Ulysses

It's "while I sit in here a sentimental face stares", not "Well I'm sitting here, sentimental footsteps" "and A voice says hi, so" not "Then a voice say hi so", "so, so what you gotta, what you gotta disdain", not "So what you got, what you got this time?", "Come on look so, you got next, oh, walk twenty-five miles, oh" not "Come on lickso You got Nick stoned Walking planet by miles", "come on doll and use me", not "Come on don't amuse me", "that heart that grew cold", not "That hot blood grew cold".

This song is also alluding to and referencing Odysseus (Ulysses is the Roman name). After traveling for some time on his way back, he comes across his first obstacle: the lotus plants. He stops at an island and sends some scouts to investigate. The men see the locals eating a lotus plant and start eating it too. Soon, they forget who they were, what they were doing, and became addicted to the plant. They try to convince Odysseus to eat the plant, but he sees what it is doing to him, and refuses. He drags the men, kicking and screaming back onto the boat so they can continue the journey. The song is about doing things that are illegal and unhealthy (like drugs) and then having to deal with the problems that arise afterward. The singer states that, hey, I’ve been busy and stressed out, I deserve a little fun like the men with Odysseus, I mean, all my friends are getting high. However, it comes back to bite him because he realizes that if he was Odysseus he would never had been able to bring his friends back because he is as lost as they are now.

I just read "Ulysses" by Tennyson and, clearly, thought of this song and had it stuck in my head all class. The "I'm bored" I think is a callback to what Ulysses feels at the beginning at the poem. Like Ulysses, he wants to escape, so he gets high. However, he's no hero like Ulysses, he won't come home after his adventure and won't have great stories and feel fulfilled. I think. Maybe. This is in no way a full interpretation but it's a thought. :P

This song is killer. After hearing lucid dreams i knew that this album would definitely be worth the long wait. After hearing this, and a couple other new songs from the album (live performances on youtube), I'm convinced that this is one of the top 10 bands of the past 10 years. Seriously-these dudes just get it.

Obviously this one is about getting high - but I'm kinda struggling with the Ulysses part - just doesn't seem to add up (then again songs about getting high rarely do). Maybe has something to do with either the book by James Joyce or the poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson?? I know its a stretch, but thats all I can come up with at this point.

Anyways, you don't need to know the true meaning to appreciate how badass it is!!!!!

To me Alex is singing about non longer getting his kicks from wild high nights. He's grown up, and there's no going back. His friends think he's lost his mojo.

This is about doing harder and newer drugs to escape boredom and depression. The character thinks he's found a new way out of his painful existence and is delirious with the idea, but inevitably he crashes. The drugs are not as effective and he is just as depressed if not more than where he started. He'll never get "home" because he's not Ulysses. Home here means a place of happiness, contentment and comfort.

i adore this song. i've had it on repeat for a few hours now.

i hear "that hot blood grew cold" rather than "that hub grew cold"

this just might end up being my favorite song of 2009

No comments? Yer joking! This song is awesome :) can't wait to hear the rest of the new stuff. Franz Ferdinand have never stopped making me want to dance.

oh man, this song just makes me want their new CD even more. January can't come any sooner.

Okay, I was wrong. Nevermind!