Lyrics for 1901 as interpreted by benk0202

1901 Lyrics
Counting all different ideas drifting away
Past and present, they don't matter, now the future's sorted out
Watch her moving in elliptical patterns
Think it's not what you say, what you say is way too complicated
For a minute thought I couldn't tell how to fall out

It's twenty seconds till the last call
You're going "hey hey hey hey hey hey"
Lie down you know it's easy
Like we did it over summer long
And I'll be anything you ask and more
You're going "hey hey hey hey hey hey hey"
It's not a miracle we needed
No I wouldn't let you think so
Fold it, fold it, fold it, fold it

Girlfriend, oh your girlfriend is drifting away
Past and present 1855-1901
Watch them built up a meteor tower
Think it's not gonna stay anyway, think it's overrated
For a minute thought I couldn't tell how to fall out

It's twenty seconds till the last call
You're going "hey hey hey hey hey hey"
Lie down you know it's easy
Like we did it over summer long
And I'll be anything you ask and more
You're going "hey hey hey hey hey hey hey"
It's not a miracle we needed
No I wouldn't let you think so
Fold it, fold it, fold it, fold it

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chris123
03-03-2009

Rated +2 
Counting all different ideas drifting away
Past and present they don't matter
Now the future's sorted out
Watch her moving in elliptical patterns
Think it's not what you say
What you say is way too complicated
For a minute thought I couldn't tell how to fall out

It's twenty seconds till the last call
You're going hey hey hey hey hey hey
Lie down you know it's easy
Like we did it over summer long

And I'll be anything you ask and more
You're going hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
It's not a miracle we needed
No I wouldn't let you think so

Fold it, fold it, fold it, fold it

Girlfriend, oh your girlfriend is drifting away
Past and present 1855 -1901 †
Watch them built up a meteor tower
Think it's not gonna stay anyway
Think it's overrated
For a minute thought I couldn't tell how to fall out

It's twenty seconds till the last call
You're going hey hey hey hey hey hey
Lie down you know it's easy
Like we did it over summer long

And I'll be anything you ask and more
You're going hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
It's not a miracle we needed
No I wouldn't let you think so

Fold it, fold it, fold it, fold it



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1 Reply
kimbermaynee
03-06-2009

Rated -3 
These lyrics are correct... It's not fold it

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1 Reply
chris123
03-13-2009

Rated 0 
Phoenix posted the lyrics here
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=19227674432&topic=7775

5th post down.

k

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theadvocate
03-18-2009

Rated +1 
Phoenix are known to bring the jam. This is no exception. Best song of '09? Certainly the best danceable one!

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westing202
04-09-2009

Rated 0 
kimbermaynee, you're wrong. it's "fold it." thanks, chris123.

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InReverie
05-01-2009

Rated +1 
I think the song is talkin about what happened in the past happened so there's no reason to go back to it. And he mainly thinks about what's going to happen next. I guess it's about a relationship. She makes things difficult "What you say is way to complicated". The whole thing doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. "It's not a miracle we needed" seems like he knows they are good for each other and it was meant to go that way.

Who knows. I might have this totally backwards.

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Ali1WhenItSizzles
05-13-2009

Rated 0 
I love this song, & phoenix!
They are wonderful!
& I agree with InReverie but I don't know if the two have broken up or if the two of them are still together!

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lalunacreciente
05-14-2009

Rated 0 
Amazing.

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mikiross
05-20-2009

Rated 0 
can't we edit the lyrics to write them all right?

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indierocknroll4me
06-02-2009

Rated 0 
I think it's talking about a relationship too. Like "counting all the different ideas drifting away", i think he's talking about trying to think of a way to solve the problem between them.

"Past and present they don't matter": this situation has never happened before so the past can't help them and they'll get over the present so "the future's sorted out".

But she just keeps going in circles (Watch her moving in elliptical patterns), trying to explain her thoughts, but she's just being really confusing (What you say is way too complicated).

And he's giving her a last chance, but she's got to make up her mind fast, but he knows she'll just do it, like she did all summer , but that's not what they need to get through it, and they know it. And they watched the problem build up (the meteor tower) and think that it will just go away.

It still doesn't make that much sense, but breaking it down line by line kind of helps......



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carcrashkiss
06-10-2009

Rated 0 
seems to me he says 'lie now you know it's easy'

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owennnnnnnnnn
06-21-2009

Rated 0 
I think he's saying "watch them build up a material tower/Think it's not gonna stay/Anyway, think it's overrated."

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themountainman14
07-11-2009

Rated +1 
Could the "meteor/material tower" be a reference to the Eiffel Tower?
It seems logical seeing as Phoenix is from Paris and the Eiffel Tower was seen by many of the French as an eyesore that is/was "overrated" and would be eventually taken down ("think it's not gonna stay anyway").
And for the record, it does sound a lot more like "material" than it does "meteor".

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Matt Holck
07-11-2009

Rated 0 
I think it's about
folding sentences
to order the pieces (complicated means "with many parts")
so that the meaning is easy to follow.

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jackmcgrew
07-25-2009

Rated 0 
Can we just pretend it's falling, falling, falling, falling?

Fold It sounds dumb.

