Lyrics for We Used To Vacation as interpreted by euthanasia27

We Used To Vacation Lyrics
I kissed the kids at noon
then stumbled out the room
I caught a cab, ran up a tab on 7th & Flower
Beth's recital I had to ruin
missed my son's graduation
punched the Nichols boy for taking his seat
he gets all that anger from me

still, things could be much worse
natural disasters, on the evening news
things could be much worse
we've still got our health
my paycheck in the mail

I'm just an honest man
provide for me and mine
I give a check to tax deductible charity organazations
two weeks paid vacation, won't heal the damage done
I need another one

I promised to my wife and children
I'd never touch another drink as long as I live
But even then it sounds so soothing to mix a gin and sink into oblivion
I promised to my wife and children
that accident left everyone a little shook up
but at the meetings I felt so empty
this will blow over in time

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laura_anne_rock
06-19-2006

Rated 0 
i'm pretty sure it's "best recital i had to ruin"

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rav4guy
08-12-2006

Rated 0 
very poignant writing. a song about a man looking back on his childhood and his father's alcohol addiction, but seeing the situation from his father's perspective in an attempt to jusitfy his behavior. in the same vein as death cab's "styrofoam plates", but with less animosity and more empathy on the part of the singer.

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TransparentSunChild
11-08-2006

Rated 0 
hmm..reminds me of wilco...definitely sounds like somethin jeff tweedy coulda wrote but thats okay cause its pretty sweet

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goodreverend
12-13-2006

Rated 0 
The line about ""tax deductible charity organizations"" may be a reference to Bob Dylan's "Ballad of a Thin Man", which is about a man whose psychological wellbeing is collapsing in on him while various characters taunt him, despite his attempts to fit into certain social circles.

Dylan's lyrics read:
"But nobody has any respect
Anyway they already expect you
To just give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations"

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~Lexi~
12-24-2006

Rated 0 
It's "mix a gin", not "mix a drink".

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Iggi
12-28-2006

Rated 0 
---------------
by rav4guy on 08-12-2006 @ 10:40:29 PM
very poignant writing. a song about a man looking back on his childhood and his father's alcohol addiction, but seeing the situation from his father's perspective in an attempt to jusitfy his behavior. in the same vein as death cab's "styrofoam plates", but with less animosity and more empathy on the part of the singer.
---------------

I agree that it's poignant, but rav4, I'm curious--what makes you think this is the son, not the father? The lyrics themselves seem to be pretty clearly in the first person, and I can't find anything in the song that makes it sound like the speaker isn't truly the one battling the alcohol addiction. On the contrary, lines like "It sounds so soothing / to mix a gin / and sink into oblivion" would take some pretty serious getting-into-his-shoes-ness for a kid tell a parent who missed graduations, ruined recitals, and got into an accident that "left everyone a little shook up."

I once was that kid. And the accident left me shook up enough that I can't imagine gin-mixing being anything but nauseating, let alone soothing.

I think this has got to be the dad.

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laura_anne_rock
01-16-2007

Rated 0 
it is "mix a drink" not "mix a gin"..he says it clearly in all 3 versions of the song that i have.

and, nate [the singer] is telling a story here. he is not the father character.

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Stefan_C
01-16-2007

Rated 0 
I have the album version and it's definety mix a gin.

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fianna
01-31-2007

Rated 0 
---------------------------------------------
and, nate [the singer] is telling a story here. he is not the father character.
---------------------------------------------

The song does seems to me to be written in the first person perspective of the father. Whether or not the person who wrote (and/or sings the song) is the person in question is really irrelavant isn't it? Novelists write stories from the perspective of other people all the time - it makes sense that a songwriter might do the same, no?

"left everyone a little shook up
but at the meetings
I felt so empty"

My interpretation:
From what I gather he was in a drunk driving accident for which joined AA (or some other supportive organization).

"best recital I had to ruin
missed my son's graduation"

During his vacation he began drinking again - and showed up late/drunk to his sons graduation where his lapse was exposed to his family.

"I'm just an honest man
provide for me and mine
I give a check to tax deductable
charity organizations
two weks paid vacation won't heal the damage done
I need another one"

He believes he is a good man, and does his best, and hopes that his family will forgive him. I think the last line 'I need another one' might actually refer to another drink - instead of another weeks vacation.

This is a moving song - and probably my favorite on this album.

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flyinchick44
02-01-2007

Rated 0 
i do believe this is a son singing about his father. i dont think that the idea of 'gin' sounds soothing but what is soothing is slipping away in oblivion, away from the idea of his father being an alcohol. he keeps repeating that he promised his wife and children he'll stop drinking, which makes me think the son feels betrayed that his father broke his promise.
this is such a great song and of course such a great band...i really don't know why their not so famous yet!

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Marcza
02-10-2007

Rated 0 
great song...
there's a misteake in the text:
'to mix a gin' not 'mix a drink':D

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jengroff
02-19-2007

Rated 0 
To help clarify: there is an early (pre-album) version of the song that has the lyrics "to mix a drink", which then got changed to "mix a gin". I have that earlier song, and so can confirm this.

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artslut
03-29-2007

Rated 0 
I'm sorry, I know that songs mean different things to different people, blah blah blah, but this is definitely NOT from the perspective of the son. This is about an alcoholic father, wallowing in guilt and denial. There is absolutely nothing to indicate otherwise.

It's a great song, at any rate.

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ShawnShmawn
04-04-2007

Rated 0 
did you boneheads ever think that one version could say "drink" and the other "gin"? cuz i've heard both. i prefer the drink version.

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voltaire7
04-05-2007

Rated 0 
NO THERE IS ONLY ONE RIGHT PATH YEAAAARGH

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artslut
04-05-2007

Rated 0 
Most "boneheads" go with the album version lyrics, unless otherwise noted (alternate, live, etc). This happens to be the album version (whici is gin).

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ShawnShmawn
04-09-2007

Rated 0 
i have the album version and it's drink. eh who knows.

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Rhiannonroulette
04-19-2007

Rated 0 
It's probably that depending on which country you bought the album from and whether what you have are demos or not, the lyrics are going to sound different, and be different.

But I love this song muchly.

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MarcusH
04-20-2007

Rated 0 
Love the song. Maybe my favorite on the album. I see it from the dad's point of view. And it's GIN.

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artslut
04-24-2007

Rated 0 
Ok, the mystery hath been solved. This is the Up in Rags EP version. The Robbers & Cowards version is far superior in my opinion, however, and I think that's the version that should be put up, the full length album version, not the EP. For what it's worth.

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frijolito_ts
04-29-2007

Rated 0 
voltaire: lol!

and yeah, this is clearly from the pov of the alcoholic father. very poignant, yes, the lyrics hit me head on when i first heard this song. and i've been in love with cwk ever since.

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ttuutt1213
04-30-2007

Rated 0 
i think this is deffinatly from the point of view of the alcoholic there is just not enough information to conclude any thing else. as far as the drink/gin argument this version is up because the Up in Rags version was released first.

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Pascha
05-03-2007

Rated 0 
(mix a GIN not a DRINK)
another exellent song of theirs..

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gratefulxgrapefruit
05-03-2007

Rated 0 
It is definitely to mix a gin.

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coldwarkid
05-12-2007

Rated +1 
alcohol ruins families :)

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