Lyrics for Fake Palindromes as interpreted by hemptimes

Fake Palindromes Lyrics
my dewy-eyed disney bride, what has tried
swapping your blood with formaldehyde?
monsters?
whiskey-plied voices cried fratricide!
jesus don't you know that you could've died
(you should've died)
with the monsters that talk, monsters that walk the earth

and she's got red lipstick and a bright pair of shoes
and she's got knee high socks, what to cover a bruise
she's got an old death kit she's been meaning to use
she's got blood in her eyes, in her eyes for you
she's got blood in her eyes for you

certain fads, stripes and plaids, singles ads
they run you hot and cold like a rheostat, i mean a thermostat
so you bite on a towel
hope it won't hurt too bad

my dewy-eyed disney bride, what has tried
swapping your blood with formaldehyde?
what monsters that talk, monsters that walk the earth

and she says i like long walks and sci-fi movies
if you're six foot tall and east coast bred
some lonely night we can get together
and i'm gonna tie your wrists with leather
and drill a tiny hole into your head

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seago
03-15-2005

Rated +1 
This song.....this song..... damn this song is good.

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SimpleKindOfBoy
03-22-2005

Rated 0 
Yeah. It's a really nice song. But I don't understand it.

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theslartibartfast
04-02-2005

Rated 0 
SimpleKindOfBoy-
It's a patchwork of other Andrew Bird songs, including Dewey-Eyed Disney Bride, Richmond Woman, Trepanation, and something else. This would explain why it seems a little odder than usual. Check out archives.org to hear those songs played live.

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freejoe76
05-10-2005

Rated 0 
the counterbalance between these two pairs:

she's got blood in her eyes, in her eyes for you
she's got blood in her eyes for you

=and=

and i'm gonna tie your wrists with leather
and drill a tiny hole into your head

is just astounding. It works on so many levels.

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bobwronski
05-27-2005

Rated 0 
It's poetry.

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stevenleland
05-31-2005

Rated 0 
Strikingly beautiful song; dragged me into Andrew Bird's material, actually.

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Courtney.25
07-03-2005

Rated 0 
"swapping your blood with formaldehyde?"
always makes me want a cigarette.

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Ludo142
07-18-2005

Rated 0 
I guess the lines are supposes to look and sound like palindromes, without actually being them. That he's able to fit them together in such a transcendent whole is beyond belief, frankly. I love it.

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cyanidebreathmint
08-24-2005

Rated 0 
it truely is a beautiful song, and i agree with ludo142 about the lines looking like palidromes. i just love andrew, and i hove always considered him a genius.

there is a movie out called palindrome, (yes i know that this is compleatly unrelated to the overall topic, but i came to mind and i thought that you might be interested) and the main charachter,ava, is played by five different characters, including a six year old boy and a morbidly obese 17 year old girl. you never know when the actor is going to change and it takes a while to catch on. its very good, check it out.

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1 Reply
Pants
09-17-2005

Rated 0 
I think this song is like a horror movie. You see some pretty girl with bright clothes and bright shoes. Yet, deep within this girl is some horror - "blood in her eyes." And not only is she a monster, the narrator is a monster as well. "I'm gonna drill a hole into your head" .. "bite on a towel, I hope it won't hurt too bad." Maybe everyone's a monster in some way?

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wrat
10-02-2005

Rated +1 
In an NPR interview, Bird mentions that palindromes generate a sort of cadence that inspired the cadence of the song. He also mentions that he came up with the fake palindromes in the lyrics to entertain himself during a long drive between Tallahassee and Charleston.

Other than "Dewey-eyed", which backwards reads "deye-yewed" and thus is close enough to being a real palindrome ... what are the other palindrome phrases that appear in the lyrics to this song?

As for the evolution of the song, after looking at the website that Slartibartfast referenced, it seems that this song originated as a song called "Trepanation", which itself incorporated lyrics from earlier songs "Richmond Woman" and "Blood". "Trepanation" is inspired by a particular singles ad he noticed, that was slightly different than the normal pattern of all ads being slight variations of each other ("young people trying to get together scanning the room looking for their romantic ideal, looking for those with similar marcations and a glance that they will try to steal and I noticed an alarming trend towards specialization").

Possibly after his Charleston trip, he re-invented "Trepanation" as a song called "My Dewey-eyed Disney Bride", which removes the direct references to singles ads. The lyrics are now essentially the same as the final product "Fake Palindromes". What changes next is the instrumentation and cadence, especially the electric violin "fake palindrome" parts.

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lvance
01-08-2006

Rated +1 
Pretty much the best song ever??

