It's all in your mind, She said the darkness and the light,
The clock, it bleeds for you but you never got the time in right,
I woke you up and I slit the throat of your confidence,
And we laughed in the night, And I felt allright.
All hands on deck boys 'cause this ship was made to sink.
Your swabber salutes you now, but I know what he's thinking.
I woke you up and I slit the throat of your confidence,
And we laughed in the night, And I felt allright.
Thanks a lot,
The clothes she wears mis-fit, and she's nervous when she speaks,
Her zombie mom and dad live in a separate house of freaks.
I woke you up and I slit the throat of your confidence,
I'm the one for you,
'Cause I know all the dirty things you like to do,
I'm the fear in your eyes, I'm the fire in your flies,
I'm the sound that's buzzing around your head.
Thanks a lot.



Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery

Track duration: 04:58

"Thanks a Lot" as written by Stephan/cadogan Jenkins

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Thanks a Lot song meanings
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27 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I think Tracecocoon pretty much nailed it. I can't understand how some of you are choosing to see "slit the throat of your confidence" as a positive thing. It's very dark imagery to basically say "I killed your confidence."

    I think, like Tracecocoon, it's the point in the relationship where both people know it's going to end. The girl is disinterested because he destroyed her confidence in some way or another, possibly a lie of some sort. She says it's fine, but the spark is no longer there and he goes from being upset about it to getting angry about it by pointing out the things that were wrong with her. "Thanks a lot" is the same idea presented in their song "Losing a Whole Year," as if to say "Thanks a lot for wasting my time;" a mutual sentiment.
    Flag CyRxJustinon July 10, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Also I thought it was "don't let them know" not "don't even go" in the chorus after he says Thanks alot the second time. I could be very wrong though.
    Flag fullmetalfunkon October 06, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:After reading some of the interpretations and reading the lyrics I think that this song is about a guy and a girl who fall for each other, or maybe just one of them falling for the other but it's not mutual. To me it seems the guy is just a regular everyday type of guy and the girl is a bit of an outcast and has had a rough life and they end up learning from each other. So basically like a 90's romantic comedy/teen love story. Sorry if I sound like I'm just parroting the other interpretations but like I said I did read some of them and kind of came to my own conclusions.
    Flag fullmetalfunkon October 06, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think when he says "i woke you up, and i slit the throat of your confidence" he means that he showed her that she's not as high and mighty and tough as she'd like to think she is... basically it's like he made her look at herself in the mirror and see herself for what she really is.
    Flag CUPCAKExninjaon June 18, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:i would like to think this song is sarcastic and cynical.. a certain someone got me completely hooked on 3eb (which i am greatful for) and this seems to be my theme song since things started and ended badly. "thanks a lot, you dont even know" reminds me of all the hurtful things he put me through... i never looked at it in a way of being a more happy song, focused on a good relationship, but i like that as my second alternative.
    Flag buffettfan87on March 12, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:'i know all the dirty things you like to do'

    I don't take this line quite so literaly. It just means that he has been close to her and knows her well
    Flag Pistoleroon September 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:'i woke you up and i slit the throat of your confidence'

    I think that when they first met, she was all innocent and naive. Being with him, he opened her eyes to reality and her perspective on things changed, including her views on him.
    Flag Pistoleroon September 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:***BTW....I personally believe that the line "her zombie Mom and Dad live in a separate house of freaks" is alluding to his relationship with Charlize Theron, who witnessed her father die after being shot by her mother. "Zombie" symbolizing the terror of the haunting memory that won't die, which adversely affected their relationship.***
    Flag trancecocoonon May 18, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:To me, this song is about the subtle shift of power that happens when a person falls out of love. Though cleverly scrambled, this entire album's songs read like a chronological map of the events that took place within one profound relationship.

    Here, the woman has fallen out of love with the singer/author, and now it is she who holds the dominant position... but it is too early in the shift to expose this dynamic outright. It is a secret that they both know in their hearts, yet she is not ready to reveal it and he is too busy focusing on the symptoms to come to terms with it.

    "It's all in your mind," she said, "the darkness and the light" [typical female brush-off: "Don't pay attention to all the ups and downs we're going through. It's normal, and it's all in your mind...we're still in love."]

    "The clock, it bleeds for you, but you never got the timing right " [Shifts in focus to the author himself, describing how he got many chances --to the point of time symbolically 'sacrificing itself' --to prove himself worthy of her love and confidence, yet fails]

    "I woke you up and I slit the throat of your confidence, and we laughed in the night, and I felt alright" [holding a woman's confidence is the key to winning her love. The author recognizes that he has killed her confidence, yet reveals the very trait that causes the murder....a lack of intuition. The woman has lost confidence in him because he lacks intuition. (She's that good.) Despite this defining moment in their relationship, he falls for her ability to hide their secret, and when she 'laughs in the night' like everything's okay, he is falsely reassured. Her ability to deceive him confirms her newfound dominance.

    "All hands on deck boys, 'cause this ship was made to sink; your swabber salutes you now, but I know what he's thinking" [Symbolizes the shift in power. The Captain, who is in the dominant position, has somehow lost the confidence of his lowest-ranking subordinate--the swabber. The swabber now deceives the Captain by alluding to formalities (a salute) to keep the peace while the ship is still afloat. But he's thinking, "you're not a very good Captain anymore."]

    "Thanks a lot" [A sarcastic condemnation of both partners' actions, simultaneously aimed at each other. The woman says, 'thanks alot for killing my confidence and not being the person you said you were,' while the man says 'thanks alot for pretending everything was fine after you had decided I wasn't someone you could look up to.' At the precise moment when this sentiment is dually expressed, the downward spiral of the relationship to the end of the album begins. This leads to new relationship dynamics, and a whole new readjustment to the newly defined roles of each partner, which takes us to the last verse:

    "The clothes she wears misfit, and she's nervous when she speaks...Her zombie mom and dad live in a separate house of freaks" [Now, the stress of falling from leader to subordinate is wearing on the author. No longer does he feel the sentiments expressed in "Good For You" and "I Want You," tracks #9 and #11. Now, his disappointment in himself is projected onto the source of his anxiety: his woman. He ignores the things he'd loved about her and focuses on the things he dislikes. Her clothes don't fit. She lacks speaking skills. Her family is screwed up. These are complaints that pave the way for fear, pain, and hostility, expressed in the bi-polar on/off quality of the next songs "Burning Man" and "Semi-Charmed Life."

    "I'm the one for you, 'cause I know all the dirty things you like to do...I'm the fear in your eyes, I'm the fire in your flies; I'm the sound that's buzzing 'round your head" [The attempt by the author at re-establishing his partner's love by appealing to the memory of their past experiences. Written into this attempt is also a display of its inherent futility; a good leader does not have to convince a willing follower. At this point, we know she is less than willing to follow him. We know she's made up her mind.]
    Flag trancecocoonon May 18, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Well, it begins with the girl saying four lines of very profound things. Hence, "I woke you up and I slit the throat of your confidence" seems to refer to him bringing her out of her state of constant thought about the world and our minds and time and breaking her barrier of confidence about all this thought, and because she no longer was so serious and quiet and pensieve they were able to laugh about things and be happy and that made him feel alright. I think she is the ship that is made to sink, and he is the one who is trying to save her even though he knows it is in vain because of her screwed up life. He loves her. However, he can't change her. He can wake her up from her sadness and make it go away for a night so they can laugh and be together, but it can't always happen. No idea what he's thankful for.
    Flag words&trickson February 01, 2006   Link

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