I'm not a ladies man, I'm a land mine
Filming my own fake death
Under an '88 Cavalier I go
But-but-but-but nothing but the rear bumper's blown
But I's born for this flight
United 955 on the fifth of July
Back to SFO
I-I join the dark side
In a thin disguise
On consumer grade video at night

Faking suicide for applause
In the food courts of malls
And cursing racing horses on church steps
Playing the wall at singles bingo
All-time gringo
Did anyone hear me cry there?
Through a toilet stall divider
I swear I care, raw

Am I an example of a calculated birth?
To a star chart for clowns, I'm not
Under robin eggs in a nest, you hit a manila envelope
With one last little robin's egg in it
A hollow bullet yet spent
Subject to dismissal
I wish all my pitfalls
Could be caught by this call

Cheeri-a, cheeri-e, cheeri-i, cheeri-o, cheeri-u



Lyrics submitted by oh ok

Track duration: 04:06


The Vowels, Pt. 2 song meanings
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  • -1
    Lyric Correction:"and cursing racing horses on TIERED steps" -- not church steps

    also

    "I wish all my pitfalls could be called my MISS-CALLS"
    Flag cotardon June 16, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Opinion:I'm pretty sure that "am i an example of a calculated birth to a star chart for clowns?" should be one question.
    He's gotta be talking about the zodiac signs and how he doesn't buy into it. He answers his question with "I'm not."
    Flag rambleon January 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"A hollow bullet yet spent
    Subject to dismissal"

    I think this line is very powerful. I perceived it as a meaningless homicide. The death of WHAT is the real question though, and who's to blame...and WHY?

    Flag Kissickon January 06, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think he refers to the balls with "robin's eggs" i've herd this expression used as a slang for balls in other contexts. it makes sense cuz then he continues with the hollow bullet yet spent, well yeah, i think it's about his lack of or not being able to for some reason. well, sexual frustration like someone else said.

    what would a "consumer grade video" be?
    Flag appletton August 04, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:so, i really love how WHY? does little things like this. it's good to see that a few people have heard the vowels, and saw the same "i'm not a ladies man i'm a landmine" line in a cLOUDDEAD song. i like what notimportant234 was saying but i don't know how much of it really is about sex. i also think this song is about how people misunderstand shit, you know? i agree with what a lot of people said. yoni is a lyrical genius.
    Flag oaklandazulasylieon February 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is so incredibly complex and well thought out, i agree with menoseloso in the sense that its kind of a vicarious sense of grim storytelling, in my opinion, this song is kind of a culmination of the idea in itself. this song is about Yoni's lyrics, and probably an analysis where why is going. the line "But I's born for this flight, United 955 on the fifth of July" seems to me to be like a reality check, playing out this death scene in head, maybe based on a lyric, and suddenly realizing, oh, I need to catch a flight. It kinda seems to jump back and forth like that throughout the whole song. everybody needs to analyze where they're going every once in awhile, and i think this is just that for Yoni. Also, if it is about writing, the "cheerie-a(i o u)" thing would make a little more sense. I really don't know, this is just my interpretation and I'm probably completely wrong. All i know is that Yoni Wolf is a lyrical genius and i love him so much.
    Flag kgreeron January 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Pretty sure this song is definitely an example of Yoni's neurotic nature, and I think it has to do with sexual frustration, like most of the other songs on the album. The lyric "I'm not a ladies man, I'm a landmine" is an awesome example of this; Instead of being smooth in social situations, you just end up failing and being awkward, or imploding, like a landmine. I think for Yoni, sex and death are always related, so faking suicides for applause in food courts of malls would be the equivalent of trying to get girls to notice you by doing ridiculous things.

    The line about playing "the wall" at singles bingo could be a reference to the Pink Floyd album, or it could be about Yoni's inability to engage people in conversation, and ending up having an anxiety attack and crying in the bathroom.

    The calculated birth line probably has to do with astrology, which explains why he'd go to a star chart for clowns, as in an easy to read astrology chart.

    The robin's egg lyric is really surreal, but my interpretation is that it has to do with the un-attainability of sex; just when you think you've got everything (the whole nest of eggs), someone does something to throw you off (you hid a manila envelope with one last little robin's egg in it)

    A bullet yet spent has to do with Yoni not being able to have the sex he wants, subject to dismissal is a reference to rejection, and the last lyric is a reference to Yoni longing to say "goodbye" and "Fuck you" to the failures in his past:

    "I wish all my pitfalls could be caught by this call:" "Cheery-o!"

    Flag notimportant234on December 11, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think that the lyrics are 'am i an example of a calculated birth to a star chart for clowns?' as opposed to the question mark being after birth. That, to me, makes more sense.

    Through that lyric he would, to put it simply, be asking if his birth was a joke- which refers to the clown star chart.

    that's my opinion, it never even occuured to me before looking up the lyrics that they may be two seperate sentences.
    Flag anaanaon July 08, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:so where is Pt. 1? haha...
    Flag pqhooliganon June 20, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i really like this song.
    when i first heard why? it was the hollows and honestly i hated the band.
    but slowly they started to grow on me. now i listen to them 24/7. hahaha. funny how things work.
    Flag trees1234on June 09, 2009   Link

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