Well I took off running at the greatest speed
I didn't bother looking to either side of me
Well I didn't see, I just didn't see
What was really going on

The truth had stopped and the skyline rose
Exchanging comfort for more fashionable clothes
I'd left the hills at this point in time
To run on treadmills in a perfect line

Salad days add up to daily shit
Sparked imagination until the sparks just quit
And if this is fun, why am I so bored with it?
Well I'll probably never know

Guilty cocker spaniels eating table scraps
Well we rolled over, how our masters clapped
It felt so good we wanted more than that
But when the program failed they defensively laughed

We did things just how you asked
Don't try taking us to task
Didn't bite a face, no just a mask
So happy Halloween!

I drew a blank, we put it in a frame
Wait what you're winning, you didn't say this was a game
Well I guess I'll just have to play and play
Until I'm out of cash

Before I could spit it out
I guess the words had burnt my mouth
What can I say?

There's the thought I laid it down
So you could take it out of context
Either way

We said all along we deserve every bit
And mostly we knew that the supply would quit
But we got going, going just away with it
Until everybody lost their mind

Directly behind me and ahead of the time
But don't you worry he'll fall right in line
Yep, everything just might fly by
No ones getting blamed this time

Blame me so blameless
Can we find a way to blame our way out?
Well I postdated the eulogy
For every blameless body, nah nah

We are blamelessly teething
On much more than we need, nah nah nah
Blamelessly teething

Well we're all getting blamed
While everyone, everyone knew
Well everybody, everybody knew



Lyrics submitted by Relapser, edited by sheionizes

Track duration: 04:03

"Guilty Cocker Spaniels" as written by Isaac Brock, Eric Judy, Dann Gallucci

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Guilty Cocker Spaniels song meanings
Add your thoughts

29 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment:Please correct me if I'm wrong, however it seems abundantly clear to me that this song is about a person experiencing an existentialist crisis - something which the vast majority of us are plagued with in today's consumer age.

    "Well I took off running at the greatest speed
    I didn't bother looking to either side of me
    Oh, I did not see, I just did not see what was really going on"

    The first bit is about the rat race. It's such an excellent metaphor for how people waste away the prime of their lives behind a desk in a desperate attempt to get ahead of the "game" (this is another aspect of the song which I will go into more detail later); tirelessly working away to make money to buy stuff we don't really need.

    "The trees had stopped and the skyline rose
    Exchanging comfort for more fashionable clothes
    I left the hills at this point in time
    To run on treadmills in a perfect line."

    How brilliantly written! How true! We HAVE left the things we find comfortable behind. And why? Because we are afraid. Look around you. Advertisement preys on our fears - you exercise because you are afraid you're too fat (barely anyone runs for the sake of enjoyment, too many people are far too concerned with "calorie counting" and whatnot); you buy nice clothes because you are afraid of looking sloppy; you buy an iPhone because you fear being the only one without one. and the list goes.

    Then the song goes:

    "Salad days add up to daily shit
    Sparking imagination till the sparks just quit
    And if this is fun why'm I so bored with it?
    Well I'll probably never know"

    Again, the term "salad days" is a metaphor for the routines people adopt as a result of their fears. It could anything from a diet plan, to the job you do daily to pay off your debts for that condo you just bought. And this brain-numbing, mundane things we do, just adds up to the "daily shit" we are faced with. We have ceased to think for ourselves, and our existence is one which is driven by our dears. We do things because we think we need to do them, and not because we want to do them. Hence, "sparking imagination till the sparks just quit. And if this is fun why'm I so bored with it? Well I'll probably never know"

    I could go on, but I'm too lazy to finish this analysis
    Flag angjulianon March 20, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Essentially: not-very-optimistic (probably dead-on) social commentary.
    Flag voodootreeon March 15, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This song is entirely about the American financial mess that recently occurred.
    Flag rhigbie1on April 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"salad days" refers to youth
    Flag cwaltercon August 23, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:The Salad part might be trying to lose wait i guess but it doesnt work so it kinda does seem like failure in that part of it :O
    Flag MrFlourescenton July 31, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"Didn't buy a face, no just a mask, so happy Halloween!"
    We turning into a culture where we only look towards the outside of people. They are to afraid to show who they really are out of fear of rejection.
    Flag Chernobylon July 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I take this song as a kind of social commentary.

    "The truth had stopped and the skyline rose, exchanging comfort for more fashionable clothes. I'd left the hills at this point in time to run on treadmills in a perfect line" addresses the move from truth and nature to cities, trends, and technology. Instead of enjoying the beauty of nature, we destroy it and then run on treadmills like products in a factory, moving down the conveyor belt.

    "And if this is fun, why am I so bored with it?" is about the disposability of our creations. We are constantly coming up with things that are newer and better, but it is never good enough. It's fun at first, but we soon get bored and look for the new best fun thing.

    "Guilty cocker spaniels eating table scraps. Well we rolled over, how our masters clapped. It felt so good we wanted more than that." Conformity. We do what society wants us to do so we fit in.

    "Didn't buy a face, no just a mask, so happy Halloween!" Seems like plastic surgery to me.

    "I drew a blank, we put it in a frame" I kind of see this as a reference to pop culture. Modern pop acts like Miley Cyrus are completely devoid of any creativity or talent or truth, but our culture celebrates them anyway.

    "Wait, what, you're winning? You didn't say this was a game. I guess I'll just have to play and play until I'm out of cash" Our culture tends to make life a competition, the goal being to have a better job, a bigger house, a fancier TV, and more money than everyone else. People spend their lives in the rat race, competing with their peers.

    "Can we find a way to blame our way out?" references how sue-happy we are. People get fat from eating too much fast food and sue McDonalds. People take no responsibility, and just try to blame their way out of their own problems.

    I absolutely adore this song.
    Flag LMosheron January 07, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:This is what I think is so great about Modest Mouse songs, the lyrics are so creative and so thought provoking that you can pretty much interpret it any way you want and still have a lot of evidence from the song to back up your interpretation
    Flag NowhereMan42on October 22, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Come on! coledarling had it right. This song is not about love, selling out, or a message to the fans.
    Flag therage800on October 05, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Actually, I get the idea that it's about Modest Mouse's success. I'm not going to do a line-by-line for you, but it sounds defensive of either their record company or the old-mouse-fans. I'm not saying that this is the only interpretation, but it's something I thought I'd share. It's far more likely to be social commentary or an introspective look at life.
    Flag BueCadet3on September 27, 2009   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain