Lyrics for Neighborhood #2 (Laika) as interpreted by drinkmilk

Neighborhood #2 (Laika) Lyrics
Alexander, our older brother
Set out for a great adventure
He tore our images out of his pictures
He scratched our names out of all his letters

Our mother should have just named you Laika!

Come on Alex, you can do it
Come on Alex, there's nothing to it
If you want something, don't ask for nothing
If you want nothing, don't ask for something

Our mother should have just named you Laika!
It's for your own good
It's for the neighborhood

Our older brother bit by a vampire
For a year we caught his tears in a cup
And now we're going to make him drink it
Come on Alex, don't die or dry up

Our mother should have just named you Laika!
It's for your own good
It's for the neighborhood

When daddy comes home you always start a fight
So the neighbors can dance in the police disco lights
The police disco lights
Now the neighbors can dance
Look at them dance

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special 3lend
10-01-2004

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i think it's about a much older sibling that causes trouble and is torn by growing up and his family.

"it's for your own good
it's for the neighborhood"

perhaps moving out and getting away so that no one wil have to up put with his mischief.

"when daddy comes home you always start a fight
so the neighbors can dance in the police disco lights"

domestic violence maybe. damn alexander needs to calm down.

that's just my interpretation, but still a very wonderful song.

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special 3lend
10-05-2004

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i didn't know this at the writing of my first comment, but laika is the name of the dog sent into space by the russians with no intention of retreiving her back to earth.

i can see how that ties in to the song...

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lafunkmob
10-15-2004

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Truly fantastic song.

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anise
10-15-2004

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what a great song.

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ieatseeds
11-01-2004

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man, this song gets better and better with every listen

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DammitSteve
11-22-2004

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This song reminds me so much of clockwork orange it's ridiculous.

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phantompenguin
12-01-2004

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I think I have a new love...fucking incredible stuff.

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Gama
12-25-2004

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The bro sounds like the guy that all the neighbors gossip about. Thanks for the clarification on Laika, special3lend. That makes it a lot more clear. Neat little reference.

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harpy_poo
12-28-2004

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i agree with most of you about how laika the space dog never came back, but when russia sent laika they knew he couldnt come back because of their budget they didnt give it enough food or air or something so maybe the brothers could have made him leave


and the part about the vampires, "Our older brother bit by a Vampire!
For a year we caught his tears in a cup.
And now we're gonna make him drink it.
Come on Alex don't die or dry up! "
vampires cry blood so if they made him drink his own tears (blood) he would kill anyone
"its for your own good/its for the neighborhood"

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atombombjohn
01-01-2005

Rated 0 
I might be wrong, but it sounds like "now the neighbors CAN'T dance" at the end. Which makes sense to me because if Alex was sent away the neighbors could no longer dance in the disco lights.

Also I think the whole disco lights reference is just talking about how excited everyone gets when Alex does some new crazy thing, like gets arrested.

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atombombjohn
01-01-2005

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Scratch that part about "can't" i just looked it up on their site.

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maloof
01-02-2005

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At the beginning of the song, the brother is going away, trying to leave his town or what people in his town think of him, trying to escape himself. But it doesn't work, as he is back in the second verse, and depleted. By the end, he has become what he doesn't want to be.

The family is a perfect narrator for this because they care for him, they see how great he once was (like Alexander the Great?) and that he has fallen. And they care for him. I think we all have a friend who is fucking up, and what we feel first is that we want them to succeed, whatever that is for them.

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slinkstersars
01-03-2005

Rated 0 
this song is so wonderful1

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wileyyo
01-06-2005

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I didn't know about the russian dog until just now. I thought that calling someone Laika was kind of a slam" Like saying, "I'm 'Joe Jones,' our mom is 'Mary Jones,' and you're 'Laika Jones,' but not exactly.

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philelda
01-17-2005

Rated 0 
I think that Alexander was sent away by his family, and like Laika, they had no intention of bringing him home again.

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Kittenclaw
02-07-2005

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After not hearing this song for some time, I listened to it again the other night. It's excellent. I enjoyed reading everyone's comments. Regarding lyrics, the part about the brother being bitten by a vampire might also relate to the severity of the brother's problems/oddity. It's also the way that children - who don't understand - might try to explain a realistic disorder... The concern with the neighbors could be looked at as a genuine necessity or could it be that they're just embarrassed by him? After all, the whole “neighbors can dance in the police disco lights” (such a great line) suggests that the neighbors seem to revel in the spectacle of Alex’s transgressions... Also, could the "great adventure" be one of the mind - Alex losing his mind? There's such a joyous feel to this song, an almost childlike celebratory tone, but it's quite dark lyrically...