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3 Replies
YYYY
07-29-2009

Rated 0 
I could have sworn I heard material instead of meteor. Am I just hearing extra syllables here?

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1 Reply
CallistoBrooklyn
08-02-2009

Rated 0 
"Girlfriend, oh your girlfriend is drifting away
Past and present 1855-1901"

what the hell.
why hasn't someone gone to their song Girlfriend?

"Die and succeed
I say it out loud but you just don't care
Farewell, til you know me well
Farewell, til you know me well
Girlfriend"

die and succeed?
anyone?
cuz i'm completely lost...

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mrwonderr
08-23-2009

Rated 0 
Building off of the relationship interpretation...

It sounds like the relationship is getting complicated, and the two are trying to work out any issues, but their ideas are getting convoluted and nothing seems to work. The chorus seems to be the singer saying, "Calm down, we don't need this. Just lay down, that's all we need."

"Fold it" reminds me of folding a poker hand. Perhaps he means something like "put away the cards, let's stop this gamble."

I might have this backwards or something.

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Udaho
08-28-2009

Rated 0 
Post 19
I <3 this song! I can't get the
right tune because I have Around The
Bend stuck in my head tho! gerrrr!
Thanks AltNation, for another goodie!

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bcontrat
09-06-2009

Rated 0 
fall dead?

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lifted to the sky
09-08-2009

Rated +1 
I found a website that explains a lot of the historical references in Phoenix songs. I took the part about 1901 and pasted it here, I found it very interesting. Here is a link to the website though: http://chicago.decider.com/articles/pencils-down-deciphering-phoenixs-historical-rock,29021/

Song: “1901”


Sample lyrics: “Girlfriend, oh your girlfriend is drifting away / past and present, 1855-1901 / watch them build up a meteor tower / think it's not gonna stay anyway / think it's overrated.”


A reference to: A time period in French history that included the famous Exposition Universelle of 1900 and the Art Nouveau movement. The “tower” most likely refers to the Eiffel Tower, completed as an entrance to 1889's Exposition Universelle and loathed at the time by many Parisians.

Historical lesson: Memorable World's Fairs demand timeless symbols. The Eiffel Tower was one of many iconic structures built for a World's Fair, like the Crystal Palace in London, the Unisphere in New York, and the Space Needle in Seattle. This means we can expect Knoxville’s Sunsphere from the 1982 World’s Fair to become a global monument and the undisputed symbol of America any year now, right?

Song’s actually about: A nostalgic look at Paris at the turn of the 20th century, when Jules Verne’s sci-fi tales were regarded as the approaching future. Lead singer Thomas Mars calls the Exposition Universelle of 1900 the "most futuristic moment" for Paris, so when the fair is over, all of Paris is stuck “counting all different ideas drifting away.” In the spirit of Verne, somebody should’ve built an idea-catching machine.

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lifted to the sky
09-08-2009

Rated +1 
Also a side note, I don't know for sure what he is actually saying but I think fold it and falling can both make sense. Falling as a reference to the Eiffel Tower, since most French don't view it as important as the rest of the world. And fold it, talking about the art movement. "Counting all different ideas drifting away." Basically saying that some people will be forced to reject such a movement since they might not be able to understand it.

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TheJobo
09-21-2009

Rated +1 
When singing, accents rarely come into play. This controversy over fold it versus fallin' has only been magnified by the fact that whoever is maintaining Phoenix's wearephoenix.com and social media sites has erroneously reported that the lyric is fold it. You REALLY have to stretch to HEAR fold it, let along make sense of the lyric. The line is fallin' fallin' fall in. Considering the way the words are formed throughout the rest of the song, you don't hear him sing "counting ol' different ideas". Clearly we hear him sing "counting ALL different ideas". And "what you say is way too complicated", you can hear the hard endings of what and plicated, so clearly the singer can annunciate properly. He's not singing whoa you say it way to complicatah". LOL. It's fallin'. "For a minute thought I couldn't tell how to fall out" ... now, if he was singing "fold out..."

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1 Reply
Udaho
09-23-2009

Rated -1 
~This is now in a car commercial!~

Dear Commercial Creators,

Why have you started using all of
our awesome music? Are you trying to
make it mainstream? I would like to
enjoy my music with a select few
cool people, and not every idiot in
town. However, I'm glad my favorite
bands are getting recognition for
their killer work. Please let us
keep our music to ourselves.
Sincerely, The Cool People
Examples of this:
Heads Will Roll- MTV
1901 - random car commercial
Too Fake - JC Penny
Daylight - Bicardi
ect. ect. ect.



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4 Replies
Fozzyy
10-13-2009

Rated 0 
To me, this song is about a guy and a girl who are just starting out in their relationship. They’re trying to figure it out, but it’s complicated. It’s late at night and the bar they’re sitting in is getting ready to close down for the night (“It's twenty seconds till the last call”). The girl is dancing seductively (“Watch her moving in elliptical patterns”) drawing attention to her (“You're going "hey hey hey hey hey hey"”). She has probably had one too many to drink because “what [she] say[s] is way too complicated”. It’s like this guys doesn’t quite know what she’s all about and doesn’t understand how they could make it work

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1 Reply




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