Lyrics for Left And Leaving as interpreted by sockmonkey

Left And Leaving Lyrics
My city's still breathing (but barely it's true) through buildings gone missing like teeth. The sidewalks are watching me think about you, all sparkled with broken glass. I'm back with scars to show. Back with the streets I know. They never take me anywhere but here. Those stains in the carpet, this drink in my hand, these strangers whose faces I know. We meet here for our dress-rehearsal to say " I wanted it this way" and wait for the year to drown. Spring forward, fall back down. I'm trying not to wonder where you are. All this time lingers, undefined. Someone choose who's left and who's leaving. Memory will rust and erode into lists of all that you gave me: some matches, a blanket, this pain in my chest, the best parts of Lonely, duct-tape and soldered wires, new words for old desires, and every birthday card I threw away. I wait in 4/4 time. Count yellow highway lines that you're relying on to lead you home.

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big_k
01-06-2002

Rated 0 
definetly a great song.. it blows my mind how much these guys can weave into their lyrics.

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brokenheartsclub
02-21-2002

Rated 0 
this is one of my personal favorites. one of the few songs i can sleep to. did anyone else catch the fact that he talks about playing a show?

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polkar00
04-12-2002

Rated 0 
This is an amazing song...I can't even begin to describe how deep the lyrics hit me, everytime. I don't even know why, it just touches me.
It was beautiful seeing them live, ofcouse I cried my eyes out on this song, but words can't describe...

sentiment...


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alk3girl
04-26-2002

Rated 0 
this song is one of the very few songs that i cried the first time i heard it.... its beautiful. i talked to my friend about it and she said "the weakerthans are amazing like that".... yeah, yeah they are.

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TheEverythingFalls
05-09-2002

Rated 0 
I saw the Weakerthans almost two years ago at The Gilman (Berkeley, CA) with Plan 9. It was during some sort of punk rock phae I was goin through I guess, so when they played I didn't want to admit how deeply I was touched. I was just like, "uuuhhhh who's playing next!!" and so on.

I was a pretty dumb kid.


Anyway, this is what they opened with... and that first verse stuck with me since then. "My city is still breathing / (but barely, it's true) / Through buildings gone missing like teeth / The sidewalks are watching me think about you / all sparkled with broken glass"

Anyway, there was this girl at the show, right? And I met her a few months ago, and now we're dating. Ummm so the thing is, she went through something of the same thing, minus the pretending to be hardcore. She just kept her mouth shut because of her PR friends. She went and bought the album (Left And Leaving) - I didn't. Two weeks ago she let me borrow it.... I love this.



Aside from my story, this song is so damn rock and roll. It's perfect for the words, and the words are perfect for the music, and it fits so well.

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TaffyNCK
05-10-2002

Rated 0 
I just discovered the weakerthans... but they are freaking awesome... i've loved every song I've downloaded so far... especially this one

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xforgetmynamex
05-12-2002

Rated 0 
when i first heard the weakerthans, i didn't think i'd like them because i usually like stuff that's less mellow...but the first time i sat down and really listened to this song and read the words along, it made me cry. it kind of scared me that a song could do that. all these pictures flashed through my head like a movie, and the words just meant so much....these guys are amazing

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Destructedstar
05-21-2002

Rated 0 
One of the greatest songs ever produced. Ever. I've cried EVERYTIME I have heard it... no exaggeration.

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glowing me
05-21-2002

Rated 0 
It seems like everything stops when this song plays on my stereo. All the chaos and worries just fly out the window and I can just enjoy the song, the lyrics, and the sounds. The Weakerthans are a little slow for my liking but they do put on a good show. I saw them a couple of weeks ago with The Promise Ring and The Crush. It was a marvelous show. But like I said, I'm more of a hardcore girl.

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fallenstarhalo
06-05-2002

Rated 0 
that one line, the sidewalks are watching me think about you just kills me every time i hear it. this song really is beautiful. it seems like the world gets it's pause button pressed whenever i play this album.

