Those boon times went bust
My feet of clay, they've dried to dust
But it isn't the red we painted,
It's... just... rust
And that signature thing that used to bring the following
I have trouble now, even remembering

So why did I kiss him so hard late last Friday night
And keep on letting him change all my plans
I'm either so sick in the head
I need to be bled dry to quit
Or I just really used to love him
I sure hope that's it

I knew that to keep in touch would do me deep in dutch
'Cause it isn't the rush of remembering, it's just mush
And that signature thing is only growing harrowing
I should have no trouble now to keep from following

So why did I kiss him so hard late last Friday night
And keep on letting him change all my plans
I'm either so sick in the head
I need to be bled dry to quit
Or I just really used to love him
I sure hope that's it

Those boon times went bust
my feet of clay, they dried to dust
the red isn’t the red we painted
It's... just... rust
That signature thing that used to bring a following
I have trouble now, even remembering

So why did I kiss him so hard late last Friday night
And keep on letting him change all my plans
I'm either so sick in the head
I need to be bled dry to quit
Or I just really used to love him
Or I just really used to love him
Or I just really used to love him
I sure hope that's it



Lyrics submitted by sarcasticSmith

Track duration: 04:04


Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song) song meanings
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32 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I believe it is about foolishly trying to rekindle a bad relationship. However, I want to put forth my initital interpreation:

    In this song Fiona is writing about the song writing process itself. "The boom times that went bust" and the next line is Fiona saying that she's not inspired to write music at present. The "Red" turned to "Rust" is a reference to her older material having grown stale to herself and her listeners. That "signature thing" is her deeply introspective and melancholic vocal/piano pieces. Now she can't even remember what it was like to be so creative as she was in the past.

    Kissing "him" is a reference to having a fit of inspiration to write and loving the feeling of self-expression and release of creative tensions. Being "sick in the head" is a reference to what inspires her to write music in the first place. She needs to be "bled dry" of all the bad memories and negativity floating around her disturbed brain by expressing herself through the writing of music. In essence, she's saying that she wants to take a break from the writing process but her head is too filled with her internal pains to keep it all bottled up. Music is her release.

    Flag asortofdreamon May 17, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I'm just going to say that every single song on Fiona Apple's Extraordinary Machine is vastly superior to any song on John Brion's Extraordinary Machine. John Brion pretty much took Fiona's work and put himself all over it. Fiona Apple is an artist. John Brion is too, but Extraordinary Machine wasn't his masterpiece to create.
    Flag eatmycakefatkidon September 08, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is similar to the song Carrion in the sense that it's about falling out of love with someone. The first line, "Those boon times went bust" basically means that all of the good things about the relationship turned bad.
    "My feet of clay they dried to dust" is another way of saying that all the feelings she had for him once are now gone.
    "The signature thing, that used to bring a following, I have trouble now even remembering" I think this is somewhat a sexual or romantic metaphor, that just means that she forgets what it feels like to be in love with this person.
    "So why did I kiss him so hard late last Friday night, keep on letting him change all my plans" is saying that she's trying to remember what it feels like. She wishes she could fall in love with this person again but she just can't no matter how hard she tries.
    "I'm either sick in the head, I need to be bled dry to quit, or I just really used to love him" means that she knows that she can't love him and it's making her go crazy trying to convince herself that she still has feelings for him.

    I really like this song now. When I first heard it, I didn't find it to be that meaningful since the lyrics were engulfed by the music, and it seemed like it was just a silly, somewhat sarcastic ditty but once I heard this performance it changed my perspective completely. youtube.com/…
    Flag pianos9on July 18, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think the 'I sure hope thats it' refers to her wanting him and hoping its b-c its real love rather than her being damaged and unable to let go b-c he is so addictingly bad.
    Flag shaynap84on April 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I think "deep in dutch" means she was smoking a lot of weed. When she was on the cover of EW before Extraordinary Machine was released she talked about how there was a period of time in which she would smoke pot everyday.

    "boon times when puts"--well something "boon" is something boon is something to be grategul for or a benefit...either than or Fiona Apple once owned and domesticated a baboon.

    And "dried bled to quit"---that's an old method of curing mentally ill people when they got tortured and shit before Dorothea Dix was like, "y0, dude, this shit is inhumane".

    AND FINALLY!!!

    "Feet of clay" means (from dictionary.com) a weakness or hidden flaw in the character of a greatly admired or respected person: He was disillusioned to find that even Lincoln had feet of clay.

    BUT THEM DRYING TO DUST SHOWS HER GROWTH AS A PERSON AND AN ARTIST! YAAAAAAAAH!

    This is kinda used ironically because the image of Fiona being this neurotic/emotional/confessional/honest woman would be her "feet of clay" yet it's given a lucrative career. She be like selling mad records, y0.

    Obur nd oot.
    Flag CheddarBiscuitson August 03, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:im curious about the title. i know what tymps are, but why did she wanna call the song "tymps"? because i actually dont think the piano sounds like a boinging drum, voiceofreason, if that's what you meant. tympani drums only play certain notes, the tonic and the dominant, and are very resonant. the high xylophone notes are so perfect, jingly but also kind of ominous to me. those dont sound like tymps either though, so what is this title about! i need enlightenment!
    Flag luey_babyon May 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:She's addicted to this guy who's obviously bad for her, but she keeps coming back for more, so 'needs to be bled try to quit.' I love the line 'so why did i kiss him so hard late last friday night?' and it is because she loves him, she can't let go.
    Flag missmeon May 10, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:she's trying to convince herself that she doesn't love him anymore.

    i love this song
    Flag moreXthanXmicahon April 14, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I love this part:

    The red isn't the red we painted, it's just rust

    I think it's about great love, but when you look back, it's not as wonderful as you thought it was that moment you 'painted'.
    Flag Sara616on July 22, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Celestia: agree with your comment about leeches. While these creatures were known or believe to cure all kinds of diseases (even today), their main claim to fame is as a cure to diseases of the head (headaches and "brain congestions"). What a CATCHY song with the handclaps, and ironically/deceptively cheerful. The metronomic quality of it is indicative of the pattern this foolish woman keeps falling back into. Great song, great album, great artist!
    Flag sonztwinon May 25, 2007   Link

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