Lyrics for M79 as interpreted by prayingmantis84

M79 Lyrics
It's going to take a little time
While you're waiting like a factory line
I'll ride across the park
Backseat on the 79
Wasted days you've come to pass

So go, I know you would not stay
It wasn't true, but anyway
Pollination yellow cab

You walk up the stairs
See the French kids by the door
Up one more flight
See the Buddha on the second floor
Coronation rickshaw grab

So go, I know you would not stay
It wasn't true, but anyway
Racist dreams you should not have

No excuse to be so callous
Dress yourself in bleeding madras
Charm your way across the Khyber pass

Stay awake to break the habit
Sing in praise of Jackson Crowther
Watch yourself along the arch of glass

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Wilty
11-11-2009

Rated 0 
Correction: "Coronation rickshaw DRAB" not grab...htf would grab make sense? who posts these lyrics?

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outtacapecod
11-04-2009

Rated 0 
Hey I am writing a paper on this song, an I'm looking for some input...

Anyone think the "arch of glass" could refer to the architecture of the New York City Mosque in Manhattan?

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XMediaManX
08-09-2009

Rated 0 
"Coronation rickshaw grab" actually does mean something, I believe: it refers to the way that a couple chosen as "King and Queen" of a school dance are sometimes brought into the dance — that is, seated on a platform carried by "servants," as royalty were sometimes transported in ancient times.

(Those inclined to get all "Oxford Comma" on us may object this vehicle isn't technically a "rickshaw," which is wheeled at one end: it's a "litter." But the even more persnickety will observe that one would grab hold of a litter the same way as one would grab a rickshaw, so HA!)

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rockstothebass
05-12-2009

Rated 0 
I like the work with the orchestra, makes it that much more catchy.

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acidballroom
04-12-2009

Rated 0 
I honestly believe that this song means nothing, and most of the lyrics are just there because they rhyme or sound pretty e.g. "Coronation rickshaw grab." But in any case, the strings sound amazing and the melody is gorgeous, so overall a pretty good song.

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mega_mega
02-20-2009

Rated 0 
yes yes yes to the wes anderson thing
in fact the intro sounds like something straight out of rushmore

digijoel - i thought the same when i first heard this song!

but i really pontoufle's got it down

anyway such a great song
so eclectic

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APunk13
02-10-2009

Rated 0 
I love this song even though it doesn't make complete sense to me. But then again, not all great songs have to make sense. REM's music hardly ever made sense, they put words that sounded good together to music. What meaning is there to songs like "Orange Crush?" And in response to nadiar, you CAN be trendy and care about Pakistan. It infuriates me to know that some people can be so narrow minded about global conflicts.

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ianmkingsley
02-09-2009

Rated 0 
"Jackson Crowter" or Crowder is my high school friend in Washington DC. He went to elementary school with the keyboardist from Vampire Weekend. They rode the same school bus to school. At the time, Jackson was much younger but they sat next to eachother. I asked Jackson and he said he is not sure what he could have said that had an impact big enough to be included in a song. I was skeptical of this because of the misspelling of his last name from "Crowder" to "Crowter" but recently at a Vampire Weekend concert, it was announced that he was indeed the one mentioned in the song.

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1 Reply
guruem
01-07-2009

Rated 0 
I think the arch of glass might refer to the skyway over the Grand Canyon. This seems to be a pretty bitter song. The last lines of the it are taunting the woman... sort of warning her not to slip up and become too Americanized.

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guruem
01-07-2009

Rated 0 
I think the arch of glass might refer to the skyway over the Grand Canyon. This seems to be a pretty bitter song. The last lines of the it are taunting the woman... sort of warning her not to slip up and become too Americanized.

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likejello
12-23-2008

Rated 0 
does this song remind anyone else of Christmas, its sound is like a Christmas carol

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mjhood
10-13-2008

Rated 0 
pontoufle, I think you are completely right except for the end. When he says "Sing in praise of Jackson Crowther" he is saying that to try to americanize the girl, not because she is already americanized. But besides that, I love this band and there music is so cool and enjoyable that I don't care too much about the meaning.

