Lyrics for Grounds for Divorce as interpreted by FuneralCatering

Grounds for Divorce Lyrics
You said you hate the sound
Of the busses on the ground
You said you hate the way they scrape their brakes all over town
I said pretend it's whales
Keeping their voices down
Such were the grounds for divorce I know

On the radio
And the bouncing bodies' drone
Found eighteen reasons I can't pick up on the phone
I said look at the clouds
It's a show all on its own
Such were the grounds for divorce I know

But the darling is dead
We hit her on the head
It looked like a wedding cake
Though the darling is dead
We hit it on the head
It looked like a newlywed

But look at the lovers
And they way they stand
And the way they move and the way move their hands
And look at their babies
And their tiny little hands
And the way they get loved and the way they get loved oh

Oh look at the lovers
And they way they stand
And the way they move and the way move and the way move their hands

Said you hate the sound
Of the busses on the ground
Said you hate the way they scrape their brakes all over town
Said pretend it's wales
And keeping their voices down
Such were the grounds for divorce i know

Looked like a newlywed

On the radio
And the bouncing bodies' drone
Found eighteen reasons I can't pick up on the phone
Said look at the clouds
It's a show all on its own
Such were the grounds, such were the grounds, for divorce I know

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Satii
09-05-2005

Rated 0 
I am pretty sure he sings:

"but the darling is dead,
we hit her on the head,
etc etc"

this is an amazing song, good job on the lyrics.

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FuneralCatering
09-06-2005

Rated 0 
Good call, that makes a lot more sense

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J-Rob
09-28-2005

Rated 0 
Dude, you got the most important lyric wrong. He sings:

"So pretend it WHALES,
keeping thier voices down"

Whales not wheels. This changes the entire meaning of the song. It juxtaposes nature agaisnt technology, and this is the main theme of the song.

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jfrancis
10-01-2005

Rated 0 
j-rob, i would have to disagree

it's talking about a bus anf the different features (brakes, WHEELS), how would "whales" fit into that concept? sorry, but i think you're completely wrong

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miles11
10-02-2005

Rated 0 
i think i agree with j-rob. it clearly sounds like "whales" even though it would be easy to say "wheels" (on both the ep and the album). i think the parallel is drawn between buses and whales (which are of similar sizes, at least).

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LeoBloom
10-02-2005

Rated 0 
J-Rob is absolutely right... imagine the "scraping" of bus brakes on a shoddy city bus. It's easy to draw a comparison with the "voices" of a whale, because whales use high frequency vocal emissions to communicate. How would pretending the squealing of breaks is the squealing of wheels console someone who was feeling disdain for technology? Escape from the real world is in the abstract, and escape from the manmade world lies in nature, is what that portion of the song is trying to say, I guess. But sometimes I think Wolf Parade lyrics are partially improvised or just random.

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FuneralCatering
10-03-2005

Rated 0 
J-Rob is right, Spencer discussed that lyric in an interview recently. Apparently, he was with a girl who was complaining about the screeching sound buses make, and he told her to pretend they're just big singing whales floating around the city. She told him it was stupid, and I guess he was pretty embarassed about it or something, because he didn't want to elaborate on it to the interviewer. Anyway, I also changed "but the darling is dead" back to "over the dialing he said", as much as that suggestion made sense during the second repetition, it didn't really during the first.

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olllen
10-05-2005

Rated 0 
FuneralCatering, he was not embarassed, he was frustrated that she doesn't understand and it was the end. Anyways, the whole article is here http://www.cokemachineglow.com/feature/interview/wolfparade.html

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flamebroiledchicken
10-05-2005

Rated 0 
Interview with Spencer Krug:

SK"“Grounds for Divorce” is just about breaking up. The divorce is symbolic, it’s not a real divorce…

Cokemachineglow.com: But the reasons – you have the line about the whale – sort of these “ridiculous” things, and then you split up for those reasons…

SK: Well, it’s more like two people, one is like “glass is half full”, the other doesn’t think so. You’re with someone long enough and you think “oh, we might get married”, which is just a random thought you have when you’re with anyone; some days it looks like you will, and some days it looks like you won’t. So that’s where the divorce bit comes in, it’s not super deep, just playing with what’s already imaginary. That particular line, the whale thing, comes from this time when this person I was with was like “I fucking hate the sound of city buses screeching” and I said “Just pretend they’re giant whales, floating around the city, singing to each other” and she was like “That’s stupid.” I don’t really want to talk about lyrics any more. It makes me uncomfortable.

...

Also, I think the line is "It's a show all on its own" not "It's assured all on its own"

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couldBanyone
10-13-2005

Rated 0 
Wow, these lyrics are really flawed. Have you listened to the songs yet?

Mistake #1: Found dates and reasons I can't pick up on the phone
He clearly says "Found eighteen reasons I can't pick up on the phone."

Mistake #2: Above the dialing he said
Maybe you were getting way into the phones in this song but this is clearly "The darling is dead." Oh and just a small fix: "We hit HER on the head." He says "her" because he is obviously referring to the "darling," not dialing.

Mistake #3: It's assured all on its own
If you take three seconds to think about the two opposing forces (nature and man) discussed in the song then this line is obviously supposed to be "it's a show all on its own." He is saying that man doesn't need to entertain himself with technology when simply the clouds themselves provide endless entertainment.

Sorry if this came across as harsh, I just don't want people to get the wrong impression of this song.

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Baked_Potato
01-02-2006

Rated 0 
Isn't the part:
But look at the lovers
In the telephone stands
And the way they move and the way move their hands
And look at their babies
Playin’ in the sand
And the way they get loved and the way they get loved
???

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The_Variable
02-03-2006

Rated 0 
I may be a dumb shit who doesn't know what he's talking about when I say this....but....Doesn't Wolf Parade remind any of you of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah? Voices different...of course. But stylistically I think they are similar.

Either way, this is a magnificant song.

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1 Reply
crinehart
03-05-2006

Rated 0 
baked potato is correct.
if you listen to the EP version of this song you can hear the lyrics more clearly. although wolf parade could have changed the lyrics when they went full length, but the part does say:
but look at the lovers
in the telephone stands
and the way they move and the way they move their hands
and look at their babies
playin' in the sand
and the way they get loved and the way the get loved

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HailtoKidA
03-13-2006

Rated 0 
It is definetley whales. Anyways its glad to see an emergence in talented Canadian bands. This is a wonderful album.

As for the meaning I think it is just talking about the little arguments that people break up over. Its happened to him, Hence grounds for divorce and then he sees happy couples and wishes that was him.

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themadcowsgotme
04-01-2006

Rated 0 
There's just one little thing I'm not sure about with these lyrics. Correct me if I'm wrong or something, but "Found eighteen reasons I can't pick up on the phone" doesn't seem quite right to me. I dunno, I've never heard that phrase used in my life. Nobody I know "picks up on the phone." I always heard the lyrics as "Found eighteen reasons I can't break up on the phone." I mean, the song IS called Grounds for Divorce.

Plus, somebody quoted that interview:

SK"“Grounds for Divorce” is just about breaking up. The divorce is symbolic, it’s not a real divorce…

So I figure it would make sense....I dunno. Now that I'm listening to it I'm not sure if I can hear the R or not...but I think I can. Anyway, it just makes sense. It's awfully hard to break up on the phone.

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MyPaltheTortoise
04-09-2006

Rated 0 
Wow, MP sounds like old Modest Mouse vocally on this song. I love it.

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mozillaman0
05-09-2006

Rated 0 
Instead of "Such were the grounds for divorce I know" it definitely sounds like
"Such were the grounds for divorce my love"

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kozmik
05-24-2006

Rated 0 
this song is perfectly understandable if you have ever been in love in new york city. The buses make that sound and people get neurotic really easily. I had a girlfriend who hated the city by the end of her stay there and our relationship fell apart because of it. And such a creative and wonderful person was the type of person that would say something like "ahh I really hate how the buses screech in this town!"
those were the grounds for the divorce, for sure...

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whj247
06-03-2006

Rated 0 
ya people r fuckin dumb. well, the comments i read were retarded. and, Funeral Catering, you're absolutely right on the lyrics.

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prodigal_sunscreen
01-02-2007

Rated 0 
I do agree with The Variable. They kind of sound like a keen mash of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, with a bit of Modest Mouse (voices are about the same.). Oh well, though.

i think the way his voice goes all over the place in this song just makes me really happy. fuck the meaning, it's just a damn good song, and let's leave it at that.

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SofiaO
01-12-2007

Rated 0 
It is
such were the grounds for divorce, my love

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cronenburg
01-18-2007

Rated 0 
I agree nature vs. techology theme, however, I also found the whole grounds of divorce thing as a way of ridiculing the whole idea that marriages are so weak now days and people divorce more often and over stupid things. same with relationships as well.

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sexymrwebby
05-17-2008

Rated +1 
Such were the grounds for divorce (I know)=my love

Found eighteen reasons I can't pick up on the phone
I said look at the (clouds)=sky

But look at the lovers
(And they way they stand)=in the telephone stands


And look at their babies
(And their tiny little hands)=playing in the sand

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bestwombat11
08-05-2008

Rated 0 
ah this song is amazing. i was so glad they sang it when i saw them. i love the look at the clouds part

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lucaswysocki
09-22-2008

Rated 0 
"Spencer discussed that lyric in an interview recently. Apparently, he was with a girl who was complaining about the screeching sound buses make, and he told her to pretend they're just big singing whales floating around the city. She told him it was stupid, and I guess he was pretty embarassed about it or something, because he didn't want to elaborate on it to the interviewer. "

haha, this confirms what i was going to write. The song is about an eccentric guy with a girl always telling him his thoughts and ideas are dumb. So the grounds for divorce are his strange thoughts and eccentricities. This is obviously your typical unartistic, girly-girl who can't appreciate a good random thought. Good riddance. Maybe he dumped her anyway :)

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