Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Down Boy

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  Song Meaning:is it really about cheating everyone?
  it's too painful to be about watching someone else cheat.
  it's her, she's hurting and it's not her cheating, because i don't know if she ever even got there.
  there is some real submission here
  it's a girl stuck fighting her own pain, her own selfish notions to just keep it together for everyone else, although she mentions friends and says 'not to split them up'
  
  the count me down, is because everyone does, no matter what, she is just- exhausted there isn't really any way for her to express herself anymore, so she's just done. that's the repetion, it's imposrtant that they didn't do rhyming couplets or anything. just 'down'
  the second lady- it's the lady that was never quite there.
  there is someone else that she can't ever be.
  so she is just beneath, never good enough
  the heavy land is everything
  everything drags her down.
  no one knows, the 'pushed and bent'
  it's like people don't get her posture, so it's a metaphor for her poor mind. she just smiles in front of her friends.
  doesn't want to cause trouble or anything...
  the 'stain' is the most powerful metaphor i think.
  yeah
  pretty bleak.

  Flag Jayestarreon November 06, 2011   Link

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    i'm replying to myself. the very first lines make it totally apparent that she is the 'second woman' and that she gets nothing for it.
    just the dirty sheets that she refers to later.
    i was wrong
    but i still think the point in this song is anguish

    Flag Jayestarreon November 06, 2011  
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  General Comment:totally agree with 'the other woman' theory with her friends' man.
  
  down, down - she's telling him to heel, to calm down
  count me down - because she's not going anywhere despite her guilt
  
  someone else mentioned it was a song of war... perhaps, but a war within herself.
  
  
  

  Flag butterfly72on September 15, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:I think this is about an ex-boyfriend who cheated. At the end of a relationship, sometimes friends take sides. She doesn't want to split up her group of friends so she'll "see him there" and deal with the pain of seeing him. "Wash the stain off his bed" while they are all together.

  Flag nomadderon September 13, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:i think its a seductive story....if it is indeed a story. which i find a little hard to process. as i break the song down while i listen to the beat its more of a her being a bad ass telling her man down boy down....no? i mean its the simplicity of her words that make me feel like she hasnt much to say about the matter, that it is what it is and they need to get over it, "count me down" check me off kind of thing? like she's checking him off her list. whether it'd be an intimate connection between her and another/particular person, or the person and her friend, or her and her persons friend. i see her more as the seductress who feels bad but keeps doing what she loves, but doesnt want to split anyone up: friends, girlfriends, etc. she just wants boys boys boys [a girls ridiculous toy]....get it?
  
  xoxocaro

  Flag carolanoiron July 17, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:i think shes fooling around with a friends boyfriend.... and she kinda has to see him there with her and keep quiet to keep the friendship going..

  Flag MilkIsG00don March 03, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:I think ruru101 had the right idea, but I'm surprised nobody thought maybe the friend she's referring to is the guy she's cheating with?
  It could still be another girl's man, but the guy is her friend too.
  She wants to be with him, but it's a difficult situation because she knows it's not exactly moral. But, nevertheless, she "will see him there." And she won't tell anyone, in order to help him out, hence the standing "for the sake of (her) friend."
  She's fighting her indecision, just trying to be with the guy she loves without anybody getting hurt.
  She knows eventually all the blame will fall on her, as it tends to in these situations, but she's willing to go through that for him.

  Flag BegYourPardonon November 26, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what this song is about, but just the general feeling of it really defines the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for me. It's sexy, grimy, and at the same time, strong. As for the meaning, all I really get is a girl in a bad situation because of a boy's attraction. She seems to be aware of her predicament, but plans to stick it through. The other posters are probably right about her being the other woman and covering for her lover. They'll cause drama if they're found out, so they have to be secretive about it. However, the guy seems to care significantly less than she does, hence why she seems to be the one doing the cleaning up. The "count me down" means that she agrees to it, but the "down, down boy" seems to imply that she wants him to back off in public. She's the one keeping it secret.
  
  God, I love this song. I love this band.

  Flag pGFPon November 08, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:Well, I agree with the people who said its about being with a friend's lover, but to me, when I first heard the chorus, I thought it meant, "Count me down, down boy," as in she's gone. Count me like I've gone down.
  
  You know? Just a thought. But yeah,
  "Again
  Wash the stain
  Off his bed
  Not to split them up
  I'll stand for the sake of my friend
  I will see him there
  Well, I will see him there" Makes lots of sense when you put it in that context.

  Flag shazzycat3449on August 15, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:Her friend is cheating on his lover. Even though it's awkward she isn't going to expose them and will even go so far as to cover up evidence of the affair. The chorus is just her telling him she's down for it and he can count on her not to say anything.

  Flag mijako10on June 05, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:i think my comment just agrees with smorkinlabbit's. i only just read it though.

  Flag ruru101on June 01, 2009   Link

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