Our daydream spills from my gold head
Breaks free of my wooden neck
Left a nod over sleeping waves
Like bobbing bait for bathing cod
Floating flocks of candle swans
Slowly drift across wax ponds

The men all played along to marching drums
and boy did they have fun behind the sea
They sang, �so our matching legs are marching clocks
and we�re all too small to talk to god
Yes, we�re all too smart to talk to god"

Toast the fine folks casting silver crumbs
to us from the dock.
Jinxed things ringing as they leak
through tiny cracks in the boardwalk.
Scarecrow now it�s time to hatch
sprouting suns and ageless daughters.

Those watermelon smiles just can�t ripen underwater
Just can�t ripen underwater

The men all played along to marching drums
and boy did they have fun behind the sea
They sang, �so our matching legs are marching clocks
and we�re all too small to talk to god
Yeah, we�re all too smart to talk to god
oh, we�re all too smart to talk to god"



Lyrics submitted by fueledbyd

Track duration: 03:33


Behind the Sea song meanings
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82 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:i believe "watermelon smiles" is just referring to a huge smile- when you cut a slice of watermelon it comes out in a half-moon shape similar to a huge smile. e.g, happiness.
    Flag sabrinaarifon April 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is the Alternative version.

    I like both, though I prefer the original. Very...psychedelic and wonderland-like.

    For those of you who keep asking, at the end of the song, the correct phrase is:

    "Ohhhh...Legs of wood waves, waves of wooden legs"

    ... I should know, I have this whole song tattooed on me.
    Flag AlyxInWonderlandon May 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"We're all too smart to talk to God"
    A lot of really intelligent people struggle with religion and the idea of God because to them there is no physical or logical proof and it's easier to believe in science, which can be proven.
    It reminds me a lot of my friend who has a hard time understanding religion because she can't understand faith.

    idk that's what i got out of that line.
    Flag kimbermayneeon March 31, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:it's corked head, not gold head
    Flag wushuwilon January 14, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I'm not sure, but this song made me think of The Beatle's "Octopuse's Garden". It was originally written as a childrens song, and this song does seem fantastical and child-based.

    Just a thought
    Flag SallySixxon January 12, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:besides how amazing this song is and how good ryans' voice sounds; i actually think this song has an entirely different meaning than their previous songs; i think it's about ryan and his life in school. i think it's about how ryan doesn't know what to do because he wants to be a song writer but his 'influences' from his life, aka abusive/drunk dad is such a big factor, he is too timid to write about it. i think that b/c he went to catholic school, (like me, so i can relate to this song), "we're all too small to talk to god" is his schools' stance and how they probably went to mass frequently like my school.

    Left a nod over sleeping waves
    Like bobbing bait for bathing cod
    ^^^ He put his song out there, (whether through a teacher or literary magazine in his school, idk) and he is waiting to see if any of the uncaring 'cod' (faculty) will notice his cry for help?


    Matching legs/marching clocks
    ^^uniforms would mean matching right? what they wear in catholic school
    and marching clocks maybe means how its just a matter of time before something happens to each of them.

    Toast the fine folks casting silver crumbs
    to us from the dock.
    Jinxed things ringing as they leak
    through tiny cracks in the boardwalk.
    Scarecrow now it�s time to hatch
    ^^^I think the 'fine folks' are the teachers he's trying to reach for help the only way he knows how to, by writing. the silver crumbs are the moments occasionaly that they suspect something might be wrong at home.
    'jixed things' are the bad things that go on at ryans' house that they dont want to see because it 'jinxes' the catholics ideals of family. I think 'leaking through the cracks' is maybe they had a conference with his dad, something they thought would help but definitly didnt!!
    Scarecrow, i would definitly see from the wizard of oz saying 'if he only had a brain' which is ryan regretting writing about this whole 'ordeal' in the first place and now its time to 'hatch' and come clean about what he's been through in a beter way than talking to someone at school.

    which is where panic at the disco comes in with their 'daydreams' from ryans 'amazing lyrics and 'golden head', from his 'wooden throat' meaning he doesn't want to talk about this, but he will. and his two songs "camisado" and "nails for breakfast, tacks for snacks'!
    Flag kat2011on November 17, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's about daydreaming, and getting so eclipsed by your daydreams that you forget about the real world.
    Flag RockOutMahnon April 30, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:am i the only one who though "wow, puppet pirates" when you heard this song....no?
    Flag Tirinzoneon April 20, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I get the impression of Wizard of Oz in some parts. Not all of it though, because it doesn't really fit, at least not in my mind. but

    "A daydream spills from my corked head
    Breaks free of my wooden neck
    Left to nod over sleeping waves"
    Dorothy was hit in the head with the window, and daydreamed about Oz.

    The men in the chorus would be munchkins? And they are small, so they are "too small"

    "Jinxed things ringing as they leak
    through tiny cracks on the boardwalk"
    Bad things happened throughout the journey (Because the witch cast spells) Maybe they came through the cracks on the yellow brick road?

    "Scarecrow now it's time to hatch sprouting sons and ageless daughters""
    There we have Scarecrow. And maybe sprouting sons and ageless daughters is like a metaphore for his intellegence? Because now he is not left with the burden of Hanging on a post, with no intellegence. He is now out in the world to gain more knowledge (Sprouting sons) and share his own (Ageless daughters).

    Maybe Oz is underwater in this song, and those "Watermelon smiles" are Dorothy's hopes and wishes. They cannot go anywhere ("ripen") While she is in Oz, she must be in Kansas to bring out the hopes and dreams that she wanted.

    "Waves of wooden legs"
    I see as the fence in Kansas that flew around from the tornado. The wooden posts are the wooden legs. And them flying in the air was the waves.

    And at the end they sound like they are in a Tornado. With the "Wooooaaahhhhh" But now that I think about it, it is also like when Tin Man was falling over during his number. They were saying "wooaahh" or the music sounded like "wooahh" While Dorothy and Scarecrow moved side to side to keep Tin Man upright.


    As for the other parts, I'll leave that for you to interpret, or just leave it as Ryan's randomness. It's very poetic. And a very nice song, whether it is or isn't about Wizard Of Oz.
    Flag Cest-La-Vieon November 23, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't even like Panic.. But I like this song, it reminds me of Beulah.
    Flag Motherwar_xxon November 13, 2008   Link

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