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empty_satire
06-21-2002

Rated 0 
this song, ties so perfectly together.. to me it means a guy, is walking through streets he was formerly from (most likely childhood) aNd no matter where he goes or does in life, he always ends up back.. to the streets he knows. and as he is walking through his "streets" theres glass on the side walks (metaphor for perhaps hardships of his child hood.) and he states he is scared (meaning he remembers them, they made an impact or whatever) and in the end, my theory all ties together when the song states "Count yellow highway lines that you're relying on to lead you home." just saying he is heading back "home" to the "streets" he knows... all in all a beautiful song.. everytime i hear it, tears and visions swell inside.


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PixiEpunk84
07-05-2002

Rated 0 
i have never heard a band that could be so metaphorical and so fascinating. They'll be forever unparalleled in my mind

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none_of_the_above.
07-07-2002

Rated 0 
i just got back from new york city and i got the left and leaving weakerthans cd that ive wanted for a longg time. i listened to it all the way home (9 hours). the way they recorded some songs... the singer sounded so close, so sincere. WHY CANT I FIND A BOYFRIEND AS SWEET AS THAT F-ING SINGER.
i appriciate this song/band more than you could ever imagine.

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savemefromtears
07-22-2002

Rated 0 
"The sidewalks are watching me think about you, all sparkled with broken glass..."

my gawd i love some of the slower weakerthans songs like this one.

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happypunk
07-24-2002

Rated 0 
i have a boyfriend like that yei!

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debaser121
07-28-2002

Rated 0 
Guys, guys, guys. I like the Weakerthans, but crying at concerts? Come on.

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allthesadsongs
08-10-2002

Rated 0 
i just love songs that you have to think about the words. it's not just
"i love my girl, i miss her, blah blah blah"

the weakerthans are awesome, and his voice is amazing. they make me want to be pretty.

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Cranberried
08-17-2002

Rated 0 
to me this song is about a former love of his. someone who he was really meant to be with. someone he loved, someone he felt comfortable with. and someone he cant let go.

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ihatedanger
03-11-2003

Rated 0 
this song is so personal to me. i live in winnipeg, where john k. and the rest of them are from, and the line "the strangers whose faces i know" reminds me of going to see them play when they were just "the band with the old bass player from propagandhi". it reminds me of the whole hardcore scene in winnipeg. i barely know anyone in the scene, and i know that no one knows me, but if i was to see one of them on the streets, we'd recognize each other.

and the lines about the city fit perfectly. john is always talking about how great winnipeg is to the people who've lived there all their life, but how its slowly dying. this song deals with that too. the weakerthans are the only band whos music fits the scenery when i'm driving around the city.

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StrayCatStyle22
03-15-2003

Rated 0 
Yeah not to reign down on your emo party but the lead singer has the most ANNOYING voice. and its just plain flat out bad music. sure the writing is good but the way it is played by the band sucks. and damn you fucking people quit crying over a damn song. Live your lives happily

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punkindrublic18
04-06-2003

Rated 0 
this song reminds me of my ex/my crush who moved away... i miss him... :'(

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xbotchla
04-25-2003

Rated 0 
StrayCatStyle22, let people live the lives they would like, and in the meantime, live your own and yours alone. And as for The Weakerthans, I'm not biased to any sort of music, but in my mind, I would say the singer for this band is a better songwriter than AFI, who you have on your favorites. As for the music, it fits it, you just don't have the ears for it.

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ForeverInADay416
04-29-2003

Rated 0 
no, i didnt cry, but damn what a beautiful song. Its one of their best indeed.

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daisie_bfa
05-03-2003

Rated 0 
Yeah i do have to agree with StrayCatStyle22 in one way, i do find the lead singers voice to be a tad annoying and whinny (bad mallpunk dashboard wannabe). So when i first picked up their CD i was really disappointed at first. I let it sit on my shelf for about a year.

Then one night cleaning all my records i actually listened to the lyrics and i was blown away, especially by this song. Sure i still do find some of their songs to be kind of "lame" but otherwise, a great thing to come from Winnipeg.

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Kal
04-08-2004

Rated 0 
I think this song is about The Weakerthans ending up back home for a concert and seeing how much their city has changed.
At the beginning it's before the show and the band just looking around their hometown and remembering past memories.
At the end i think they start the show and just means a lot to them.

"Memory will rust and erode into lists of all that you gave me"
"new words for old desires"
About him writing songs and lyrics.

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