now if you think i�m wasting your time again
i�m wasting your time
when you pick me up in duty free
that�s when i thought i�d be the cross in your t
or must see tv

but if you think i�m wasting your time again
no, you�re wasting mine
when you�re playing for a prime-time dream
the c n b scene
now i�m just another split in your seam the i in your team

ooo please don�t get too excited
oooo maybe you�re not invited to my action adventure
my action adventure dream

so when you think you�re on the fast track
you find it�s just a cul-de-sac back
in that adult lifestyle community
where all your little boys, your action toys are duty free

ooo please don�t get too excited
oooo maybe you�re not invited to my action adventure
my action adventure dream

so i wonder what you got your persona for
cause there�s a 2-for-one down at the corner-store
and i wonder could ya pep it up a bit
you know throw a fit
you go ahead and dance
i�ll just sit

but if you think i�m wasting your time again
no, you�re wasting mine
when you�re playing for a prime-time dream
the c n b scene
now i�m just another split in your seam the i in your team

so i�m looking at the back of my hand again
i�m looking at the back of my hand again
to what end if i can�t even find a goddamn pen



Lyrics submitted by girlboyrevolt

Track duration: 04:04


Action/Adventure song meanings
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16 Comments

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  • 0
    My Opinion:I think it's just a little more than what myexplodingcat said. I think he's saying that when he can't find a pen and is thinking of these lyrics, maybe it's wasting his time to be exploring human actions to this extent (which one can, as I do, interpret as a sort of adventure). It's just a concluding reference to the theme of the song.
    Flag inalullon March 31, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I'm pretty sure the pen just implies that he's thinking up the lyrics to the song and he's looking at his hand, unconsciously thinking of writing them down, but he can't find a pen.
    Flag myexplodingcaton January 07, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:No matter how many times I listen to it "where all your little boys, your action toys are duty free" sounds like "erection toys" to me.
    Flag Lucanioon July 20, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Personally I also have thought it was about him and a girl. A girl who is with him because she thinks of him as a celebrity, and so thinks he must live some kind of action/adventure life. She wants to be with him because his life must be exciting, and she can see and be seen by all the other people in the business, in the scene. It's her taste of celebrity. But once she's gotten into this scene, she kind of ditches him so she can be in the spotlight or just do her own thing, acting as though he's a split in her seam, the I in her team.

    At some point, he catches wise to this. He stops doing anything that would help her in her ends of just being among the right "crowd", the scene she's looking to be with. So she starts accusing him of wasting her time. But he says no - you're wasting my time, because he knows what she's up to. She's not in it for a relationship at all. Here he thought he'd be the cross in her t, or must see tv - but she picked him up in duty free... no strings attached. So now he's teasing her saying maybe she's not even invited to his action/adventure dream anymore anyway.

    All the while, she's realizing that what she thought was the fast track into a new exciting life with new, maybe even powerful people, is just a cul de sac back to the same old. Same experiences, just a different crowd. But she's still using men as little boys or action toys - pawns to be played with.

    And as cooltobehip commented earlier - she's got these multiple personas. She'll be whatever you want her to be (at least at first), she'll be whatever the situation requires for her to get what she wants.

    The only part I can't decipher (at least for my interpretation, lol) is the hand/pen part. Like, staring at the back of his hand - that makes me think of the expression of knowing something "like the back of your hand". He's not talking about the palm of the hand, where people normally write stuff down. So I thought maybe he was thinking in terms of how well he really knows himself, or knows something. But the pen would suggest the writing of a phone number. IDK, that last part does get me!!

    At any rate - LOVE this song! But then again, I love them all. ;)
    Flag busybeegalon July 01, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I can't get this song out of my head. It's beautifully innocent and seems to be straining quietly toward adventure in its own doomed, lonely way. And that's just how it sounds without giving thought to the lyrics (after which it becomes a bit less innocent, but no less beautiful).

    To anyone wondering at the line "c n b scene," it's a play on the name of the television network CNBC. It's nearly homonymic to the phrase "see and be seen," and delightfully so.
    Flag thriggleon January 15, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think that cooltobehip got it pretty good but may have been a bit too specific in some parts.

    to me this song could be another hit at the singles scene ("the adult life style community, the c n b scene" such as that in Fake Palindromes


    basically it is this situation:

    a girl who is being a tease and picks up lots of guys ("you pick me up in duty free" and also "where all your little boys, your action toys are duty free")

    he realizes this and is trying to resolve this issue by either telling her this or getting her to see how he is unhappy with her indesisiveness or something

    as for the pen part at the end the more i think about it the more i see cooltobehip's view of this


    on the flip side, i also can see tru shard and pezdel's ideas and how they would make sense here

    however, this song seems to be in relation to the topic that he writes about in fake palindromes and continues on this idea of a female murderess/femme fatal figure

    what ever way you look at it, great song from Bird
    Flag AlexKuykendallon February 21, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about a relationship between him and a girl who is leading him on. They get together and its fine for awhile, but she doesnt see the relationship the way he does or wants it to be.

    but if you think i’m wasting your time again
    no, you’re wasting mine

    She thinks he waste her time when she doesnt have time for him but hangs with him anyways, or he is not her top priority like he would like him to be.


    now i’m just another split in your seam the i in your team

    She doesn't want a relationship aka "The I in your team" she doesnt want him to be a part of her life.

    "ooo please don’t get too excited
    oooo maybe you’re not invited to my action adventure
    my action adventure dream"

    He knows she is going to be missing out on an exciting life.

    "in that adult lifestyle community
    where all your little boys, your action toys are duty free"

    She has alot of other guys just like him who she has flings with.

    "so i wonder what you got your persona for
    cause there’s a 2-for-one down at the corner-store"

    She acts like a wonderful woman but its just fake to get what she wants out of guys. "The perfect woman" or "The douche bag girl who messes around" 2 persona's

    "but if you think i’m wasting your time again
    no, you’re wasting mine"

    She says hes just a waste of time. She just wanted him for the fling so stop wasting her time by trying to get more out of what has happened. They go back or forth with flings. Shes just wasting his time by not taking it further.

    so i’m looking at the back of my hand again
    i’m looking at the back of my hand again
    to what end if i can’t even find a goddamn pen

    This part idk im just gonna say at the end of a fling he wants her number so maybe they can take it further but she doesnt want to give it out so he doesnt know what to do now.

    yeahhhhh thats what i got.
    Flag cooltobehipon February 01, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I love this song. I see it as a person who is all about adventure, but nobody thinks his adventures are that fun. They think they are a waste of time, so they are. If you think something is a waste of time it most likely will be. Especially an adventure. I believe he is saying that everyone is too wrapped up in 9-5 jobs making money for their nice house in the suburbs to get out and experience something awesome. an action/adventure. and he's right.
    Flag pezdelon January 13, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:he's saying that ppl are so eager to give themselves to an american dream-like career that they are duty-free to the employers and how that is quite pathetic. He's maybe implying that by having a "head in the clouds" personality and a real sense of humanity, rather than just worrying about having a big house and nice clothes that ppl think he is wasting their time. im not sure about the back of the hand thing and i think pen is a pun for pi..n like munkel is implying. I guess it's just an eagerness to strike these fools..or poke them haha ...i dunno. i think bird is saying he's duty free because he's eager to help or spend time with others.
    Flag tru_shardon April 19, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:what a terribly wonderful pun.
    Flag themunkelon May 19, 2005   Link

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