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j.enslow
01-20-2006

Rated 0 
wrat: thankls for your in depth discussion!
it is clear to me that there are really no palindromes in this song, the base concept of palindromes is that the reversed reading or 'opposites' are the same. of course since he names the song 'fake palindromes' we know that we need not bother looking for real palindromes. the meaning is likely to be more philosophical. i think the reference to 'fake palindromes' is truly about the concept of palindromes rather than the occurrance of spelling patterns in this song. since there are loads of references to a woman. i personally think this is a tribute to a woman (or a type of women). the 'fake palindromes' reference is about the suiting of couples. opposite but the same. and with her being a fake palindrome, she is grouped in with the same but obviously not.... hence fake. its not quite a love song because the lines 'if you're six foot tall and east coast bred' paint a picture of a person faking for personal gain.
the line 'run you hot and cold like a rheostat, i mean a thermostat' to me is great, a rheostat by definition is an electrical component which functions as a variable resistor. the concept: 'variable resistor' tied with 'i like long walks and sci-fi movies if...' is just brilliance.

ultimately i would have to say this is an andrew bird confession/condemnation on the 'singles scene'

irregardless, it is a great song and lyrically sublime.

i can't get enough of a song which has lyrics ambiguous and yet coherent. open to interpret!

go andrew!!!

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rollypolly
02-09-2006

Rated 0 
aj has no idea what andrew is singing about but she likes the music so shes stuck. btw, aj is a gun without a bullet and a fish with 3 fins. ask captain hook for details. aj is all that.

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discorsage
02-24-2006

Rated -1 
I like the song, and I mostly like the lyrics, but they are a bit pretentious. It is an example of the trend of including science & technology terms in lyrics. It comes off as trying to sound profound when in actuality the poet/author probably can't solve the simplest of differential equations or chemical titrations. In this song, using the word rheostat when the author probably couldn't even design a circuit using one. Of course, Andrew Bird may be the exception.

There is still the problem that even when the author has a basic idea of what the word is. When he or she drops a cool sounding word like "sulphur", "formaldehyde" or "rheostat", you have to wonder if they have the type of understanding of what that thing is to use it poetically, in a profound way.

That kind of ability doesn't come from knowing the textbook definition of what a 'rheostat' is anymore than it would for someone using the word "box", having seen a box only once.

Most people using the word "box" in a poem would have a profound understanding of the word in its hundreds of applications.

But could the same be said for Andrew Bird and the rheostat?

That is the question, well at least the one I wonder about when listening to musicians like him.

I do suspect the answer is more often than not "no". When a poet uses a word over which they have complete mastery, they are able to use it in profound ways. They don't always have to - they can just "name drop", or "word drop", the word, mentioning in a way where one with specialized knowledge could imagine substituting any of 100 other words. This seems to be the case with the vast majority of musicians using science and tech related terms.

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Jejune
02-26-2006

Rated 0 
i think it's interesting that the song picks up so quickly at the beginning with the happy carrying tune, and at the end it lifts you up and fades out within seconds. unsettling. fake palindromes - a lack of balance? wanting something to be, that isn't? swapping blood with formaldehyde - dying inside. then later that same blood in her eyes - preservation in her eyes, but not real love? the song sounds confusing, like something that almost *IS*, but you can't put your finger on what.

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hysteresis
03-07-2006

Rated 0 
discorsage, you are right in general but in this case I don't agree. sulphur and formaldehyde aren't overly foreign stuff, and the rheostat/thermostat line is probably meant to sound forced, as if he was actually mistaking one for the other.

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miffed
03-11-2006

Rated +1 
See I see the song as being about a killer meeting a girl through a singles ad, "dewy eyed disney bride" "and she says i like long walks and sci-fi movies if you're six foot tall and east coast bred some lonely night we can get together" both illustrate the dating agency

but then the guy isnt who he says he is and kills her "swapping your blood for formaldehyde"(embalming fluid) and "blood in her eyes" and "i'm gonna tie your wrists with leather and drill a tiny hole into your head"

the refference to monsters are direct reference to what these people are and how they search for innocent victims.

The title fake palindromes referes how the people dont say who they really are, in a letter they say they are one thing and turn out to be something totally different.

"jesus don't you know that you could've died" is showing how dating services are irresponsible and you should watch what you are doing

i cant work out what the "certain fads, stripes and plaids, singles ads
they run you hot and cold like a rheostat, i mean a thermostat so you bite on a towel hope it won't hurt too bad" is refering to, it may be the pain the killer feels, wanting another victim and his search for one is all all i can think of.

I think the rheostat thermostat mistake is just for flow and he does understand what they meen,

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1 Reply
emly
03-13-2006

Rated 0 
this song is WAY too short.

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bobwronski
06-07-2006

Rated +1 
“…I think they are a bit pretentious… the poet/author probably can’t solve the simplest differential equations or chemical titrations...” Awesome, I love someone with a strong sense of irony.

I really couldn’t disagree with you more, on this song in particular, and what appears to be your view on art in general.

You begin by saying the lyrics are “pretentious,” but I fail to see why. The tone certainly does not seem to be pretentious, so I am assuming you mean his choice of words alone are attempts to make him look smarter. I still don’t see that being the case. Not only are “formaldehyde” and “rheostat” not especially foreign words, but if they were really dropped in there to make Andrew appear more intelligent, they wouldn’t have such distinct and clear meanings in the song. “Swapping your blood with formaldehyde,” to me, has a very obvious idea behind it- formaldehyde is embalming fluid, what they replace people’s bodily fluids with at the morgue. I’d say the girl in the song is experimenting with death or is fascinated by the idea of it, and this seems even more to be the case considering the trephination at the end of the song. Regarding the rheostat, I also think it is mostly for flow, although I will make the case that it means that the singles-ads provoke feelings that vary in intensity as well as in nature.
Other than being pretentious, you also imply that Andrew Bird doesn’t really understand what he is writing, which I find ridiculous partly because we don’t know anything about him personally and are in no place to judge, but mostly because there is no evidence in the song that suggests what you are saying.

Also, I don’t see how a “profound” knowledge (at least your definition of profound) of a rheostat is needed in this case, maybe if the song was about a rheostat or continually drew parallels between rheostats and other things. But as just a passing reference for comparison, all that is needed is a general idea of what it does. What if he mentioned a car? Must all artists know how to build a car or know how the engine works? What about your example, a box? Do you really have a “profound” knowledge of a box? Does anyone? My brother and I used to do origami, and it was pretty hard and complicated to make a box, haha. My point is that you place way too much emphasis on “profound” knowledge of something. I think it is a common myth that artists and writers have more knowledge or understanding than anybody else about something- they just know how to phrase things in a way that makes sense, is easy to understand, and is beautiful.

I would also point out that not only is science a recurring theme in a lot of Andrew Bird’s music, but also that I haven’t noticed this trend towards using science-related terms. I’m not totally sure that’s relevant, though. Music is unique and different from poetry in that a lot of the strength and beauty of the words can come from the sound and feel of saying or singing the words aloud, not just their meanings alone. That’s why even “nonsense” can still be a great song. All I am saying is that in the unlikely chance that everything I said previously turns out to be false, it hardly matters, because “Fake Palindromes” is amazing with or without any true meaning behind all of the words.

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secondhandsmoke
06-07-2006

Rated +1 
If there was a way to "applaude" over the internet, I just did. To you, bobwronski.
[clap clap]

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discorsage
06-22-2006

Rated 0 
Ah the high horse rides in.

Trust me, you have no idea what my view on art is.

And I appreciate the lack of pretention on your part which lead to an entire paragraph devoted to making sure that in that unlikely event you are wrong, you are still not wrong. That's classic.

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angel_wired
06-28-2006

Rated 0 
I recall similar charges were laid at William Blake on publishing Songs of Experience.

The technologists of the time were quite outraged at his use of technological imagery given Blake's lack of personal experience in foundry-work. Here's an excerpt of a review from the Metalurgical Fabricationist's Quarterly Journal, Winter 1794:

Well might Mr Blake ask in 'The Tyger' "What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain?" For indeed, in what furnace was thy brain, Mr Blake, when writing such hackneyed verse displaying a lack of understanding of modern industrial and scientifick process?

Certainly, Mr Blake has a profound and personal understanding of the Lamb, as evidenced in his earlier work, Songs of Innocence. Unfortunately, however, his ambition exceeds his grasp when attempting to illustrate issues with which we tecknologists already have specifick understanding.

I suggest Mr Blake take a tour of the Hammersmith Brassworks and gain a mastery of the subjects with which he is dealing before attempting any future rimes.

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FlossDiligently
08-25-2006

Rated 0 
I thought he was just trying to rhyme "dewy-eyed" in as many ways as possible.

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vee
08-27-2006

Rated 0 
this song makes me think:
"oh, I love palindromes."
"... these lyrics do not remind me of palindromes at all. (sad face)"
"sexy"
"... poor jeffery dahmer."

and "FlossDiligently's comment was fabulous."

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