Lyrics for A-Punk as interpreted by tippy_typewriter

A-Punk Lyrics
Johanna drove slowly into the city
The Hudson River all filled with snow
She spied the ring on His Honor's finger
Oh-oh-oh

A thousand years in one piece of silver
She took it from his lily-white hand
Showed no fear--she'd seen the thing
In the young men's wing at Sloan-Kettering

Look outside at the raincoats coming, say "oh"
Look outside at the raincoats coming, say "oh"

'Ey, 'ey, 'ey, 'ey!
'Ey, 'ey, 'ey!

His Honor drove southward seeking exotica
Down to the pueblo huts of New Mexico
Cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas
Oh-oh-oh

I saw Johanna down in the subway
She took an apartment in Washington Heights
Half of the ring lies here with me
But the other half's at the bottom of the sea

Look outside at the raincoats coming, say "oh"
Look outside at the raincoats coming, say "oh"
Look outside at the raincoats coming, say "oh"
Look outside at the raincoats coming, say "oh"

'Ey, 'ey, 'ey, 'ey!
'Ey, 'ey, 'ey, 'ey!

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shadybaglady
09-20-2007

Rated -1 
this song, like all Vampire Weekend's music, is so cheerful. still, I have no idea what they're talking about, hahaha.

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freesoul336
12-06-2007

Rated 0 
can someone elucidate for me what this song means?

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crudnick
01-03-2008

Rated +2 
well this song seems to be a story about johanna. it seems that she steals a ring from some sort of king who may be in town for cancer treatment because sloan-kettering is the best cancer hospital in the world. some of the details of the story aren't clear to me, however it seems that she tossed the ring because she ends up moving to washington heights, which i understand is not one of the nicer neighborhoods in new york. so they are possibly suggesting her willingly giving up the ring, showing her unselfishness which suggests this story is about justice. johanna may have stolen it to correct 1000 years of injustice. anyways, i'm still unclear on other parts like the raincoats and his honor going to new mexico, so if anyone knows whats up with that, or if im completely wrong about what i came up with please post.

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1 Reply
sundayykindagirl
01-23-2008

Rated +1 
i love this song...it makes me happy:)i think crudnick pretty much got the story in the song right...johanna seems like a pretty sketchy character (i don't know, but maybe thats why the songs called A-Punk?)

I really like the part about the ring being at the bottom of the sea at the end...for some reason this song always reminds me of that under the sea song in the little mermaid, so i can imagine this song playing while that lobster dude dances around...lol...

think its easy not even listen to the lyrics, especially when the video's on, because its so visually enticing...i saw it late one night on MuchMusic and i was completely mesmerized...

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catxuhhxleexnuh
02-02-2008

Rated +2 
[go to the very end if you wanna hear it in a nutshell]
okay here's what i got from the song:

"johanna drove slowly into the city the hudson river all filled with snow"
---johanna arives in new york during winter [because the hudson river is in new york]

"a thousand years in one piece of silver"
---talking about the ring, this can mean that is has some meaning/value to her

"she took it from his lily-white hand"
---could suggest that he is dead

"showed no fear she'd seen the thing in the young men's wing at sloan kettering"
---sloan kettering is a cancer center
so she could have been expecting him to die. and when he did she took the ring

"look outside the raincoats coming say oh"
---i think this means that its raining. and rain can represent a number of things. it can mean sadness/washing something clean/starting over/renew/replenish..whatev..
because the raincoats are coming this could mean that people are coming after her...or not..

"his honor drove southward seeking exotica..turquoise harmonicas"
---now here's where the song gets tricky.
this part doesnt allude to anything that i've heard of
so i think this is just an experience that the writer of the song had.
---i interpreted this as telling us what happend to the boy johanna took the ring from. before he died. lol its hard to explain what i'm thinking

"half of the ring lies here with me but the other halfs at the bottom of the sea"
---she gets rid of the half of the ring the represents his honor and gives the other half to her new love

----okay..in a nutshell.. so this guy is telling the story of his girl johanna. how she gets over [or gets even] with an old love by taking a ring that he has [i think the ring represents her love]. in the end she gives half to her new love and leave the other half behind.
--i dont think the person who wrote this song wants us to know exactly what it means. its left open for interpretation. i think johanna is getting over an old love. thats why rain is mentioned, because it washes away her old mistakes..like a clean slate

wow. that was long. please tell me what you think

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peopledontdance
02-06-2008

Rated +2 
OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SONG. i have no idea what it means but i love going EY EY EY EY

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icy40oz
02-16-2008

Rated +2 
Ok, how about this:

Johanna comes to New York because one of her family members, most likely her younger brother, has just died from cancer. She has been to visit him previously in the cancer ward at Sloan-Kettering, as evidenced by the lyric "she'd seen the thing at the young man's wing in Sloan-Kettering"

"His Honor" could be just that, a judge who has settled the family estate. She takes the ring from him. The line "a thousand years in one piece of silver" can refer to the ring having been in the family for generations. The "raincoats coming" are a symbol of her sadness. She watches them from her apartment or hotel window.

I think that the lines about His Honor's trip to the southwest are showing that the whole experience was difficult for everyone. Even the estate executor had to take some time off (maybe permanently) to distance himself from the emotional turmoil of a young person dying of cancer.

Johanna takes an apartment in the city to be close to the memory of her lost loved one. However, she has thrown the ring into the sea because of the painful association with the death.

I think that the narrator of the song is the deceased relative. The line "half of the ring lies here with me, but the other half's at the bottom of the sea" means that the physical location of the ring is the ocean where it was thrown, but the "other half" is the memory associated with the ring, which lies with the dead person.

Just my two pennies.

