This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Well, just because she feeds me well
And she made me talk dirty in a pink hotel
It doesn't mean she's got eyes for me
She might just want my bones, you see
And hey flathead, don't you get mean
She's the second best killer that I ever have seen
They don't come much more sick than you
I could go on if you want me to
It's just so wrong, so very nice
And I told you once and you killed me twice
I saw you one time at the back of the club
Chewing on glass and a ticket stub
Said I heard you kicked the boy 'til he bled
Then you stood and said, "Oh my God", 'til she said
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Well, everybody knows you're the one to call
When the girls get uglier on the back of the wall
Josephine says you gotta bleeding nose
Taking it with her wherever she goes
And hey flathead, don't check me in
Well, hers is a tonic and mine is a gin
They don't come much more slick than you
I'd drive your car if you ask me to
Said the boy's not right in the head
And you stood and got a kicking instead, 'til she said
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Da, da-da-da-do
And she said the boy's not right in the head
And you stood and said, "Oh my God", 'til she said
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
And she made me talk dirty in a pink hotel
It doesn't mean she's got eyes for me
She might just want my bones, you see
And hey flathead, don't you get mean
She's the second best killer that I ever have seen
They don't come much more sick than you
I could go on if you want me to
It's just so wrong, so very nice
And I told you once and you killed me twice
I saw you one time at the back of the club
Chewing on glass and a ticket stub
Said I heard you kicked the boy 'til he bled
Then you stood and said, "Oh my God", 'til she said
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Well, everybody knows you're the one to call
When the girls get uglier on the back of the wall
Josephine says you gotta bleeding nose
Taking it with her wherever she goes
And hey flathead, don't check me in
Well, hers is a tonic and mine is a gin
They don't come much more slick than you
I'd drive your car if you ask me to
Said the boy's not right in the head
And you stood and got a kicking instead, 'til she said
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Da, da-da-da-do
And she said the boy's not right in the head
And you stood and said, "Oh my God", 'til she said
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
Ba-da-ba, ba-da, da, da, da
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Just because she feeds me well
And she made me talk dirty in a pink hotel
Doesn't mean she's got eyes for me
She might just want my bones you see
Hey flathead don't you get mean
She's the second best killer that I ever have seen
They don't come much more sick Than you
I could go on if you want me to
It's just so wrong so very nice I told you Once and you killed me twice
I saw you one time at the back of the Club chewing on glass and a ticket stub
I heard they kicked the boy til he bled
Then stood and said oh my god til she said
Bara bap bara ra ra ra bara bap bara ra ra ra......
Everybody knows you're the one to call
Josephine says you got bleedin nose
Shes takin it with her wherever she goes
Hey flathead don't check me in
Well hers is a tonic and mine is a gin
They don't come much more slick than you
I'd drive your car if you ask me to
Said the boy's not right in the head
So he stood and got a kickin instead til she said
Bara bap bara ra ra ra bara bap bara ra ra ra......
And she said the boy's not right in the head
Then stood and said oh my god til she said
Bara bap bara ra ra ra bara bap bara ra ra ra......
Ahh... I love how you dissected the code of this song. Brilliant work!
Obviously I should elaborate a little bit to put my interpretation into perspective. I’ve gotten quite a few questions regarding what I wrote. Admittedly I dashed it off in roughly 10 minutes. So, it is not perfect work.
First of all, I consider the lyrics to be quite artful and I personally am quite impressed by the overall musical arrangement. I apologize if I’ve upset anyone with my interpretation, but I think the Fratellis have created a reasonably tasteful evocation of what part of the current generation Y alternative rock environment entails. Granted, it is not going to be competing with Raffi for the G rated music segment. Perhaps my writing is a little too direct to the point by using certain human anatomical vocabulary.
I’m a Yank (specifically a Texan) and I wrote my interpretation for a Yank audience assuming they might be a little sketchy regarding Brit slang. So my blather at the beginning about Michael Flatley was just my attempt to explain to Yanks that there is a little history on the other side of the pond regarding the term Flathead. In the US, I think Flathead is used often to indicate someone of low intelligence (e.g. a cave man). I’m positive that is not what Flathead means in this song. It is obviously a name for a girl/women who has a pretty wild and uninhibited lifestyle. I think Brit mod/alternative rockers would use that term for individuals who are over-the-top and excessive like a Michael Flatley Flathead. As far as I know, the Brits do not have a widely used meaning for Flatheads other than what I mentioned.
Now, as for the perhaps nonsense chorus of Bara bap bara ra ra ra. At first I did think it was just nonsense. But, then I remembered that Brits use the term in a number of ways. On further reflection, I think my Barazoku interpretation is wrong. I think perhaps Bara means penis and bab means vagina. I don’t think this is a matter of my mind being in the gutter. It seems pretty clear to me that the song at this point is about a girl uttering dirty slang during sexual orgasm. Also, ra ra is a common Brit utterance for where Yanks would exclaim yea yea. It’s been along time since I’ve hung-out with Brits, but I’m relatively sure about my latest interpretation and I checked it against some slang dictionaries.
Does anyone else hear the lyrics a little bit differently? In the first verse I hear:
"Said I heard YOU kicked the boy until he bled AND YOU stood and said oh my God until she said"
In the second verse I hear:
"AND YOU stood and got a kicking instead until she said"
In the very end I hear:
"AND YOU stood and said oh my God until she said"
It's the first one.
no comments... terrible.... no idea what it means but quality song neva the less!!
I'm totally addicted to this song, really great!!
The IPod Song!
I think its about a night out with friends, on a weekend away. He just realises he is basically the lapdog of his girlfriend, but more pressing matters (the state of his friend after a fight) is of more concern then.
i love this song!
wicked catchy lol
Fantastic!