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Dirt in the ground is what I need
I got another one to tell you
And another one to make you believe
Pity in the grass tried to be
The one you needed when I told you
That you wanted something bigger than me
I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
And I know they don't want me to stay
I said that I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
And I know they don't want me to stay
'cause you are not alive
When I need you
I need it quickly
In case you never know
I can't play where I'm not supposed to anyway
dirt in the ground is what I see
I need another reason why
I need another reason, tell me to breathe
The dirtier the sound, the best I breathe
I tried to do it all for you
It didn't do anything for me
'cause I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
And I know they don't want me to stay
I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
And I know they don't want me to stay
and you and I will find
That when I need you
I need it quickly
In fact, you'll never know
I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
And I know they don't want me to stay
I said that I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
And I know they don't want me to stay.
Lyrics submitted by cartoon violence
Track duration: 04:57
"I've Got Friends" as written by John Andrew Hull
Lyrics © CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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If anyone is interested, just let me know and I'll take the time to break this down lyric by lyric...right now it's one of my favorite songs. Thanks for reading! ;)
"I need another reason why I need another reason
tell me to breathe" just does it for me. And then
I've got friends in all the right places (can be referring to dead friends. or could just oddly be naming his motives/inner voices/thoughts "friends")
I know what they want
and I know they don't want me to stay (feeling unwanted. Maybe lack of self worth?)
iunno. I wouldn't lean too much faith on this idea. I just read it pretty openly.
"Dirty on the ground is what I need"
A way of saying he needs somebody to play with
"I got another one to tell you and another one to make you believe"
He want's people to like him, believe is okay, believe he is cool, believe he is worth hanging with.
"pity on the grass; I tried to be the one you needed
when I told you that you wanted something bigger than me"
He wants somebody he can talk to, he's afraid the person he is talking to wont be his friend, so he talks in a disgustingly self effacing way. He tells people they can do better than him secretly hoping they will need him instead of leaving.
"I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
and I know they don't want me to stay"
But they don't need him or want him around. They aren't his friends even though he calls them that.
"cause you are not alive when I need you
and I need it quickly
in case you never know"
He is there for them but they are not there for him
"I can't play where I'm not supposed to anyway
any way, anyways, any way, anyways..."
His parents don't approve of his "friends".
"dirty on the ground is what I see"
He sees other people playing with each other and having fun.
"I need another reason why I need another reason
tell me to breathe"
He needs a reason why nobody wants him around, he needs a reason from the people that don't want him around. He is anxious and upset and all they do is tell him to "breath" (calm down in other words). They protagonist of the song is a bothersome hanger on to his "friends."
"the dirtier the sound, the best I breathe"
not sure yet, the dirtier the sound of the truth, the more raw the truth about why nobody want to be around him. Hard not to put sexual connotations on "dirtier the sound" but I don't think that is the intent of the lyric. The lyric is about rumor spreading maybe. Listening to people tell rumors about each other makes him feel involved even though he isn't really a part of the crowd.
"I tried to do it all for you
it didn't do anything for me"
He is "being there" for his friends at his own expense. He is nice to his "friends" in all the wrong ways. He is a "nice" guy, sort of fun to be around sometimes, but is mostly a bother and not well liked or respected.
"I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
and I know they don't want me to stay
and you and I will find
that when I need you
I need it quickly
in fact you'll never know
I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
and I know they don't want me to stay "
The remaining lyrics just drive the point home. The song is about a guy who is a hanger on in a crowd of people that do not really like him. He desperately wants to be in the know but he winds up the butt of everyone's jokes. Nobody lets him in, he does not belong, he knows he should do something different, but he doesn't. Instead he takes vicarious pleasure in listening to the people in the crowd tell stories behind each others backs because that is the only time he feels involved.
Yeah, he's got friends.
fin
I.
"I tried to be the one you needed
when I told you that you wanted something bigger than me"
This is the Almighty power addressing the fallen angel of Satan aka Mulcifer (debatebale dictional choice by JM). He is showing his paternity to the other angels in the heavenly court by claiming "I tried to be the one." However, he acknowledges the problems of free will and his knowledge of Satan's rebellion by saying "I told you that you WANTED something bigger than me." This interjects the themes of desire, lust, the son overturning the father (hello prodigal) and is clearly religious.
