Interpol – The Undoing

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  General Comment:My take is that the main voice has been feeling guilty about something he's set in motion, or something he's done, and he's trying to decide the best way to make it right. Or maybe he should just leave it alone.
  
  But there's another voice present here, maybe a longtime friend or comrade, and voice #1 has been found out before he has a chance to make amends, and he is justifying himself, trying to convince voice #2 that it was worthwhile, and not to judge him too quickly. *I was chased, thrilled and altered and it raised me*... like I should feel worse than I do, because by doing these 'bad' things, I learned SO much! As in, sometimes you have to break an egg to make an omelette. I have challenged the order of things and it shocks you, but look at what it yielded.
  
  Voice #2 is saddened that his friend could be so depraved, and selfish. He cannot imagine remaining close to such a person; he hardly knows him anymore. *I always thought you had great style and style was worthwhile* but I obviously underestimated your morals. You frighten me.
  
  Spot in the Clouds, thank you for the translation *I lose control in the undoing...victory does not compare to utter defeat*
  
  

  Flag sprouton October 04, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:What? where exactly did religion come into play here? you know what i think? i think that people automatically turn to religion when they don't exactly understand something, which in turn dupes every other idiot out there into believing the same as you, then no one ever really knows what things like this song actually mean. throw your religion into whatever you want, just keep it out of music that was intended to be read in the first person from a mans point of view.
  please, do me a solid. re-read this song, and leave god to the side for a bit. use that thing called your imagination, and figure it out. as a matter of fact, you could probably just go ahead and re-think your life while you're at it using the same method.
  sorry for being harsh, its just getting to the point where every great song that expresses humanity in such a way, has the blanket of christ thrown over it, and it really pisses me off.

  Flag meatmittenon April 22, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:Any readings of Christianity into this amuse me in a big way. If Interpol were paper-thin, maybe. PB has shown a long, running history of writing lyrics that appeal to the nature of good poetry, which more than not is not simple, explicit, and rooted in one meaning.
  
  You can bend and force most poetry to mean anything you want.
  
  Seems to me that it's much more plausible that the song was a farewell to Carlos that coincided with the logical conclusion of a "concept" album about a failed relationship (All rights reserved, all wrongs reserved) and which also invokes something larger with respect to the nature of bonding and unbonding, joining and undoing with those around us.

  Flag drogon February 11, 2011   Link

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    This is probably the best response on this page.
    
    Also, people are taking the meaning of the Spanish verse way too literally.

    Flag blackmantison February 25, 2011  
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  My Interpretation:Some really great interpretations so far.So many in fact that I believe these lyrics are actually intended to be much more open than may first sound..Without delving too deep into the actual words (as I’m a newbie afterall) here are my own ideas. Although important as they are, the way in which the lyrics are spoken/expressed in this track say much more to me than the actual wording. Saying that, here is yet another interpretation.
  It appears to be a two way conversation taking place to me.
  The 'please please release me' sounded so much like the sheer utter desperation of someone trapped in their own deeper obsessions. Almost like the damage caused by an obsessed fan who idolizes the 'great style’ of the other involved - wrongly believing "the place we're in now" when THEY aren’t actually in ANY place (together) at all. Hence the distant, almost haunting unreal manner, in which the 'please please' line is sung. ( It doesn’t actually exist) The admirer appears to have placed the other party being chased, on such an unrealistic level "and it raised me" that they ultimately know, that they are on their own. Despite the admired ones individual efforts to put an end to it "I was on my way to tell you it's no good" What the ‘admired’ lost control over and could prove to be their ‘Undoing’ I will leave to the readers imagination. An indiscretion or ‘victory’ can only lead to ‘utter defeat’
  Put all of this together with PBs comments on the track and another possible picture emerges?
  Fantastic amazing song and will always be one of my Interpol favourites.
  

  Flag powderaceon December 22, 2010   Link

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  My Interpretation:I think this song can function as both an oblique examination of the things we do (or happen to us) that change us (sometimes for better and worse, growth through pain, whatever doesn't kill us makes us stronger) that taps into a quasi-religious psycho-sexual angle (sin, sex, pain, pleasure) and it can also be a very literal examination of the creative tumult and challenges of personal fulfilment and friendship that occurred when Carlos left the band.

  Flag randoon December 19, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:It sounds to my ears more like "On my own" as opposed to "All night long"

  Flag randoon December 19, 2010   Link

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    +1

    I hear it as "all alone".

    Flag MUFC1902on December 21, 2010  
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  General Comment:DiS: One of the lyrics on the album's final track 'The Undoing' makes reference to "The place we're in now". Was that a deliberate reference to the direction the band's moving in or simply coincidental with the ensuing line-up changes?
  
  PB: You know, I think that song had a lot of relevance in many ways to be honest. It was quite difficult to finish writing and without meaning to be too cryptic, there's a lot of things surrounding 'The Undoing' that I'd rather not discuss. There are a lot of links within that song to a situation and the sadness which evolved from it. 'The Undoing' was actually Carlos's baby on the record. He really championed it right from when we started making Interpol, and even down to the guitar parts 'The Undoing' has his fingerprints all over it.
  
  DiS: Was it Carlos's idea to sing alternate verses in English and Spanish as well?
  
  PB: No, when it comes down to the lyrics and vocals I've always had total autonomy, but from a musical orchestration point of view, Carlos had the final say with 'The Undoing'. It's quite poignant listening back to it because there were a lot of disagreements around that song when we were making the record. I tried to write a vocal melody and Carlos kept changing parts of he song which meant part of my idea would also need to change to make it fit. In the end, I just decided to leave the vocal part as it was, and I think in hindsight it all kind of worked out pretty well, which again demonstrates what an important factor Carlos was in the creative side of things more than anything.

  Flag Eldeshaceron December 02, 2010   Link

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  My Interpretation:I love Interpol, and this song has been floating around my head the past few days. Particularly "Chasing my damage" bit keeps popping into my thoughts.
  
  Here are my take...
  
  I noticed that most of the lyrics are in the past tense, except for the last part where he is pleading "Please please the place we're in now". Also, I wonder if the Spanish part vs. the English is like our subconscious vs. conscience. The subconscious does seem to have a language of its own, often very hard to understand/decipher, communicating to us through our dreams, poetry and wonderful music such as this.
  
  I know that none of us make it out of childhood unhurt/undamaged, and all of us spend the rest of our lives trying to heal the hurt by reliving primal/familial relationships. Perhaps the reliving gives us a sense that we can undo the damage that's been done, to get it right, to heal it.
  
  So, I think this song, sung mostly in the past, has a punctuating message of what's been done is done/what's lost is lost, and the guy's been undone by it, perhaps he's unraveled/lost. A plea to be present, actual and now is the hope offered, as the chasing was just no good, and has been his undoing.
  
  -ciao
  

  Flag xanthinophilon November 13, 2010   Link

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  Song Meaning:Okay, tell me this doesn't blow your mind. Carlos D has officially left the band. I have not read anything on the subject of his departure. I question, at what point did they arrive at that conclusion?
  
  I notice that the bass parts of this song are on the key board exclusively. Was this perhaps a song that was written without Carlos D? Perhaps a song secretly dedicated to Carlos D? Perhaps a message to him. Hence the need for translations. Carlos's mother is Colombian. South Americans possess a multicultural Spanish speaking heritage.
  
  I perceive Carlos to be not unlike the type of person who has 'great style', the type of person who can cause people to be 'raised' by being 'altered' by his presence. I also believe the song printed above to be missing the lyric; 'I will wait' to be included at the end section with 'all night long'.
  
  Not to analyze it too much, give it a re-read, and see what you think.

  Flag ARSNon November 06, 2010   Link

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  My Interpretation:me suelto en el deshacer
  al puro perder el ganar no compara
  
  I release myself into the undoing
  winning is nothing compared to pure losing

  Flag marsfeldon October 26, 2010   Link

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