Silversun Pickups – Kissing Families

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  General Comment:I think it's "Sure as shit I made a mistake" instead of "Someone said I made a mistake."
  
  I think the entire thing has to do with a break up. I'm not sure if it's someone in his family (a parent) or his own. I think "Infected wound from a rusty ring" means that it was a bad relationship from the start but he can still feel the effects even after the ring/woman are gone. "kept looking forwards on paths sideways" means the relationship had no chance of going forward but they ignored it and kept looking forward.
  
  To me, it seems like he is going back and forth between being glad she is gone and missing her. Any thoughts?

  Flag moxpoxon April 16, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:PaulF hit it on the head in my mind. Also, a relationship between the singer and the bassist (kissing families- we kissed but we r still family and i may want to kiss others- black eye) that has failed just by the nature of it. But they make awesome music so theyll all just move on and keep it movin. Awesome message and conveyance of such!

  Flag jkcarr07on April 02, 2012   Link

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  My Interpretation:My first impression after listening the song and watching the video it's that is about someone leaving his/her family which it had a very toxic dynamic. Maybe it's still loved for this person, but he/she is glad to leave it.

  Flag sleeperhiton February 24, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:U guys have awesome interpretations of this song. I just gotta say that this has been my favorite song since I first heard it two and a half years ago. I've never had any other song stay my favorite for so long. Still get goosebumps every time I listen to it.

  Flag teaseton December 03, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:i also think this song is about dysfunctional and abusive families. i think the line "its no wonder that we did it this way" refers to how behaviors in a family are learned from the previous generation and passed on to the next, often without being considered or examined, because they are how people learn to be and all they know. i think it may have to do with getting to a place of compassion for one's parents, the ones who screwed up and screwed you up, because you start to see that they came from the same type of parents, and their parents before them, etc. so it is sort of inevitable that this behavior connects through the whole family. just my 2 cents, great song.

  Flagged electric_warrioron November 27, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:kissing families, to me it's not two people in a relationship but a family unit with parents and children. it's just that families are so close, loving close families even or maybe even more than more independent families can be like a trap as you mature and try to grow out of patterns, dramas... the first verse i imagine children playing with a toy guitar, first experience with music..
  
  looking forward while moving sideways maybe means you aren't able to move ahead while still enmeshed in the primary family drama, but then again as a child if you remember feeling like everything was connected and meaningful, all about you and your world and your parents were like the king and queen of it. and well you knew where you stood in your little role as "the creative one" or what have you, but then again, now it's time to get out and maybe you are not who you were playing at being in that little unit, a forgotten prison that you think you have long escaped, you forgot it was a prison as you may have felt in adolescence, so anyway now thank god it's over and you stopped wasting time going sideways.
  
  i just lost both my parents in the space of a year (they were in their 80s) so it's on my mind maybe, but i love this band coz i think most of the interpretations here make sense, that's what poetry is all about! an inner emotional logic that can wear different garb for different people at different stages but, the emotion, and for this band the ambivalence, always rings true.

  Flag mamarthaon October 31, 2010   Link

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  My Interpretation:I think by "Kept looking forward on paths sidways" he means he was looking foward while standing sideways on a path. idk everytime i hear that line i picture a man facing a wall while everyone moves past him.

  Flag truthoverfaithon August 31, 2010   Link

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• +1
  General Comment:i think this song is about families (obviously) that are dysfunctional but that deep inside they really love each other:
  
  stop the season stop the sting
  a plastic mic a broken string
  infected wound from a rusty ring
  -their fights come and go as if they were seasons, and many times somebody gets really hurt either emotionally or physically
  
  soon, you'll be there too
  -they say to each other, "this will happen again, dont worry"
  
  kissing families can't recall
  a program to derail us all
  forgotten prison it's been safe 'til now
  -they cant recall the times they loved each other, they wish they had sort of a program to follow step by step to make things better, they fell like they imprisoned, and they are no longer safe with their family
  
  
  t's no wonder that we did it this way
  keep looking forward on paths sideways
  it's everything that is connected and beautiful
  and now i know just where i stand
  move on
  roll along
  not today
  it's everything that is connected and beautiful
  and now i know just where i stand
  -its no surprise that this disaster happened, because they looked for happiness where they shouldn't (drugs alcohol) but they know that they are a family and that they are all connected in beautiful ways to each other, and now the son (whom i think its the one narrating the story) knows his part in the family and what he has to do. they move on, to a better time
  
  
  thank god you're heart is too close
  -they are thankful that they are together
  
  this can be the bitter end
  i know it wont
  -it explains itself
  
  

  Flag heartgranadeon July 19, 2010   Link

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  Song Meaning:I think I finally figured this song out. I read alot of the comments on here and then looked at the lyrics again, then watched the video.
  I believe the point of view is from a parent who has made lots of mistakes in the past and has hurt their children, but the parent is now dying and finally looks back at his/her life and regretting all of the mistakes made and apologizing. The person now takes life more seriously now that it's about to end and doesn't want to die with a family who hates him/her.
  
  "stop the season stop the sting
  a plastic mic a broken string
  infected wound from a rusty ring"
  I believe this refers to all of the mistakes he/she made raising and hurting the children
  
  "soon you'll be there too"
  the parent is going through a hard time and notices that his/her children have been going through the whole parenthood thing as well and eventually they'll be on their deathbed too. This quote and "thank god, it's over" gave me the impression that this person is dying
  
  I would explain the rest of the song, but it'd take alot of time and I think I've made my point already
  
  However...there are a few things from the video that make me think this as well.
  Brians black eye-he/she beat his/her children
  The Beer spilling on the outlet-the parent was an alcaholic and it hurt the children
  the bass almost hitting the drummer-the unintentional hurt the parent put on the children
  The cords wrapping around everyone- relates to the quote "connected and beautiful" yet, people are getting hurt unintentionally
  in the video, Brian is pulling back the bass player when she's getting farther away, representing how the family now gets closer because a death is soon to come and the parent apologizes
  
  the term "kissing families" is kind of sarcasm for the situation. It's sorta like the parent is seeing all of these kissing families and wishing his/her family was close.
  
  
  

  Flag Cloud432on June 22, 2010   Link

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• +1
  General Comment:Has anyone considered the notion that perhaps your taking the meaning too literal?
  Perhaps this is about not just a marriage but the tradition itself?
  
  When I hear it its almost as if he's remarking on how he was socialized to believe from when he was young that marriage is a wonderful beautiful thing.
  
  The Line : "it's no wonder that we did it this way
  keep looking forward on paths sideways"
  To me he's saying of course we've thought things this way and did it this way, its all we've known and therefor how were we supposed to know it was warped and contorted?
  
  I think the Black eye, and the brace are both symbols of various metaphors. The Black eye clouded judgment and the Brace a twisted arm as in, "They have my arm twisted" As if they have him right where they want him. Which would allude to the notion of the way we're socialized forcing him into such a situation.
  
  I disagree with the abuse, Its definitely alludes to a relationship too strongly unless their referring to spousal abuse, However I dont buy that do to the Line "Soon you'll be there too." Are they telling us we'll be abused too? Perhaps in some way their alluding to that metaphorically, however it seems more plausible that its a metaphor for a change of view.

  Flag kenshen83on May 25, 2010   Link

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