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A mile and a half on a bus takes a long time
The odour of old prison food takes a long time to pass you by
When you've been inside
Day upon day of this wandering gets you down
Nobody gives you a chance or a dollar in this old town
Hovering silence from you is a giveaway
Squalor and smoke's not your style
"I don't like this place"
We better go
Then I compare notes with your older sister
I am a lazy gett, she is as pure as the cold driven snow
She accepts my confession
What did you learn from your time in the solitary
Cell of your mind?
There was noises, distractions from anything good
And the old prison food
Colour my life with the chaos of trouble
Because anything's better than posh isolation
I missed the bus
You were laid on your back
With the boy from the arab strap
With the boy from the arab strap
It's something to speak of the way you are feeling
To crowds there assembled
Do you ever feel you have gone too far?
Everyone suffers in silence a burden
The man who drives minicabs down in Old Compton
The Asian man
With his love/hate affair
With his racist clientele
A central location for you is a must as you stagger about
Making free with your lewd and lascivious boasts
We know you are soft because we've all seen you dancing
We know you are hard because we all saw you drinking
From noon until noon again
You're the boy with the filthy laugh
You're the boy with the arab strap
Strapped to the table with suits from the shelter shop
Comic celebrity takes a back seat as the cigarette catches
And sets off the smoke alarm
What do you make of the cool set in London?
You're constantly updating your hit parade of your ten biggest wanks
She's a waitress and she's got style
Sunday bathtime could take a while
The odour of old prison food takes a long time to pass you by
When you've been inside
Day upon day of this wandering gets you down
Nobody gives you a chance or a dollar in this old town
Hovering silence from you is a giveaway
Squalor and smoke's not your style
"I don't like this place"
We better go
Then I compare notes with your older sister
I am a lazy gett, she is as pure as the cold driven snow
She accepts my confession
What did you learn from your time in the solitary
Cell of your mind?
There was noises, distractions from anything good
And the old prison food
Colour my life with the chaos of trouble
Because anything's better than posh isolation
I missed the bus
You were laid on your back
With the boy from the arab strap
With the boy from the arab strap
It's something to speak of the way you are feeling
To crowds there assembled
Do you ever feel you have gone too far?
Everyone suffers in silence a burden
The man who drives minicabs down in Old Compton
The Asian man
With his love/hate affair
With his racist clientele
A central location for you is a must as you stagger about
Making free with your lewd and lascivious boasts
We know you are soft because we've all seen you dancing
We know you are hard because we all saw you drinking
From noon until noon again
You're the boy with the filthy laugh
You're the boy with the arab strap
Strapped to the table with suits from the shelter shop
Comic celebrity takes a back seat as the cigarette catches
And sets off the smoke alarm
What do you make of the cool set in London?
You're constantly updating your hit parade of your ten biggest wanks
She's a waitress and she's got style
Sunday bathtime could take a while
Lyrics submitted by ReActor
Track duration: 05:14
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It's manifest setting is London, as everyone agrees upon, and Murcdoch continues to make comments about its societial features (i.e. the lines about the Asian cab driver) and his own personal experiences (i.e. riding the bus, missing the bus, seeing a celebrity smoking a cigerette in a restaurant).
But what makes the song ambiguous, layered, and purely interesting is that he writes it as he also contemplates his own relationships, as in his detoriating relationship with his soon to be ex-girlfriend/ex-bandmate Campbell and his considerably negative relationship with a guy from a band that he associates with, the Arab Strap. I say negative because, well, I mean just look at the entire fifth stanza. And plus a lot of people have already speculated this, but maybe he caught Campbell in bed with that same guy. But I'd have to say if he did he probably didn't see the guy literally utilize the sex toy, the Arab strap, so that puts in question of the line "The boy WITH the Arab strap" (because when he says "From the Arab Strap, he's obviously referring to the guy being from that band). So, then I'd say that line is probably ridiculing that guy in saying he needs one of those sex toys to sustain an erection since he's not good in bed, an explicit insult to any man. That proves my earlier point of Murdoch being negative towards that guy.
Anyway, the last layer of the song is his constant references to prison. I think it's pretty obvious it's not literal prison, it's just a metaphor for his isolated or trapped mind. However, the whole "prison food" thing stumps me. But once again, it's probably not used in a literal sense, but may just represent bad food, or simply the smell of bad food as he's walking around in London since prison food is often thought of as, you know, bad. So yeah, but anyway, so his own state of mind is the last layer and gives you more insight on his personal feelings.
Going off of the fact that the album is also titled "The Boy With the Arab Strap", I would also analyze more meaning to that phrase however. Therefore, the phrase probably expresses or represents a period of Murdoch's life, much described in this song. But that's just a guess because I honestly haven't heard any of the other songs on the album, so I couldn't necessarily make that conclusion. And then again, there is a possibility they just used that as the title because it sounded the most interesting.
Anyway...so yeah. That's all I've got to say. It's my first Belle and Sebastian song (I'm only fourteen) so I look forward to exploring more of their music. If you actually read all of this, congratulations adn thank you for taking the time, bro.
Personal note: I don't know about anyone else, but that first line of the song about the bus ride, saying: "A mile and a half on a bus takes a long time" and a line later on in the song saying bluntly "I missed the bus" really resonated in me. I don't even know why, I just like the way he wrote it in there, so bluntly stating a common experience that could also stand as a metaphor desribing something deeper. Going off the context of the song maybe how he relationship with Campbell was ultimately ephemeral (a mile and a half is a short distant) but felt like a long, enduring time anyway. And the part when he says "I missed the bus" is when he finds the guy in the Arab Strap in bed with her and he ultimately realizes there's no way to continue the relationship that was already falling apart. But yeah. That was just a side note.
Lead singer and songwriter Stuart Murdoch admitted to Q magazine in April 2011: "It's about Aidan Moffat from Arab Strap. I never really thought about it at the time, but I think he deserves to be a bit peeved that we hijacked the name of their band. But it was an honest thing - I was describing my experiences hanging around with him and the words tumbled out very easily. I remember playing it to Isobel (Campbell, ex Belle & Sebastian) on the piano when I first wrote it and she thought it was ridiculous. She said it sounded like Chas & Dave."
Sorry for sounding so horribly pretentious and shit.
in the 2nd last stanza, it should be:
we all know you're soft cause we've all seen you dancing
we all know you're hard cause we've all seen you drinking
You, sir, are an idiot
Going to school is really great and cool/
Its much better than bunking off and drinking beer/
or anything like that, cause those things are bad.
Make sure you are kind to your Mom and you Pop/
and if they need help with bills/
why not try to get a Saturday job/
that way you can help them and be nice/
Help them and be nice.
We know your cool cause we've all seen you dancing/
We know your nice cause we've all seen you helping/
Your Mom with the shopping, and your Pop in the yard/
You never take drugs cause they are for losers/
and you don't curse because you don't have a potty mouth/
You don't have a potty mouth...
I was hoping to add a verse or two about how great it is to brush your teeth and have a really white smile too. Darn, maybe later.