Lyrics for Brothers on a Hotel Bed as interpreted by sethbrown

Brothers on a Hotel Bed Lyrics
You may tire of me
As our December sun is setting
Because I'm not who I used to be
No longer easy on the eyes
But these wrinkles masterfully disguise
The youthful boy below

Who turned your way and saw
Something he was not looking for
Both a beginning and an end
But now he lives inside
Someone he does not recognize
When he catches his reflection on accident

On the back of a motorbike
With your arms outstretched, trying to take flight
Leaving everything behind
But even at our swiftest speed
We couldn't break from the concrete
And the city where we still reside

And I have learned
That even landlocked lovers yearn
For the sea like navy men
Because now we say goodnight
From our own separate sides
Like brothers on a hotel bed
Like brothers on a hotel bed
Like brothers on a hotel bed
Like brothers on a hotel bed

You may tire of me
As our December sun is setting
Because I'm not who I used to be

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whyitsjustme
08-06-2005

Rated +3 
i think its about a couple being stuck, either in a situation or arguement.

the most amazing line:
"cause now we say goodnight from our own seperate sides like brothers on a hotel bed". obviously there is tension between the two.

best song off of plans.

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1 Reply
straylightrun
08-08-2005

Rated 0 
I absolutely adore this song.

I think it's more about how one person in a relationship has changed and they are stuck in a rut as a result:
"Both a beginning and an end"
and
"even landlocked lovers yearn
For the sea like navy men"

and I agree whyitsjustme....best song off of plans =)

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me_yes_me
08-12-2005

Rated 0 
this is a tie (with what sarah said) for my favorite song off of plans. that being said, the lyrics are awesome. and i agree with both of you as to the meaning of this song, mostly because of the third verse. thank you chris walla. :)

i really love the third verse and of course "cause now we say goodnight from our own separate sides / like brothers on a hotel bed."

anyone else think walla should write more lyrics?

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ClickForth
08-19-2005

Rated +2 
This song was written by the guitarist Chris Walla, the first song by the band not written by Ben Gibbard.

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enderu
08-21-2005

Rated -1 
To me it's about two people in a relationship, but over time they've both grown older, changed.

"you may tire of me, as our december sun is setting"
Life grows short with the two of them (december sun, well, at least in the northern hemisphere).
Life just seems to become mundane, but "even at [their] swiftest speed. [they] couldn't break from the concrete"

So to me it's about people growing apart, and dealing with life as it comes to an end.

I really hope Walla writes some more songs in the future.

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1 Reply
interpolchance
08-31-2005

Rated 0 
Agree that this is one of the better songs on Plans. My thoughts - some obvious, some personal.

To me, he's saying he's growing older. He references the last hours of the last month indicating an end. He feels youthful inside but doesnt know the person in the mirror. The appearance doesnt fit how he feels. This may translate into insecurity in the relationship. Maybe he sees the beginning to an inevitable end. Maybe the end of a relationship or the end of life...or both.

Try as they may to break free of their problems, they cant. They know they cant. They're stuck on the same path. They dream/yearn, like others, for something else.

There is nothing more famliar yet awkward as brothers in a hotel bed. At the end of the last month and the last day, this is what the people in the song are reduced to. Lying awkwardly still and uncomfortable away from each other.

I love Ben's voice in this song. The repetitive piano in the background is great. Bravo Walla.

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heartlacedwithdoubt
09-02-2005

Rated 0 
I agree with interpolchance.

A song about two people growing apart in a relationship. They don't was to grow apart. They dont want to be in this rut. They want to solve their problems. They want to break free. It's just like nothing they do will make a difference and is so hard. They just feel awkward now.

This is my favorite song off of "Plans" as well. It's awesome....Ben's voice....the piano. Unfortunatly, I can relate to this song all too well at the moment. It really hits me. Losing something so special that you never thought possible is really difficult. It's the moment you realize you have lost it and that nothing is in your control anymore that makes it all worse.

