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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tmittleman
11-17-2009

Rated 0 
"...in 1855, shortly before Eiffel was to earn his degree, his parents had a falling out with his uncle and were no longer on speaking terms."
http://www.paris-eiffel-tower-news.com/eiffel-tower-stories/paris-story-gustave-eiffel.htm

So Eiffel's parents had a falling out with his uncle in 1855. Maybe the falling out lasted until his mother died. I couldn't verify that it was in 1901, but that would make sense.

I agree the lyrics are probably "fall out" even though the site's says "fold it".

Best album I've heard in a long time. I just found them.


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sp00na
11-11-2009

Rated 0 
First off this song is awesome! I agree mostly with fozzyy that it is about a new relationship. I think it is about the "game" that we play, like how many days to wait to call. Everyone wants to have the upper hand. This song is the night that all the games stop and its all happening and your both giving in and saying "I really dig you"
"For a minute thought I couldn't tell how to fall out"
getting out of a bad realtionship and not wanting to put yourself out on the line
"Watch her moving in elliptical patterns"
you cant really see if she is into you or not but she gives you enough to stay around and see what the deal is
"It's twenty seconds till the last call
You're going hey hey hey hey hey hey"
the moment you realize you both really like eachother
"And I'll be anything you ask and more
You're going hey hey hey hey hey hey hey"
during the convo where they are telling eachother lets make this thing real
"It's not a miracle we needed
No I wouldn't let you think so"
going back to playing the "game" you dont want the other person to know you like them a lot
"Fold it, fold it, fold it, fold it"
just giving in and putting it all out there on the line
"Girlfriend, oh your girlfriend is drifting away"
now that you have put yourself out there for this new girl, your not thinking about the last girl you loved as much
"Watch them built up a meteor tower
Think it's not gonna stay anyway
Think it's overrated"
talking about the ex and the drama, thinking you will never be able to get her out of ur head, now that you have a new girl your thinking "whatever about her"

this is my thoughts on it i could be totally wrong, but when I heard this song this is how i took it


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th3gh05t
11-06-2009

Rated 0 
You want some awesome remixes?

http://musicunderfire.com/2009/06/phoenix-remixes.html

Check out "1901 - (Ivan Beck Dub Remix)"

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adamrobertt
11-01-2009

Rated 0 
It's really funny that everyone keeps arguing that the lyrics is not "fold it" when the band has posted in numerous locations that it's "fold it." It even says "fold it" in the lyrics booklet. It's not "fallin'." He's saying "fold it." Get over it.

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Shanderson24
10-23-2009

Rated 0 
I just bought their CD last night and the lyrics are in the booklet. They are listed as "Fold it" and not "Fallinn'". And

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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
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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5 Replies
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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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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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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bcontrat
09-06-2009

Rated 0 
fall dead?

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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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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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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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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
jackmcgrew
07-25-2009

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

Fold It sounds dumb.

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4 Replies
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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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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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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carcrashkiss
06-10-2009

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

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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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mikiross
05-20-2009

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

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lalunacreciente
05-14-2009

Rated 0 
Amazing.

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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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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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