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FireworkShowBrandon
02-08-2005

Rated 0 
put extremely profoundly, kittenclaw. i might even add that the verse about catching his tears in a cup makes me think of an I.V. perhaps. Suggesting, possibly, that alex was in the hospital for a year due to an accident. The accident, as kittenclaw pointed out, most likely deals with a heroin addiction, hence "bit by a vampire."

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Kittenclaw
02-08-2005

Rated 0 
Thanks. Excellent call on the heroin and IV! I didn't think of Alex having an addiction so much as a mental disorder (though they're often the same). Being bitten does suggest heroin. Yesterday I was almost going to write that aside from this song indicting Alex and perhaps the neighbors, there's a sense I get that the siblings are also a bit messed-up. Looking at what you wrote, and at the lyrics again, I see it even more, i.e. "For a year we caught his tears in a cup. And now we're gonna make him drink it." It's almost like they're seeking payback...? Also, the concern with the neighbors could be considered kind of superficial on their part (although it's certainly understandable)...

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sigurros
02-08-2005

Rated 0 
ohh yea clockwork orange i see it now i tottaly forgot his name is alexander.

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Relapser
02-11-2005

Rated 0 
Sounds like he's talking about a sibling who is losing their mind or having some sort of mental issues, possibly of the manic variety. Especailly at the end. A lot of manic's act out very violently and usually end up being arrested and sent to treatment facilities. I can picture the neighbors all huddled outside as the police lights go round and round and Alex is brought out of his house.

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Sandwhich_masta
02-23-2005

Rated 0 
The first verse shows that he wanted to be as far away from his family as possible. "He tore our images out of his pictures, he scratched our names out of all his letters." This is a great line, and it shows that he was tired of his familly, and simply wanted no reminder of them. Now this song seems to be told from his younger brother hence the line "Alexander, our older brother," Now as you notice the singer is always supporting him, no matter what happens, it shows that his younger brother looked up to him in a "all I see is good" view. He would do anything for his brother. Now even though the singer loves his brother, "Our mother shoulda just named you Laika! It's for your own good, it's for the neighborhood!" Most likly shows that he(Alex) was a trouble maker, and his parrents forced him out, hence the reason he crossed out their names and pictures. But in the end his mischevious side gets the better of him, and he ends up in trouble(as mentioned before most likly drugs) and his little brother sticks by him. "Come on Alex don't die or dry up! " So now everythings calmed down, Alex is alive and kicking, and back home. And his father comes home, and it is evident they never liked each other and they fight, and thats the end of it?

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lamp
04-03-2005

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I agree with the Clockwork Orange angle. First of all, his name is Alex. He's reffered to as our "older brother" and in the book they call each other brother and sister all the time. Alex sets out on his great adventure. It could be told by the point of view of his droogs because they feel that Alex is cutting himself out of their lives "he tore our images out of his pictures". Also, someone mentioned that "now we're gonna make him drink it" sounds like revenge. In the book his droogs act their revenge out on him when he gets out of rehabilitaion.

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rockbassart
04-03-2005

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i know everyone's all about the clockwork orange alex, but there's this little known book called "Into the Wild", by John Krakauer, about this kid (an older brother) named alex mccandless who sorta abandons his family to live out on the road kinda like the beat poets and whatnot. Its a truly great book, and this song could easily be all about him. Its a true story too, did i mention that? anyhow, i'd love to hear from someone who has also read this.

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Fortheloveof
04-03-2005

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Laika is a style of Greek music, basically the equivalent to English pop. Cf 'https://www.greekmusic.com/category_s/22.htm': "The dominant Greek musical form "Laika" means popular. This music was born in the cities of modern Greece, with the bouzouki as the central instrument to this type of music. Names like Kazantzidis, Dalaras, Karras, Stanisi, Glykeria and many more are featured in this [category] which is very broad."

It's also pronounced l-eye-ika in the song, as a Greek would say it. I think Alexander could be a reference to Alexander the Great.

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evilwatercooler
04-05-2005

Rated 0 
i'm pretty sure that this song is about the bands own experiences as i know the whole album funeral was heavily influenced by several people close to the band dying, so its likely that this song is a band member's personal experience

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