Lyrics for Tenuousness as interpreted by TDeMello

Tenuousness Lyrics
Tenuous at best was all he had to say when pressed about the rest of it,
the world that is
from proto-Sanskrit Minoans to porto-centric Lisboans
Greek Cypriots and and Hobis-hots
Who hang around in ports a lot

Here's where things start getting weird
While chinless men will scratch their beards
Tool their minds to sharpened axes
Brush up on the Uralic syntaxes
Love of hate acts as an axis
Love of hate acts as an axis
First it wanes and then it waxes

(So procreate and pay your taxes)

Ten you us ness less seven comes to three
Them you us plus eleven
Thank the heavens for their elasticity
And that's for those who live and die for astronomy

When Coprophagia was writ
Know when to stand know when to sit

Can't stand to stand can't stand to sit and who would want to know this
Click click click

Who wants to look upon this pray tell

Tenuousness less seven comes to three
Them you us plus eleven
Comes just shy of infinity
And that's for those who live and die for numerology

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  • 19 Comments
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mw828
12-15-2008

Rated 0 
thanks for posting nothing!

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Mooncutter
12-16-2008

Rated 0 
Ports = quotes

Them, you, us plus eleven comes just shy of infinity

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wild_ cosmia
12-18-2008

Rated 0 
This song is so damn catchy. I want to dance whenever it comes on.

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tonythelonely
12-19-2008

Rated 0 
alright, here's what i got:

firstly, it's clearly "Porto-centric Lisboans".

secondly: "Harbisots" isn't actually a word, even if it does sound like he's singing that.

my guess is: "and harbor-sorts who hang around in ports a lot, all night."

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thriggle
12-20-2008

Rated 0 
Yeah, when I listen closely, I do think that he's saying "hang around in ports all night" (not quotes).

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thriggle
12-21-2008

Rated 0 
Whoops, make that "a lot," not "all night."

I really like the background vocalizations that haunt the background of this song.

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TDeMello
12-23-2008

Rated 0 
I think it actually is hang around in quotes a lot, even though I thought it was ports at first
the song makes other references to philosophy, so it makes a little more sense... but then again there are a lot of ports in the Mediterranean.

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thriggle
12-27-2008

Rated 0 
I admit that it works either way, but when I crank up the volume and listen carefully, I'm pretty certain that it's "ports." But maybe my copy of the song is inferior, so I defer to the majority. ;)

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Bug2
01-02-2009

Rated 0 
OK-- So I am only going off of 1 You Tube vid of this for now, so I may change my mind when I get the disk and can process it better...

but I hear...
"hotless hots" who hang around with Poets a lot.-- UH huh.
I am sure about the Uh-huh part. (chuckle)

I also hear while tuneless men will scratch their beards.

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1 Reply
peopledontdance
01-07-2009

Rated 0 
i still hear "harbisots," and doesn't mr. bird like to make up words just for the way they sound and go with the rest of the song?

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Bug2
01-07-2009

Rated 0 
ok. Listened more via NPR...

It is absoltely "Harbor-sorts"... but you have to hear is with a New England Down East Maine accent.
LMAO-- that's awesome.

And I now concur that it is "Ports a lot"... because that is where "Harbah sarts" tend to hang out.

That is funny.

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graphicpulse
01-12-2009

Rated 0 
I think it's "harbor-sots"...sot as in drunk..."who hang around in ports a lot"

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thriggle
01-14-2009

Rated 0 
It's not "harbor sorts," it's "harbor sots" -- a sot being a drunk, of course, as graphicpulse noted.

And Bug2, why would Mr. Bird use a New England Down East Maine accent? I thought he was a Chicagoan.

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wanderlove
01-20-2009

Rated 0 
I've got to got with "harbor sots," for best fitting both the lyrical context and Bird's lack of accent (haha). I did a search for "Hobis-hots" and "Hobishot" and found only a handful of hits ALL related to this song, making me think that it was a mishearing/typo... unless anyone can tell me exactly what a "Hobis-hot" is?

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11 Replies
daftkitty
01-25-2009

Rated 0 
The lyric book spells it out as "Hobis-hots." A hobis is a Mongolian stringed instrument... fittingly.

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autumnwynn
06-18-2009

Rated 0 
i hear : hobbisots who hang around and pulse alot..uh-huh

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awhitestripe
08-23-2009

Rated 0 
and yet no one mentions coprophagia...

i mean, i love this song, but i'm really hoping that andrew bird didn't know what that was when he wrote it...

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1 Reply
graphicpulse
09-24-2009

Rated 0 
the coprophagia line reminds me of 2 girls 1 cup.

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nooffensebut
10-25-2009

Rated +1 
i was at Andrew's portland maine show tonight (head is still spinning!) and he played this song.

afterwards he explained that hobis-hots was a word in a made-up language that he and his friend had created when they were young...that most of the words they made up were just swears and insults and such...but that it rhymed with greek cypriots, which he "was really very determined to get into a song"

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