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OverMyHead
09-02-2005

Rated 0 
I agreed with all of these interpretations but me and my friend found one that puts the song in a different perspective.

We think this is about one man. It's about his soul; still young and fresh, and his aging body. The limits of his age and body are keeping his soul from "taking flight". The man has been torn into seperate parts; soul and body. Now all those parts do is stay on their side.

I think it's probably my favorite right now. I love the part when it picks up in the beginning. It's like diving into water or something.

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suchprettywords
09-04-2005

Rated 0 
absolutely beautiful. and wow, i definitely didn't catch that walla wrote this one. yes, he should write more lyrics - no question. these are so wonderful and amazing.

a goodbye that has killed you but by now, seeing all, you realize that there is nothing you can do, nothing you can say. things have changed. she "may tire of" him and to him, she is now "something he was not looking for."

i do like overmyhead's interpretation, though. i think that is also quite applicable, and i like how they connected the soul and body to it.

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iminyourb0x
09-04-2005

Rated 0 
Anyone else get reminded of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood by the intro of the song?

Anyways, I don't think it's about a relationship with him and a girl, but more of himself. If it were him and his girlfriend on a bed, describing it as Brothers On A Hotel bed is awkard, seeing as how one is a girl and the other is a boy.

But like interpolchance said, I think it's just about growing older. It's about how quickly his life zoomed by and how his body is getting the effects of old age.

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Navelgazer33
09-04-2005

Rated +1 
Good on ya, Walla.
I've got to disagree with the idea that "Turned your way and saw / something we was not looking for," is a negative lyric. To me it describes the beginning of every romance on earth, getting blindsided by something you didn't realize was devastatingly attractive to you. And the following line "Both a beginning and an end," shwos the idea of knowing immediately that this is THE relationship, THE girl, and that this was the beginning of something that could only end with death. I think it's got to be one of the most romantic descriptions I've heard outside of "Brand New Colony," and the motorbike verse only heightens this, giving us the picture perfect image of youthful abandon against the idea of losing love the hardest way - to old age and fatigue.

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musicforlife!
09-09-2005

Rated 0 
This song makes me cry everytime I hear it.

Time's passing is one of the most emotional and frightning aspects of life and, wow, Chris Walla absolutely nails my heart and fears with these lyrics and their arrangement within the song. Fantastic.

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guy0012
09-23-2005

Rated 0 
my favorite song off plans period.

"You may tire of me" - i believe thats refering to a man in a relationship being worn down and having to wait for his girl

"As our December sun is setting" - he is running out of time and the relationship is ending.

"Cause I'm not who I used to be" - hes changed over time. i think that hes been with this girl more that once, but thinks hes changed this time

"No longer easy on the eyes But these wrinkles masterfully disguise - that he is being worn out by this girl

"Both a beginning and an end" - this relationship has ended and started back up.

"But now he lives inside Someone he does not recognize When he catches his reflection on accident - how he has changed through out the years of seeing this girl

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shelovesbrandnew
09-23-2005

Rated 0 
Ah. All time favorite lyrics..ever.

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shelovesbrandnew
09-23-2005

Rated 0 
After I read what people thought..I had to give my two cents.

This song to me isn't about a relationship growing apart. It's about growing up, and realizing who you are.
"But now he lives inside
Someone he does not recognize
When he catches his reflection on accident"

and the part about seperate sides of the hotel bed..you don't even know yourself anymore. Who you were, and who you are are two completely different perople now, and trying to figure it all out is terrible.

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skyjukeboxhero
10-20-2005

Rated 0 
Just a quick note- I think the laying in bed isnt awkwardness, but just a lack of closeness. They aren't uncomfortable with each other, just the opposite- they have gotten so used to each other that life is old and mundane.

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ifoundyourstar
10-28-2005

Rated 0 
i love this song, One of the best on plans for sure.
i love the opening on the song

You may tire of me
As our December sun is setting
Cause I'm not who I used to be

i agree with everyones inturpertations of the song, the lyrics are beautiful.

walla must write more lyrics!!!

