Daniel read the paragraph
He read until the words ran out
It said we're all in trouble now

Poison in the juice carafe
We drank until our thirst ran out
Oh no, we're in some trouble now

Everyone wants to be a perpetual motion machine
We all try harder as the days run out
We all try harder as the days run out
We all try harder as the days run out

With your teeth to your lips
And your hair to the ground
Well, you hear the fish and they're making this sound
Saying, "We just want to go on walking around
And feel what it's like to fall down"

Patrick ran the race
Yeah, he ran until the tire ran out
Oh no, I'm in some trouble now

Tried to kick it over
I tried until the juice ran out
Oh no, we want more trouble now

With your teeth to your lips
And your hair to the ground
Well, you hear the fish and they're making this sound
Saying, "We just want to go on walking around
And feel what it's like to fall down"

I saw

Everyone wants to be a perpetual motion machine
We all try harder as the days run out
We all try harder as the days run out
We all try harder as the days run out



Lyrics submitted by IceCuban06, edited by sheionizes

Track duration: 03:11

"Perpetual Motion Machine" as written by Isaac Brock, Johnny Marr, Joe Plummer

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Perpetual Motion Machine song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment:"Daniel read the paragraph
    He read until the words ran out
    It said we're all in trouble now

    Poison in the juice carafe
    We drank until our thirst ran out
    Oh no, we're in some trouble now"

    = Poison is alcohol, they're gonna have some fun

    With your teeth to your lips
    And your hair to the ground
    Well, you hear the fish and they're making this sound
    Saying, "We just want to go on walking around
    And feel what it's like to fall down"

    = Fish are people that enjoy alcohol. Falling down isn't a bad thing, just a different lifestyle. Watch Factotum by Bukowski.


    Patrick ran the race
    Yeah, he ran until the tire ran out
    Oh no, I'm in some trouble now

    Tried to kick it over
    I tried until the juice ran out
    Oh no, we want more trouble now

    = Having fun with alcohol, hence juice.
    Flag Sythieriuson December 08, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:isaac brock is one of the newest most confounding young songwriters i've heard since stephen malkmus.
    and far more bleak.
    you could say he was malkmus's bleakly despairing younger brother or something.
    i love his ability for writing bumper slogan like lyrics.
    "we all try harder as the days run out" is him in his usual despondency. but there's a new tone
    he's going for. a harsh beauty that lies beneath his mean words.
    i get the pixies reference it works with the whole nautical sea theme he's going for.
    very clever.
    i just wish he would open his world view a bit. he could become truly beautiful then.
    Flag ShakeyFan2on January 15, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song makes me realize how similar MM is to Virginia Woolf. They talk about the same themes, like death, connections between things in life, living life, etc. In Mrs. Dalloway it s mentioned, "there is a perpetual movement among them." Another concept of MM is how everything is connected. This thought was also explored in Mrs. Dalloway. "And they went further and further from her, being attached to her by a thin thread, which would stretch and stretch, get thinner and thinner as they walked across London". I love MM and I get that thoughtful and almost gloomy feel from them as I do when I read works by Virginia Woolf. They seem to be kindred spirits. I also read somewhere that Modest Mouse got their name from a short story by Virginia Woolf.
    Flag agbatykoon January 01, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:As previous comments state: It's about people wanting to experience all sorts of different things before they die. Especially the fish comment, basically showing that they want to experience things which might seem physically impossible for people. As for the "We all try harder as the days run out", he's pretty much captured human thoughts here: The closer we get to death, the more we realise that we have done nothing with our lives, and the more compelled we are to try something new. After all, you don't hear as many kids as older people saying "I've wasted my life". Understandably so, too.
    Flag grafbagon October 16, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:With your feet on the air and your head on the ground!
    Flag Relapseron September 25, 2009   Link
  • +4
    General Comment:To me this is one of Modest Mouse's most easily interpreted songs.

    Perpetual Motion is movement that continues forever, which is physically impossible. A perpetual motion machine is something many people have tried to theorize or create, but never successfully.

    This song is saying everyone wants to live forever. Infinite life, like perpetual motion, is long desired and quite impossible.


    Living a Life until you die = Reading a paragraph until words run out = Running a race until time runs out
    Flag Patrykon August 30, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Everybody wants to live forever.
    Flag businessiswaron August 25, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:To me, this song means people want to experience life to the fullest, but eventually our time here expires (and we move on). Everyone wants to be a perpetual motion machine. He cant hide from death. (everyones talking bout their short list.....)
    Flag mallorypmmon August 23, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I like the resurfacing of lyrics, this was originally an Ugly Casanova song 'Here Comes Trouble'.
    Flag Hamandjamon August 10, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I went to a modest mouse concert a few years ago and they mixed this in at the end of ocean breaths salty
    which sounded a little bit better but still a great song
    Flag TimTim1on August 06, 2009   Link

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