Lyrics for Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lo... as interpreted by Clap Your Hands

Shut Up I Am Dreaming of Places Where Lo... Lyrics
You're on the distant shore! [2x]
Oceans never listen to us anyway [2x]
And if I fall into the drink,
I will say your name, before I sink.

He says your name out loud;
In miniature rooms where no one’s found;
It’s a desperate sound.
You're on the distant shore!
He stands his feet down
You hear his knuckles on your door.
He wants to send you drawings
Drawings of men with faithful hands
They will make such good boyfriends
He wants to tell you stories
Stories of boys who stomped their feet saying,
“Shut – shut up I am dreaming of places
Where lovers have wings.”

“I’ll meet you where the river forks;
When everyone else is dead
You’ll be safe on the water
We’ll be much younger, and we remember.
You're on the distant shore!
I send my feet down—
Down do you hear knuckles
On your door. Do you understand
What I’m finding for? Oh,
Oceans never listen to us anyway. [2x]
And if I fall into the drink,
I will say your name, before I sink.
Oceans never listen to us anyway.

I’m afraid of the water;
I’m afraid of the sky.
I’m tired of waiting.
Oceans never listen to us anyway [2x]
And if I fall into the drink,
I will say your name, before I sink.
So… don’t make a sound.
Don’t make a sound.

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  • 21 Comments
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sebharper
05-07-2006

Rated 0 
god i love this song.

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kazk
05-13-2006

Rated 0 
there's not much to decompress here; it's just a beautiful song, with beautifully simple lyrics.

one note: i think the "yo ho! the distant shore" part listed above is actually "you're on a distant shore".

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Dargonlord
06-14-2006

Rated 0 
In the line "oceans never listen to us anyway" i think oceans refers to the tides of change, and it means thats there are some things we just cant control.

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proposals
07-23-2006

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I think that it's "Do you understand what I'm pining for" not "finding for."

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ryanbred
08-10-2006

Rated 0 
I agree with kazk about the shore part of the lyric.

It seems like 'he' is a good situation/security/stability, and the one across the shore is being saved by the one projecting the lyrics.

As soon as the stability is left behind, the future is up in the air. "tides of change" are not in control. I feel it is saving from the idea that the 'stability' is real, when in fact everything is in so much disorder.

"Don't make a sound"... sounds possible emit the existence of time passing, so in that moment, keep the moment, because the next 'I' could be gone, and 'you' could be gone.

anyway, great lyrics

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musicforants
12-05-2006

Rated 0 
The song is about distance between lovers. The subject's lover is on the distant shore and the subject is in the middle of the ocean presumably alone. If he falls into the drink (dies) he wants to say his lover's name, but due to ocean (distance between lovers) no one will hear him. That's why it's best to not make a sound because it's fruitless.

Instead of shouting out your lover's name the subject dreams of a place where lover's have wings. In this dream they can overcome their distance and be together.

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gnotobiotic
02-20-2007

Rated 0 
I hear "youre on the distant shore" too, as well as "do you understand what I'm pining for"

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Sunset Rubdown
04-28-2007

Rated 0 
i also think he says "you're on the distant shore" and "do you understand what i'm pining for", actually im pretty damn sure thats exactly what he says

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profoundsound
06-04-2007

Rated 0 
i love this song

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the_riddler42
06-06-2007

Rated 0 
Quality. i too think its about distant lovers

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crippledmcgimp
07-11-2007

Rated 0 
multiple problems with these lyrics, some of which have already been mentioned... changed lyrics are enclosed in [ ].

He says your name out loud;
[In] miniature rooms where no one’s found;
It’s a desperate sound.
[You're on] the distant shore!
He [stamps] his feet down...

...Do you understand what I’m [pining] for?

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ghost love
07-23-2007

Rated 0 
i can't explain how this song makes me feel.

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heartbeast
10-05-2007

Rated 0 
ghost love, i know exactly how you feel.

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pinkpink
12-18-2007

Rated 0 
i think it could definitely be a way to portray the longing and sadness of a long-distace relationship, as well as;

'he' cheated on his girlfriend, whom he is totally in love with and regrets it badly. now that she found out, it's like she is on a completely different, higher, and unattainable level. he is trying to reach out to her and tell her how much he loves her and how he doesn't want to lose her. He knows she isn't having any of it, so he says her name one more time before calling it quits.

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kereru
03-30-2008

Rated 0 
i always heard "do you understand what im fighting for?" i guess but pining perhaps makes more sense.

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gigi729
04-12-2008

Rated 0 
i like pink pinks interpretation, though im not sure where you came up with the idea of him cheating on her.
maybe they are merely drifitng apart (you're on a distant shore), and he knows what he should do but hes afraid to do it, afraid of the effort that crossing that distance to reach her will take, and so all he can do is call out her name.
musicforrants, youre interpretation is good too.

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deception
06-13-2008

Rated 0 
This song = wow.

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bewers42
01-22-2009

Rated 0 
My wife asked Spencer at a bar after a Wolf Parade show what the song meant. He said that he was in a long distance relationship with his girlfriend who had moved to Japan. He is afraid to fly, so he was never able to see her. That's the short version. We were quite tipsy, so the memory is a bit hazy.

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SunnyAstounded
04-30-2009

Rated 0 
"And if I fall into the drink
I will say your name, before I sink"

I interpret this line as more of an alcoholism thing, rather than falling in an ocean. "before I sink" could mean before he sinks the drink, another way of saying he's drinking it. Or, more likely, "before I sink" could mean something more along the lines of sinking back into the self destructive behavior.

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wieduwilt
05-28-2009

Rated 0 
The "Im afraid of the sky, Im afraid of the water" lines really made me think the songs is about a long-distance relationship.
Also, i always heard "do you understand what im pining for", but "fighting" could also make sense.

Also, given the fact that bewers42 said the song was about having a girlfriend in japan.. well, if this girlfriend was from when spencer lived in b.c. then there would have pretty much been nothing but the pacific ocean between them. And i intpret it almost as if he was blaming the ocean for keeping them so far apart.

as for the "If i fall into the drink" line, well he says he is afraid of the sky and of the water, and therefore afraid of falling in and sinking on the way to trying to be together. It could be taken literally as in being falling into the ocean in a plane crash, but I also see it as figurative, suggesting a fear of making a leap and commiting to being together,

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1 Reply
mysontheunicorn
08-07-2009

Rated 0 
that was supposed to be a comment

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