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pontoufle
09-03-2008

Rated +1 
It's a song about a failed relationship with a Middle-Eastern girl, and I think it goes along with their other song "Campus". In "Campus" the narrator mentions "kaffiyah" which is an Arab headdress, which is what makes me think the girl is Middle-Eastern, and then talks about having to pretend not to be with someone he is sleeping (or in love) with -- "How am I supposed to pretend/ that I never want to see you again?"("I have to leave here before I go" I believe refers to secretly sleeping over at a girl's place, and having to get out without being noticed), which makes me think that the narrator is having a secret relationship with a girl who can't have a real relationship with him. M79 (which stands for a NY bus by that number that the narrator probably takes to either visit her or go home) gives a hint as to why the relationship failed: her "racist" dreams make me think she didn't want a real relationship with the narrator who wasn't Middle Eastern (thus the secret relationship or simply hooking up that he writes about in "Campus"), and when he tells her to "Dress yourself in bleeding madras" ("madras" being a kerchief often worn as a turban) and to "Charm your way across the Khyber pass", he's essentially telling her that if she is so Middle Eastern that she can't date him, she should go be with her people, being sarcastic of course because Khyber Pass, as a physical location, is very violent, so it's like saying "if you don't want to be with me, go charm the terrorists, if you think any Middle Eastern guy is better for you than I am." In the next stanza "Jackson Crowther" refers to a Minor League baseball player, underlining the irony -- this girl is so Americanized, she sings praises to an unknown baseball player, yet won't consider a serious relationship with the narrator because he's not Middle Eastern. And when he finally tells her to "Watch yourself along the arch of glass" he's bitterly referring to how thin the line is that she draws between what's acceptable to her, as a Middle Eastern girl, and what's not.

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2 Replies
blaarghh
08-26-2008

Rated 0 
The lyrics are quite sad, almost regretful. But the melody is so catchy and it makes me laugh because it's set as my friend's message tone and it always goes off at inappropriate times.

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peaceasy
08-17-2008

Rated 0 
Such a good song.

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myriadharbour
06-16-2008

Rated 0 
no no not a gun
I live in New York, and it is a crosstown Bus.
When they play here (as I have seen them live) they say "we are so glad we dont need to explain what the M79 is. NYC Transit fuckin rocks" or something along those lines.

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AppleInHandFan
06-16-2008

Rated 0 
lmao...JACKIE THE HOBO
i thought the same, but then the rest didn't make sense and i didn't even think about the bus. goodness. is it just me or are vampire weekend's lyrics awesome? they have so many cool references. i mean, i have to spend some time figuring out the meanings. or maybe i'm just slow? =p

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the_kita
06-01-2008

Rated 0 
this song has got some great strings going on. and the harpsichord - oooh yeahh... whoodathunkit!

i'm curious as to what exactly the connection is between all these seemingly random references. could it be just a random collection of a multicultural world passing by through a bus window?

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life_aint_chess
05-22-2008

Rated 0 
i think jackson pollock is such a better rhyme than crowther. thou i guess it has some sort of meaning. i love the strings in this one :)

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x...
04-20-2008

Rated 0 
at the end are they talking about madras shorts?

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x...
04-20-2008

Rated 0 
at the end are they talking about madras shorts?

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TheyCallMeSam
04-08-2008

Rated 0 
Oh, wow, millyme! you are so right!

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TheyCallMeSam
04-08-2008

Rated 0 
I love the beginning of the song! What is that, a harpiscord I hear? Amazing vox, too!

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digijoel
04-05-2008

Rated 0 
It seems to me that he's talking about a friend who maybe is a closet racist.

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nadiar
03-23-2008

Rated 0 
khyber pass is also the name of a restaurant in nyc. come on, these guys are so ridiculously trendy, you think they care about pakistan?

:p

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