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1 Reply
ryanisarealboy
02-16-2008

Rated 0 
Good call icy I think that is exactly what they are talking about. Thanks a lot for clearing it up for me!

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rkpetersen
02-17-2008

Rated 0 
Here's my take on some key lyrics from this song:

"She spied the ring on His Honor's finger
A thousand years in one piece of silver
She took it from his lily-white hand"

'His Honor' would typically refer to an older gentleman, not a boyfriend or lover. In this case, one who's died, thus his 'lily while hand'. The word 'spied' suggests that Johanna is looking at the ring secretly or guiltily. Also, the ring is 'on' his finger, not in his hand; he isn't giving her the ring, she takes it off of his finger.

"Showed no fear--she'd seen the thing
In the Young Men's Wing at Sloan-Kettering"

I think the 'thing' she'd seen at Sloan-Kettering was death, not the ring. Thus she was able to take the ring off the dead man's hand; she 'showed no fear' because she's been around dead people before.

"His Honor drove southward seeking exotica
Down to the Pueblo huts of New Mexico
Cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas"

'Exotica' could mean an antiquity. Turquose, often combined with silver; could the thousand year old ring have been from Mexico? Aztec, maybe?

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seannyff
03-09-2008

Rated 0 
Seems to me the title is a reference to the sub-genre commonly known as "Oi Punk," where bands sometimes chant "oi! oi! oi!" similar to the way that Koenig chants "'ey! 'ey! 'ey!" or "a! a! a!"

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DecemberSun
03-09-2008

Rated 0 
well my name is joanna so i LOVE it. even if they do spell it johanna. whatever.

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DecemberSun
03-09-2008

Rated 0 
well my name is joanna so i LOVE it. even if they do spell it johanna. whatever.

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dustybreeze
03-09-2008

Rated 0 
it says joanna, not johanna : )

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DecemberSun
03-11-2008

Rated 0 
oh that makes me really happy. sorry for the double post last time guys! if it happens again, sorry!

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hailZoltan
03-12-2008

Rated 0 
this is an awesome song

i like it!!!


ey ey ey ey


me gusta me gusta









hayley does crack cocaine
up her anal passage

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plur
03-13-2008

Rated 0 
I thought it was about a couple being apart after getting engaged.

He proposes, she stays in New York, he goes west.

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plasticskies
03-13-2008

Rated 0 
why does it talk about snow in the first verse then talk about raincoats in the chorus?

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bananacrazy
03-16-2008

Rated 0 
It is Johanna in the cd lyric book. Silent H. I love this song, and all their songs.

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Nosdravde
03-19-2008

Rated 0 
Such a cool song ^ ^

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lavaweasle
03-19-2008

Rated 0 
Perhaps the part about His Honor going south is how he got cancer or whatever through some southern hookers, and then died from it and then go on with catxuhhxleexnah? :P

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1 Reply
caitlennon
03-24-2008

Rated 0 
i came THIS CLOSE to seeing vampire weekend. THIS EFFING CLOSE. they are awesome.

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myusofine
04-03-2008

Rated 0 
I think it's interesting how in the first verse he talks about Johanna driving in the cold and snow, and then in the 3rd verse he talks about His Honor driving towards sunny weather. There is definitely tension between the 2 people. The song seems to span a lot of time, and different seasons - winter in the first verse, raincoats signifying Spring, and then driving to New Mexico to warm weather/summer.

there also seems to be a huge lack of emotion on Johanna's part, perhaps due to a recent loss of a loved one. "No fear" in the 2nd verse, driving slowly (calm, no emotion), and "Look outside the raincoats coming say "oh."" Like she sees them and her reaction is just "Oh." Then in the last verse when he sees her they talk about like, mundane things like where she lives. And finally, the ring that she stole is no longer with her. she doesn't even care for it - its with him, and at the bottom of the sea. it's like whoever died has left her so numb. It's actually a sad song, I think - but such a happy melody, like some other VW songs - so cool... I really heart them.

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xfunkiix
04-05-2008

Rated 0 
I love this song, the melody is so happy and carefree sounding. Sounds like The Ramones when they go 'ey ey ey ey'.
They're touring in the UK but they aren't coming to stoke :(
bummer.

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weretheremorethan24
04-06-2008

Rated 0 
A lot of Vampire Weekends music has references to the Ivy League, Cape Cod, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, and New England in general, so I learned to look for references that might be obscure and the first time I heard this song I though they were saying, "look outside the redcoats coming." even though the real line is raincoats, could it be a masked reference alluding to the Paul Revere's historic ride through new england? I like to believe that is has a double meaning in a historical sense as well as meaning that the sadness Johanna feels is coming for her.

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xkarasuxnoxyorux
04-06-2008

Rated 0 
Uh I totally agree with catxuhhxleexnuh on the most part but for on
the part where the song goes
---
"His Honor drove southward seeking exotica
Down to the pueblo huts of New Mexico
Cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas
Oh-oh-oh"
***His Honor drove southward seeking exotica / Down to the pueblo huts of New Mexico***
I think this means He drove down to NM to find peace, or to take a vacation, lastly maybe like on spring break to go party and have fun, get drunk, find girls (you know?....nah)
THEN
***Cut his teeth on turquoise harmonicas***
Meant that during his fun something happened (maybe he cheated on johanna, or maybe his significant other), OR maybe like a baby he literally cut his teeth (when a baby's teeth breaks the gum and starts to grow)on he grew teeth, so he learned/expirienced more or grew bolder


ONE LAST AFTER-THOUGHT
---
"She spied the ring on His Honor's finger"

An "His Honor's Finger" Could an "Honor's Finger" beconsidered a ring finger? was he secretly married? or what? that's my question...

Ja
-Karasu

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