II.
"I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
and I know they don't want me to stay"
Because the background singers are now singing it is a diagetic shift and it is not God that is speaking, rather Satan (also emphasized by the shift in song tonality from major to minor chords and the absence of the wind chime). Let us unpack this more. What is at stake here? Satan is telling the demons that although they support him, he must leave them (in hell) to fight for them in Eden. This also shows Satan's depth of perception and humanizes him, opening the door for his idolization as a Romantic figure.
III.
"'cause you and I will ride
but when I need you
I need it quickly
in case you never know"
The atrophied "because" sets off this stanza as one of emotion and transience. This another narratorial shift back to Satan and here he is referring to his lover/daughter/mother of his son SIN. He needs sin both physically for his own release but also as a tool, a temptation, for man. This adds a level of the sinister to the song, setting up the immediacy of "I need it quickly" (read into that what you will) and the "in case you never know." Here knowledge and sin are linked with the devil's nefarious plan and its clear that without knowledge there can be no sin. Taking this to a meta-musical level, we "ride" with the song, and we "need it quickly" to satiate our own auditory desires. What does this imply about the SIN implicit in our consumption of music? How tainted is the hand of the musician? Where is Satan and where is Manchester Orchestra?
Also, when I said esteemed "Ivy League institution," that can only refer to harvard (the only IVY league with any remaining thread of proper stature and breeding)
"I've got friends in all the right places
I know what they want
and I know they don't want me to stay":
He knows what they want, and it isn't him. They don't want him to stay, although I guess that could mean they don't want him to stay in a relationship they may not agree with, but I see this way instead.
"I tried to do it all for you
it didn't do anything for me":
Again, he put so much into what he wanted to created with his friends, and they gave nothing in return, leaving him feeling empty and wasteful.
"'cause you and I will ride
but when I need you
I need it quickly
in case you never know":
I think this may refer to all the good times he may share with his "friends", but when he wants to get good and deep, when he needs emotional connection, when he needs them (you) they desert him. He says n case they never know, because they never will know, because they're only there for the good times and nothing else.
I can totally relate if this is the meaning. I thought I had a good couple of friends. Turns out they don't really care. A lesson to be learned is to not place too much trust in anyone outside your family. Or within for that matter. Love but do not expect to be loved in return.
Dirt in the ground is what I need—Wants to be at rest either just resting and solitude in the earth or perhaps suicide
I got another one to tell you And another one to make you believe—reasons why people shouldn’t pay attention to possible warning signs of being emotionally burnt out.
Pity in the grass tried to be the one you needed when I told you wanted something bigger than me—Tried to help, but told the person that they were looking for something more than he could give them.
Ive got friends in all the right places I know what they want and I know they don’t want me to stay—his friends are around, but really don’t want to deal with his problems. They want him to help them, but really don’t look too much further inside him.
‘Cause you are not alive When I need you I need it quickly In case you never know—perhaps the person he could have talked to is dead or emotionally dead. He needs help quickly because you never know if he’s going to do something drastic
I can’t play where I’m not supposed to anyways
Dirt in the ground is what I see
I need another reason why
I need another reason, tell me to breathe—needs another reason to go on because he can’t find one
The dirtier the sound, the best I breathe—perhaps music can drown out his thoughts for awhile
I tried to do it all for you, it didn’t do anything for me—tried to give and give, but gave too much and didn’t help him
The metaphors to dirt is how she treats him. When he says "dirty on the ground is what I need" he's saying that he has an overriding need to go back to this girl. Just like a woman will defend and return to a man that beats her, some people just return to abusive relationships because of their own low self esteem and self worth.
"I can't play where I'm not supposed to anyway" is just stating how if something is forbidden to him, it makes it worth more to him. Since his friends don't approve, it makes him want it more.
He wants nothing more in the world than to please this girl but it's never good enough for her.