You're pink, you're young, you're middle-class
They say it doesn't matter
Fifteen blue shirts and womanly hands
You're shooting up the ladder

Your mind is racing like a pro now
Oh my God, it doesn't mean a lot to you
One time, you were a glowing young ruffian
Oh my God, it was a million years ago

Sometimes you get up and bake a cake or something
Sometimes you stay in bed
Sometimes you go, la, di, da, di, da, di, da, da
Till your eyes roll back into your head

Your mind is racing like a pro now
Oh my God, it doesn't mean a lot to you
One time, you were a glowing young ruffian
Oh my God, it was a million years ago

you're dumbstruck, baby
You're dumbstruck, baby, now you know
You're dumbstruck, baby
You're dumbstruck, baby, now you know

Your mind is racing like a pro now
Oh my God, it doesn't mean a lot to you
One time, you were a glowing young ruffian
Oh my God, it was a million years ago

you're dumbstruck, baby
You're dumbstruck, baby, now you know
You're dumbstruck, baby
You're dumbstruck, baby, now you know
You're dumbstruck, baby



Lyrics submitted by lampada, edited by rockaction

Track duration: 03:24

"Racing Like a Pro" as written by Aaron B. Dessner Bryce D. Dessner

Lyrics © BUG MUSIC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Racing Like a Pro song meanings
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25 Comments

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  • 0
    Song Meaning:This song is about a young man who is an upwardly mobile office professional. Another term you could use is "yuppie". This man used to be lower middle class, working a hard labor job but now his hands are soft from doing soft work.

    The days of working as a laborer seem very long ago to this man, although he is still very young he is feeling detached from his earlier experiences.

    This man is just going through the motions in both his professional and personal life. The stanza that starts with "Sometimes you get up and bake a cake or something" lists the meaningless things he does to fill his time. He is ambivalent about his very existence and this has left him "dumbstruck". The end of the song is the young man realizing that he is totally clueless as to how to proceed with or view his life.
    Flag dabuddha13on November 27, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I agree with bubblescreen and Jarko89, though I'd quibble over the nature of the drug. These lines --

    Sometimes you get up and bake a cake or something, sometimes you stay in bed
    Sometimes you go la di da di da di da da 'til your eyes roll back into your head

    -- suggest a herbal rather than an injectable substance.
    Flag Alulueion June 18, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's definitely about a bloke. 15 blue shirts means he grew and maybe even started out as a blue collar working, using his hands, while he was still a lad (glowing young ruffian), but these days he has womanly hands - they're not calloused because he works in an office.

    That's why he hates the things he does (going la-di-dah til his eyes roll back). He feels divorced from the life he's leading. He should be down the working man's club with his mates not living a middle class life. They say it doesn't matter, but it does, because he's depressed and feels trapped.

    Mind racing like a pronoun would be a great lyric. I'm goign to keep believing it's that, because it's better.
    Flag skatelliteson April 08, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think it could be interpreted as a couple talking to each other. This is long and probably unnecessary but oh well.

    (Wife)You're pink, you're young, you're middle-class
    (Husband) They say it doesn't matter
    (Wife) Fifteen blue shirts and womanly hands, you're shooting up the ladder

    (W) Your mind is racing like a pro, now
    (H) Oh my god it doesn't mean a lot to you
    (W) One time you were a glowing young ruffian
    (H) Oh my god it was a million years ago

    (H) Sometimes you get up and bake a cake or something, sometimes you stay in bed
    (W) Sometimes you go la di da di da di da da 'til your eyes roll back into your head

    chorus

    The "dumbstruck" part is sung by both.

    Or maybe my mind has been polluted by Glee, with all it's show choir and Broadway duets. :)
    Flag Aquarius121on August 23, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I definitely heard "racing like a pronoun" for about a year after hearing the album.
    Flag kevinjalmaxon March 06, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:One iterpretation of this song could be that its about an ambitious woman getting married and having to settle to becoming a housewife. She started of being successful in her job and 'moving up the ladder', then she falls in love, gets married and she finds herself in a housewife role.

    I see this song from the perspective of an outsider or a friend of hers commenting on this transition and tells of how know that she is not happy.
    Flag ws205on December 26, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:oh man i think i interpreted this song completely different. i thought it was about someone who has trouble sleeping, and hundreds of thousands or thoughts are rolling through their head that kind of don't relate, and sometimes when they are having trouble sleeping, they bake a cake or something, and sometimes they just start singing incoherently. the part where he is like "you're dumbstruck baby, now you know" i think it could mean a lot of things..... possibly that she (yeah, i also thought it was about a girl) eventually falls asleep and cannot believe it.

    but then again, maybe i am just saying that because that is how i feel every night when i go to bed and don't fall asleep for hours.
    Flag shoobeedoowopon April 08, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:The other posts may be correct, but while listening casually I thought it was about something completely different. I thought it was about a depressed, middle class corporate type that resorts to shooting up drugs. Veins on the arm are the blue laddders and eyes are rolling back in the head.. This person sleeps a lot (depression). Could be waaay off, but that was my original take. These other explanatinos make a lot of sense too.
    Flag bubblescreenon November 09, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:lol, J.
    Flag churchgonewildon July 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:@nagyovafan: i also misheard that line as something a bit more prurient... and i too am ashamed.
    Flag iwearshirtson July 02, 2008   Link

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