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I hope that you like it in your little motel
And I hope that the suite sleeps and suits you well
Well, I can see it as time and a sight through smell, and
That's why it's nice to be by yourself
[Chorus]
Cause that's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for, aren't I?
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for, darlin'
We treat mishaps like sinking ships, and
I know that I don't want to be out to drift
Well, I can see it in your eyes, like I taste your lips, and
They both tell me that we're better than this
[Chorus]
We trade tit for tat, like that for this
And I don't think that there was an insult that was missed
I can see it in your eyes, like I taste your lips, and
I'm very sorry
[Chorus]
It rained, over the remains of a shooting star
Landed directly on our broke-down little car
Before that we had made a wish
That we would be missed
If one or the other just did not exist
[Chorus]
That's what we're waiting for
That's what we're waiting for
That's what we're waiting for, aren't we?
And I hope that the suite sleeps and suits you well
Well, I can see it as time and a sight through smell, and
That's why it's nice to be by yourself
[Chorus]
Cause that's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for, aren't I?
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for
That's what I'm waiting for, darlin'
We treat mishaps like sinking ships, and
I know that I don't want to be out to drift
Well, I can see it in your eyes, like I taste your lips, and
They both tell me that we're better than this
[Chorus]
We trade tit for tat, like that for this
And I don't think that there was an insult that was missed
I can see it in your eyes, like I taste your lips, and
I'm very sorry
[Chorus]
It rained, over the remains of a shooting star
Landed directly on our broke-down little car
Before that we had made a wish
That we would be missed
If one or the other just did not exist
[Chorus]
That's what we're waiting for
That's what we're waiting for
That's what we're waiting for, aren't we?
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"See it as time and a sight through smell" Thinking of the future, and remembering her wonderful scent. And sometimes it is nice to be by ourselves to remember who we have. To think of them and miss them.
That's what I'm waiting for, to be in her arms again.
And sometimes the smallest of mishaps, or arguments, do feel like our relationship is sinking.
I don't want to out to drift or to lose you.
We are better than the small arguments and mishaps.
Once again we argue, and we hurt each other, so there isn't an insult that is missed.
I can see it your eyes, like i taste your lips. And I am very sorry. For hurting you, for the dumb arguments.
I like to think of the last part that even when we are at our breaking points and want to give up, we must remember that we would truly miss each other if anything bad happened.
We are waiting for a time to be in each others arms again.
I am doing a report over the music video for this song for one of my classes in college. And I am loving all of the different ideas for interpretations, and I'm hoping I can get one idea nailed down through the video. Thank you all of you who had some input and added your thoughts to the meaning of this song.
"The remainders of a shooting star
Landed directly on our broke-down little car
Before then we had made a wish
That we would be missed
If one or another just did not exist"
Here, I think Brock is saying that when it comes to a romantic relationship, you want to find someone who you would miss if they never existed. I don't feel this way about someone romantically and I never have (which is the reason for a couple of my break ups in the past), but I do in a platonic way towards my best friend. If she did not exist, if I had never met her then I believe there would be a gaping hole in my life. When it comes to love that's what people are looking for: someone who, if they did not exist, would cause you to feel an absence in your life. So, when Brock says, "That's what I'm/we're waiting for" he means that both he and his current partner are searching for someone that fits this description--and they haven't found it in each other; hence the lines "They both tell me that we're better than this" and " I'm very sorry".
Mine is that he's trying to convince a girl to break up with someone she is currently with. then they get together, then it doesn't work out and they break up. then they hope the other people will take them back.
"we fold and we had made a wish
that we WOULD be missed
If one another just did not exist"
He meant that they made a silent wish that if one had never existed at all the other would still miss them as though it was a part of them that would never be filled.
This song really hits me deep because I've been here before and wished the same thing..
"we fold and we had made a wish
that we WOULD be missed
If one another just did not exist"
He meant that they made a silent wish that if one had never existed at all the other would still miss them as though it was a part of them that would never be filled.
This song really hits me deep because I've been here before and wished the same thing..
Don't know if I'm alright with it or not, but I really vibe with this song.