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FBIlocano
12-10-2005

Rated 0 
i really like this song.

i think this song is more about the dying love in a relationship.
the first spark slowly fades away until the couple finds itself stuck.

but the song portrays the man worried about his wife or girlfriend getting tired of him.

i agree with skyjukeboxhero about the 'brothers on a hotel bed" part. walla uses this simile to present the feeling of sleeping on the same bed with someone you used to love but now is more like sleeping with a relative; someone you've known all your life; someone who is just...there.

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i.was.young.enough
12-18-2005

Rated 0 
I think its about a relationship that slowly dies and they can't seem to break the routine of their lives.

I always thought "As our December sun is setting" refers to the end of the year. Jan. 1, New Years...
Its like the sun is setting on another year, and their relationship is getting older and older.

My favorite part of the song is:
"On the back of a motorbike
With your arms outstreched trying to take flight
Leaving everything behind
But even at our swiftest speed
We couldn't break from the concrete
And the city where we still reside" Beautiful.

And I agree with FBIlocano about what "brothers on a hotel bed" part.

My favorite Death Cab song, by far.

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Alexor
12-21-2005

Rated 0 
i disagree with anyone saying this song is based on a relationship.

it's about growing up. (this was my own opinon before i read any of the comments)

whose parents don't sleep on opposite sides of the bed? parents are old; they had you.

people grow up fast, and they don't realize it until they already lost their youth.

when they grow up, they're totally different people than when they were younger. if a 50+ year old man were to stand beside a mirror image of himself as a child, they would be barely discernable to one another.

can this song really be about anything other than aging? maybe. ask mr. walla. maybe ben gibbard knows?

i haven't really said anything that hasn't been said already.

kudos to shelovesbrandnew:

best interpretation.

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sgt.peppper
12-21-2005

Rated 0 
it's, in a way, about both, growing up, and a relationship.

the man in the song doesn't know who he is anymore. he's aged. he has this longing to escape- escape the city, "escape to sea like a navy officer" (a metaphore), and, apparently, escape a relationship..

in the end, the 2 are sleeping on opposite sides of a bed, not holding each other.

"brothers on a hotel bed", when 2 brothers share a bed when vacationing at a hotel, they each take a side and sleep separatly. this is the metaphore here for the end of the relationship, they're no longer lovers.

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SpelledWithSilence?
12-22-2005

Rated -1 
Definetly not about a relationship. What is less romanic then family (brothers). Unless your into incest. But this is definetly about growing up. The brothers are his younger and older self. "But these wrinkles masterfully disguise The youthful boy below" How when you look at a picture of yourself when you were a child you can't believe you ever looked like that. And how when you look in a mirror, every so often you realize how much you have grown up. and how growing up allways sneaks up on you. The seperate sides of the bed is about how you need to grow up. Allthough you are a different person, that is what is supposed to happen. On one side of the bed is the child and then, seperate on the opposite side, is your grown-up self. The two need to be seperate.

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1 Reply
pumkinhed
12-23-2005

Rated 0 
the piano intro is probably one of the saddest things i've heard in a long while

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Bigfootrivia
12-23-2005

Rated 0 
Well "Like brothers on a hotel bed" That makes the most sense.

I don't know. Some songs aren't supposed to make sense they just 'be' . This song makes plenty sense and yes it is good. Sometimes it makes me feel sad though. I want to feel happy but I am sad, it is an emotion I cannot surpress. I am sorry.

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Bigfootrivia
12-23-2005

Rated 0 
Well "Like brothers on a hotel bed" That makes the most sense.

I don't know. Some songs aren't supposed to make sense they just 'be' . This song makes plenty sense and yes it is good. Sometimes it makes me feel sad though. I want to feel happy but I am sad, it is an emotion I cannot surpress. I am sorry.

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