Anything we should know about your change?
Well there's an ideal inside of me,
That we're nothing at all.
There's nothing threatening controlling me,
In fact there's nothing at all.
And still the wheel turning's all I'll be,
It carries on til you crawl.
You gotta know what you want to be,
But there's no number to call.

You got a feeling nothing here is free,
'Cause you grew up in a mall.
[huh] on t.v.
And you can still hit a ball.
You got a milllion things you want to flee,
Smuggle an ounce in a doll.
I cut you eyes so you can finally see,
That they're nothing at all.
Turns out there's nothing at all.

There must be a flaw in this fatal eye,
Have to contend with all night.

Wasn't alive back in the sixties,
Somehow that was my fault.
I'm just a shell empty as can be,
Yeah, I've got nothing at all.
You want to put your trust in some solid thing,
Yeah, its a drug to us all.
But there's no ideal inside of me,
So I got nothing at all,
No I got nothing at all,
and I got nothing at all.

Must be a fault in this fatal eye,
Have to contend with all night,
Such a danger so we gotta slide,
Into the depths of the salt mine.

There's nothing at all



Lyrics submitted by ladybug87, edited by ariennba

Track duration: 04:10

"Nothing at All" as written by Rob/rooney Thomas

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Nothing At All song meanings
Add your thoughts

8 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:I first heard this and immediately thought of a book, i had read by the Dali lama, these lyrics sound like some Buddhist concepts . such as :
    "Well there's an ideal inside of me,
    That we're nothing at all."

    Buddhists say that there is "no self", like you are nothing at all.

    by realizing this you are free:
    'There's nothing threatening controlling me,
    In fact there's nothing at all.'

    the wheel is another idea, and a fairly common symbol plus death rebirth etc. like the cyclical existence carries on till you are a baby again:
    'And still the wheel turning's all I'll be,
    It carries on til you crawl.'

    another idea in Buddhism is that you have to overcome your desires for material things, because the are what controls you and makes you suffer:
    'You want to put your trust in some solid thing,
    Yeah, its a drug to us all.'
    Flag darksmashon May 01, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song, being probably a cull from Wincing the Night Away, fits into the whole theme of that album - the guy becoming disillusioned with life philosophies.

    It's basically pretty self-explanatory, but I've no idea about some bits - what does the salt mine mean?
    Flag sam99fosteron May 25, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Just some lyric corrections.

    "I see that you can finally see" is actually "You cut your eyes so you can finally see."

    And in the chorus, is might be "flaw," but I hear

    "There must be a fault in this fable, I
    Have to contend with you all night."

    And as far as this song being disappointing goes, it's not. The chord progression does sound the see, which really isn't that hard considering it's probably written in the same key. The melody itself is not the same, perhaps the theme, but not the range. Perhaps this song was inspired by Silhouettes, it's not uncommon to manipulate the same tones and themes from a piece that inspired the piece being written.

    The song in itself, especially with James' lyricism, is awesome.
    Flag TheMattfordon April 09, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:ENEP, i agree! i forgot that i downloaded this song and when i was letting the album play, i got to it and thought; "what the hell, shins. what the hell." it's disappointing. mostly because i love their cover of "we will become silhouettes" so much.
    Flag portion for a foxon February 04, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The chord progression, melody, and rhythm sounds identical to their cover of "We Will Become Silhouettes."
    Flag ENEPon January 23, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Just heard this one on Pandora. It's off the Phantom Limb single. Awesome song, proving once again that it's virtually impossible to make a bad song that has hand claps.
    Flag sein514on December 29, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:oh dear. i thought i had every shins song ever recorded! looks like i will be placing an order with subpop...
    Flag fursoftasfuron December 09, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I really like the line "Such a danger so we gotta slide, into the depths of the salt mine." Salt is often used to mean wit, so it happens to be a very witty line.
    Flag ladybug87on November 29, 2006   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain