I'm at my best when I'm at my worst
I'm at worst when it's not rehearsed
I don't wanna know the goddamn words
I don't wanna have to spell it out
Don't wanna mumble what I'm trying to say
I wanna scream it from my foaming mouth
Shoot out the lights and ride away

I'm at my worst when I'm at my best
I'm at my best when I'm trying to look
And think and talk and sing and read and write
Like all the rest
We're all just trying to play our rolls
In a play that runs ad nausem
I hate this damn enlightenment
We were better off as animals, right?

We're at our best when it's from our hips
From our hips we don't give a shit
It just feels good and that's no sin
It's the only way to feel alive
The closest thing to being born again
And when baby comes it's job well done
Roll in the hay, oh roll around the sun

We're at our worst when it's from our lips
From our lips we caused a rift,
And world has fallen in
From babble to ball room brawls
Our words have formed a death sentence
And I wish that we had never talked
Our hips said it all

And I wish that we had never talked
Our hips said it all



Lyrics submitted by laviebonne, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Track duration: 03:55

"From the Hips" as written by Tim Kasher, Matthew Ryan Maginn, Ted James Stevens

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


From the Hips song meanings
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18 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:From watching the video I think this song is about regretting all the times he slept with people he didn't love - or know for that matter - and he wishes he could take it back and just have "the one". Because when you meet that person all those old sex buddies can come back to haunt you??? Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnnn
    Flag russell9001on October 30, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with cnh05640. If a = b and b = c, then a = c.

    I'm at my best when I'm at my worst
    I'm at my worst when it's not rehearsed

    "I'm at my best when its not rehearsed." This song is mostly about living life with your mind open, don't get boggled down with what everyone thinks you should do. Live in the moment. Follow your will and when, you may just go where no one's been :)

    This song really reminds me of Lateralus by Tool. I'm glad I found this band, they're really good.
    Flag ic8789on June 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Might as well be a Margot and the Nuclear So and So's song. So original.
    Flag IndeediKidon May 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:if anyone is interested, i've taken the time to copy the "lyric book" for "Mama, I'm Swollen" so people can actually try and find it on the internet... i only have it on facebook right now, and i know that theres a few minor mistakes, but become a fan! heres the link:

    facebook.com/pages/Mama-Im-Swollen/…

    hopefully this gives you a better idea of what the album is about exactly...

    :D
    Flag AnonyMasonon April 21, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This song is about the social formalities that we all perform in order to function as part of humanity. He is specifically referring to the way that we use words in attempts to promote ourselves in different ways. We have to rehearse what we are trying to say so that we can control how other people view us. However, it's clear that Kasher views this "rehearsal" negatively (i.e. "I'm at my best when I'm at my worst. I'm at my worst when it's not rehearsed."). This line sounds kind of backwards from the first time listenning to it; but, what Kasher means is that he is at his best when he is not rehearsing and trying to control other peoples' opinion of himself. He carries this theme throughout the song suggesting that it might do us some good to rid ourselves of these social formalities and revert back to animal instincts (i.e. We were better off as animals.) It sounds as if Kasher might be referring to using these instincts in the context of relationships since he is talking about sex (i.e. "We're at our best when it's from our hips From our hips we don't give a shit It just feels good"). However, I believe he thinks that these instincts might profit us other contexts as well since he talks about other contexts in which words have failed us (i.e. "From our lips we caused a rift and this world is falling in
    from Babel to barroom brawls our words have formed a death sentence). Toward the end of the song, Kasher also hints at the idea that hedonism might be the most the best mode of living (i.e. "We're at our best when it's from our hips From our hips we don't give a shit It just feels good, and that's no sin
    It's the only way to feel alive The closest thing to being born again And when baby comes, it's "job well done" Roll in the hay, or roll around the sun").

    Fucking fabulous song!!
    Flag cnh05640on February 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:There could be a sub symbol in here about how Kasher was happier when he was 'at his worst' aka Domestica and Ugly Organ music wise, and how he feels he is 'at his worst' when he is trying to progress and write more complicated tracks like this new album? I'm only saying this cuz I'll ALWAYS like domestica and Ugly Organ best.
    Flag JTSwaggeron January 15, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i might be a little narrow-minded because i just read ishmael by daniel quinn and i've been correlating everything around me with what's said in the book.
    anyway, short version, i see the lyrics as more of a socio-political lament. we're trapped in these social roles due to "enlightenment" and our escape is through sex.
    Flag complacentreformon November 20, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I love how Tim constantly relates sex to songwriting:

    "I'm in my worst when I'm at my best / I'm at my best when I'm trying to look and think and talk / And sing and read and write like all the rest / We're all just trying to play our roles / In a play that runs ad nauseum / I hate this damn enlightenment / We were better off as animals"

    Whether or not he means to, it makes me think of how the lyrics to The Ugly Organ were laid out as a play, and how that was one of the big things about the Ugly Organ - shooting from the hips for the sake of art.

    Oh Cursive is so cool.
    Flag thehonorstudenton October 17, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's about sex, it's saying that all the talking and acting and working is futile and in the end the only thing that matters is sex.
    Flag Fierce_Bearon September 01, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:first song i heard from cursive's myspace and it's friggin sick!! i love how it progresses
    Flag muzikislifeon July 31, 2009   Link

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