These Days

unlike artslut, i don't think this song is about a woman at all.

my interpretation of the song is it's a man reflecting on his past - and that he feels as though maybe he's changed? "the little house on Ellis Drive, is where i felt most alive" back then, he was carefree and 'good' - but throughout his life he made bad choices that make him see himself as 'evil' "wasted times - broken dreams - violent colors so obsence" and he's trying to warn others, maybe a younger generation to be careful ("watch what you say, the devil is listening, he's got ears that you wouldn't believe") of your choices because you can easily become consumed / corrupted.

i'm sure i'm completely wrong, but those are my thoughts. this quickly became my favorite song off of the Brothers album.

I would never assume to know what another person is writing about, all I can say is what this song means to me when I hear it. I lost my brother to alcoholism over 11 years ago and I have always felt like if he could've expressed how he felt to me at that time...it would be a lot like this song.

one of my favorite songs they've put out despite the completely listenable discography.

This song almost starts off as a love song to a past love or moment in time that he once loved. Its not just the lyrics, but the tone of the song where he feels so much regret about what has transpired to change him by so much. he feels like a completely different person with no chance of redemption or returning to what he used to have. Whether its drugs, the loss of innocence, or just the long road of mistakes that have changed him, he knows his days back on ellis drive are gone. He will no longer be the same man everyone once saw him as, and possibly the favorite time in his life. As the chorus comes, he recognizes that its all nostalgia, but perhaps he feels as though he isn't a good enough person to become what he once was. theres no redemption left in his heart or his soul and he is too far gone. his eyes are bloodshot, and he thinks that even if he had a chance to relive the best days of his life, he couldn't maintain the man he once was or the relationship he misses so deeply. he has failed his aspirations and dreams so deeply with all the time wasted fucking up. the second verse is absolutely the pinnacle of his failures. his knowledge of the devil shows that he has spent time in sin. he has been too messed up and has screwed around too much to see that all thetime he spent screwing around has changed him. changed him so much that his innocence, a past relationship, a person he had wished to be are all gone and that he has wasted a lot of things in pursuit of his happiness when it turns out years later that he had it the whole time but he was too blind to see it.

Basically warning other dudes that women are the devil and will only lead to pain and regret. In fact, that's pretty much what the whole album is about. There will be good memories as well, but bittersweet, naturally. This song being the final track on Brothers is perfect. The album opens on such a seemingly positive note, and ends on this lovely downer, it's pretty great.

TBK have never blown my mind lyrically, but they seemed to get everything right on Brothers. Not that all the lyrics were that complex, but it's impressive how they manage to both curse women and praise them at the same time. Actually on this one they're cursing the devil for leading them astray leading to the lamenting the loss of the one they praised.

Seems crystal clear to me.

He's an alcoholic/ user. He ruined a relationship, thanks to said issues/ maybe some other screw-ups. He regrets it; he realizes now what he has lost and wonders how it would be were he to change.

Archetypal. Also, sounds a lot like my first marriage.

obviously he's depressed and his life sucks and is using drugs to escape reality

wow, artslut, way to project all over your interpretation. this song mentions nothing about women. the singer is bemoaning personal choices he's made which have taken him so far away from innocence... that's it. women are in there along the way, i'm sure, but that interpretation borders of misogyny, and I never considered the Black Keys misogynistic.

 The song seems to be expressing feelings of resentment, in having been made into an artistic commodity, perhaps even as an apology to the listener. "My hand to God I didn't mean to" - To describe touching God and not meaning too resembles the idea of becoming idolized, perhaps within society, without intending to have achieved such success.
 In the lyrics "The little house on Ellis drive, Is where I felt most alive, The oak tree covered that old fort I miss it, Lord I miss it, Lord" the lyrics describe how the artist feels less alive than he did in a little house with memories of an old fort, secured and grounded to an oak tree. Those modest memories are where happiness lies for him.
 The second part of the song "These blood red eyes, Don't see so good, But what's worse is if they could, Would I change my ways? Wasted times, Broken dreams, Violent colors so obscene, Is all I see these days, These days" I think that might actually be a reference to living in Los Angeles, CA. The lyricist is making a reference to how excessive marijuana usage, which has helped him escape the pressures of hectic life, has clouded his being, and he debates if it would be better to see the world clearly anyway. Because if he did, it would be filled with waste, violence, and broken hearts. Which also reflects the social conditions that are present in LA in todays society.
 "Watch what you say, The devil is listening, He's got ears that you wouldn't believe, And brother once you go to him, It's your soul you can never, never, never retrieve" This again is a reference to capitalism in Los Angeles and the aguish it can cause an artist to experience. The artist is giving us a warning, which adds to the sentiment that this is an apology and an attempt to prepare future dreamers. 
 "Watch what you say, the devil is listening" is a warning for you to know that once you sell your talents to a company, they will squeeze you dry, possibly inducing an existential crisis and major examination of your life. This is where the song seems like an apology to the listener, as if the artist is offering an explanation, as to why the sound of the band may have changed or became" commercialized"
 But... That's just me reading into it, I give you my grains of salt. I think it's a great song, and The Black Key's totally deserve their success because they are proving that blues music is still alive. 

Without further explanation from the artist himself, who among us has the right to assert the original inspiration and intent of a songwriter's lyric. Absent that, we have only the lyric to speak for itself, leaving the listener to interpret and fill in the blanks, each according to his own experience. In that process, we identify with a song for what it means to our individual lives. This should not be confused with discovering the personal thoughts of the artist conveyed through written word. Such arrogance leads to misinterpretation.

Of course, some songs are singular in meaning and self-explanatory. Yet others can be complex, simlutaneously layered with specificity and generality allowing the listener to experience an individual inspiration that he/she can identify with through their own life experience.

But capitalism in Los Angeles? Oi ve

like all the other songs, you are all getting it terribly wrong. This song is not about woman of any sort, but remembreing the past and how beautifull it once was. "The little house on Ellis drive Is where I felt most alive The oak tree covered that old Ford I miss it, Lord I miss it, Lord"

"Violent colors so obscene Is all I see these days These days "