"we're better than this."
seems to me to be about a breakup, and wishing the relationship had never even happened, but at the same time dreading being alone in a little motel again, even if that's what we're waiting for, aren't we?
The 1st stanza is the most debatable in my oppinion. The argument that 'little motel' is a metaphor or euphimism for a coffin is certainly not unfounded and how you interpret this part affects the rest of the song. However, for the way that I have interpreted the song it would take "little motel" to be more literal. While not necessarily a motel but certainly a small room for you to stay temporarily. Being a college student it would fit that the following happend between two people and she's now in college in a dorm. Like a long standing relationship that ended when one goes to college. This doesn't exactly fit with Modest Mouse, however, and so it could easily be something else. "I hope you like it there[...]" and "and I hope that the suite sleeps and suits you well" seem to be loving but I rather get the feeling that they are meant to be sarcastic, like saying 'have a nice life' after a break up. Through the rest of a song it's apparent an argument has occured and "it's nice to be by yourself" fits with a post argument setting. Or that they've had an argument and the one to come is the one that ends everything.
The 2nd stanza and ongoing chorus is less concrete in meaning and changes after each verse despite the words being identical. After the first it would seem to mean that he's waiting to be by himself, as they're still together bu he can feel that the end is coming.
In the 3rd stanza he's talking about a relationship under the metaphor of sailing. "We treat mishaps like sinking ships," This is a metaphor about how things like arguments and little problems in the relationship get treated like tragedy's. And when a ship is sinking you 'abandon ship' so he's saying that they just got out of the relationship after those little "mishaps" arose. Being out to drift is a metaphor about being single and alone. "I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips" is infering that he can see the end coming for them. That may not make sense but wen your in a relationship that's coming to an end then you will understand. Its that look in their eyes and how that kiss has changed when you feel it coming, whether you want it to or not. And then when he says "we're better than this" he means that their relationship is better then to have let all that petty stuff bring it down.
The 4th stanze the chorus means that he's really hoping that they can work it out and 'be better than this.'
The 5th stanza is very similiar to the 3rd. It talks about their arguments and "I don't think there was an insult that was missed" is rather blatently stating that these arguments were just about no-holds-barred, the kind of fights where you say the cruelest things to each other. Again the verse "I can see it in your eyes like I taste your lips" is infering how the end is coming. The when he says "I'm very sorry" it's like that feeling when in the heat of argument you said something so cruel that you'd never have said if things hadn't gotten this heated where the seccond you've said it you instanstly regret it. Also as the argument has already happened he's saying that he's very sorry for everything he said. I don't it means he's literally saying it to her, so much as feeling/thinking it.
The 6th stanza chorus means that he's waiting for her or maybe himself to say he's sorry. Also that he's been waiting for the relationship to end, not because he wants it to so much as he's seen it coming for a while now, and if you've been there you can appreciate how painfull it is to just be sitting there waiting for it to come.
The 7th stanza is my favorite out of a lot of songs. "The remnants of a shooting star landing directly on our broke down little car" I think the broken car is a metaphor for their relationship, it's just not working anymore. The "remnants shooting star" is a metaphor about the wish for theirlkhljgds. People wish on shooting stars but this is about the remnants, the pieces that have burned up and are crashing down to Earth. "Before then we had made a wish, that we would be missed if one or another just did not exist" the beginning of the relationship they wished that it'd work out and that they always love each other, or 'miss the other one if they didn't exist'. Here the are on the other end of that wish as it comes crashing down, and the wish is over. They no longer care for each other, at least in the same way. It would seem, he still has feelings for her, but knows that it can never work, and that it is over.
The final chorus which closes the song changes from 'I' to 'we'. It would seem that they both still have feelings for each other but have both accepted that it is over for them, and are waiting for those feelings to go away. To stop missing each other so they can move on with their lives.
How you interpret a few things in the song can drastically change the meaning. Like whether or not the story is told chronilogically as he switches to past tense in the middle of the song. Also about what 'little motel' is. Sweet or bitter, happy or sad, no matter what interpretation you hear, it is a truly beautiful song and some of Modest Mouse's finest work and that's saying something.