ... i feel like it's about how the character feels helpless and kind of a loser, surrounded by all these other "losers" around him, and all he can do about it is "blaze" all day (smoke pot) and "marvel at the massive food i eat." but it could mean whatever everyone else said too.

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A Lie For A Tragedy
05-10-2005

Rated 0 
this song is deffinatly about the fact that nothing can be done about the obvious fighting that goes on in our lives. He comes to tearms with the fact that there is nothing he can do about it. The part about cousin greg is saying that this kid is insecure and makes fun of other people. The "Carpet" is his overlooking of his own flaws. The part about lou is admitting that he is also a victim of pretending not to see that he himself is turning into another person who cannot do anything about reality. He sees the neighbor playing with the shotgun but just smokes to ligthen the load of understanding the world. "This dude" is refering to a man who "his eyes are wide" is in a daze about what is actaully going on in reality and continues his routine. At the end of the song he is admitting his frustration with settling and accepting the world as he sees it. By saying "These are my freinds...this is how we stay" he, agian, is realizing that there is nothing he can do about his lonely existance or anyone elses. These, though, are just my opinions, and there are many more comments i could make about this song...but I will spare you the time of reading it. You get the point, anyway.

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mattz123
12-08-2005

Rated 0 
i watch my neighbor’s son
play with his shotgun in the street
i think i’ll blaze all day
and marvel at the mass of food i eat
Best Line. Shows what everyone one else is doing in a single lyric, accepting racsm, violence etc. and not doing anything about it, pretending it doesn't exist, yet it does. My favourite say anything song, the lyrics are exceptionally great.

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vjonnyv
12-20-2005

Rated 0 
This song is strong on almost every level. The lyrical depth, as many of you have already noted, is profound. I think the song is simply discussing the life and the activity that most citizen's simply ignore (typically because it happens all the time). I think Max realizes he is doing it. And he's frustrated that he observes it and then simply writes songs about observing. ("If I'm truly so enlightened, why'd I waste your time on it?")

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leeko518
01-25-2006

Rated 0 
Good point about the ignorance of racism and violence, Ive never thought about that before.

As for the Yellow = peace, red = war comment, why would his "yellow cat invade his red cat".

I read somewhere this song is about how life never changes and nobody does anything about anything.

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shaverkid
01-31-2006

Rated 0 
This song clearly has to do with life after the initial stimulation of growing up and learning. After one 'settles down' the routine kind of kicks in, and most don't do anything to stop themselves from living the same day over and over.

I think the 'cat invasion' kind of describes his utter boredom as he's reduced to describing an ordinary cat fight as some kind of international war. The line 'just to prove to one or both of them a cat is just a cat' is important too - he feels superior to the two animals yet their lives have more purpose and direction than his own, which is a life of constant repitition and no conflict.

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Shawnk00
04-11-2006

Rated 0 
awsm song. i think its just about his friends and stuff

catchy

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RustyJ
05-22-2006

Rated 0 
In general: It's about the emotional swings max has. This whole song is a representation of a depressed, cynical phase.

He feels disgusted that he's become content with such a jaded day to day life, and sees everything in an apathathetic, pessimistic view. He judges things for both face value and for the deeper meanings.

This song is amazing because it can be taken both literally and metaphorically.

The building of intensity (volume and controlled feedback and the likes) are another amazing contributor to the meaning...

Before "i watch my neighbors son" it builds to where you think your speakers might explode.

I could listen to it again and again and again.

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RustyJ
05-22-2006

Rated 0 
apathetic*

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Ally.
06-22-2006

Rated 0 
i'm sure the lyric is "and marvel at the mass of food i eat"

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best_day_ever
06-23-2006

Rated 0 
this song is lyrically genius.

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Seahighster
07-14-2006

Rated 0 
Actually, this song was written when Max was high (as a kite, I might add).

This is from Wikipedia on the album:

"During the recording of the album, Max Bemis had a nervous breakdown and was admitted into a hospital for several weeks. He accounts the breakdown to stress, and claims he thought everyone was a cannibal hired to eat him."

It might have some deeper meaning, but I seriously doubt it.

:]

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Wafflepants
08-13-2006

Rated 0 
haha I just heard this yesterday when I bough the cd and I loved it.

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Toast1288
08-29-2006

Rated 0 
I think this song is just about a guy with a boring, dull life. He observes everything from afar but isn't involved in any of it. He is a loner, a shut-in, or waht have you. He watches the people so often, and knows about them, considering them his friends, since he has no real "friends". I get this from the chorus.

these are my friends
this is who they have been for always
these are my days
this is how they stay

I also agree with the symbolism of war in the song. Also how we watches the boy play with a shotgun, symbolizing how the youth of today is so exposed to the horrible things that happen in our country.
Max is also saying that he is no "sell-out" as many people are. He says that to be succesful you usually have to be fake. Since this obviously isn't liek Max at all, he stays in the middle of the crossroads, going nowhere, trapped in this life portrayed throughout the song. Taken from verse:

as i look back at countless crossroads
and the middle where i stay
right up the beaten path to boredom
where the fakest fucks get laid

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mattz123
09-17-2006

Rated 0 
after listening to this a lot, you realize how depressingly boring and crappy your life and you actually don't care, well you won't do anything about it which is even more depressing. ouch

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KingVVolf
12-16-2006

Rated 0 
"and marvel at the MASS OF food i eat"
Very little correction, but it makes alot more sense. Not one of my favorite songs off the CD, but still great.

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gravityconquers
12-20-2006

Rated 0 
i don't think that the cat's symbolize something as major as wars, but something more like fights. max sees a pushy person instigate yet another fight with another person. the pushy one has been a bully, for lack of a better word, for a very long time. i took it that max gets that people could actually help solve other's problems, but we're all just too lazy and apathetic or we fear being hurt in the process; it is insignificant to help because we are only people who are rather pointless and doomed in the end. i love this cynicism.

the rest just means that we accept everything, like stoners, no sleep, racism, etc. we could do so many things to help others, but max writes like nobody tries or cares because we are all amazingly selfish, lazy, and the only person important to us is ourselves.

this is my second favorite song on the album.

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ANewFriend43
01-02-2007

Rated 0 
it's all about being indifferent and lazy. i don't see any war or racism in it unless its pointing out that we don't do anything about it.. he doesn't put his foot through the cats but he notices it, his friend stays on the couch and makes fun of poeple but doesn't do anything for himself and uses that as a buffer against his failures. the guy with the coffee is lonely and tries to talk max into his lifestyle. lou wants some lady to take care of him instead of fixing himself first...it goes on.

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ceasetoresist6
02-20-2007

Rated 0 
Hahahaha. I was listening to this with one of my friends, and she said "I bet this is about ketchup vs. mustard. You know...yellow vs. red!"

I almost died from laughter!

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jennRAWRx3
03-03-2007

Rated 0 
hahahaha this song makes me laugh.

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alki3cat
03-21-2007

Rated 0 
"I watch my yellow cat invade my red cat in the yard"
i agree with the yellow=peace and red=war part but i dont think it talking ABOUT a war, i think that this line stats that many time the "peaceful" people often begin the fight and the line "Just to prove to one or both of them a cat is just a cat" stats that it is imposable for someone to make these people realise that even tho they have different veiws they one group is no better than the other.

"Again, I watch my cousin Greg watch MTV inside this home. He makes fun of the hip-hop videos from the couch he rides alone. Snug in the cushion of his cackling he forgets his looming doubts. He has relied on this for years; I will not yank the carpet out." that verse i think says that 'greg' uses what he finds as humor to distract himself from what is going on in his life and the lonelyness and insecuritys that he has created in his life.

"so like some hybrid mother/lover she'd soothe and heal his wounds and kiss them dying ears so softly that the reaper stops to swoon" this line reguards to a man desperate for a quick fix to his own regrets and needs he is looking for the perfect person that will give all he wants and all he needs on the first day.

"I watch my neighbor's son play with his shot gun in the street. I think I'll blaze all day and marvel at the mass of food I eat." he watchs as a child plays with a gun, something that is very dangerous but does nothing he ignores it as if it wasnt happening i think that is how this song aprochs everything, people ignore it and believe it will no longer exsist.

"as I look at countless crossroads and the middle where i stay, right up the beaten path of boredum where the fakest fucks get laid b the faux-finest finds It's been that way and god damn you, how you stay, with every scummy, crummy hour of the scummy, crummy day!" this verse states his frustration at how everyone (including himself) just continues to pretend that all the bad things in life never happen and how he can do nothing but watch from afar as they continue walking and he stands where he is watching them pretend.

"these are my days. this is how they stay." he continues to observe and nothing changes everyone pretends.

theses are my opinions not facts.

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zombiegirl13
04-27-2007

Rated 0 
i'm sure he realizes that these are boring people and situations, but that's just who they are, and who they've been-for always. and all he can do is observe, not stop their routines, and blaze all day and marvel at the MASS OF food he eats. and he's okay with that.

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