Lyrics for 20th Century Towers as interpreted by jephque

20th Century Towers Lyrics
We'll correct collegiate mistakes
A shower of formal ideals
Completely soused
The hearts on our sleeves
As they drowned we could hear them screaming
"Oh, what a tragic way to see our final days"

I attempt to talk up the town:
"The answers are in the arches
Of the 20th century towers
And in comfortable cars in motion"
And yet it still remains, this incessent refrain
"You're just like the rest
Your restlessness makes you lazy"

Keeping busy is just wasting time
And I've wasted what little he gave me
(All around)
I know the conscious choice was crystal clear
To clear the slate of former years
When I sang softly in your ear
And tied these arms around you

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Cheesepickle
04-11-2003

Rated 0 
I dont understand. The song is actually my favorite, but nobody else agrees. It seems he's writing from a very stale and dry and cold point of view. Like he's lost something more than just a relationship...

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theneedleskips
06-19-2003

Rated 0 
Yeah, it's one of my favorites as well, but I haven't a clue what it's about. I really like "completely soused," 'cause you just don't hear the word "soused" much these days.

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theneedleskips
06-19-2003

Rated 0 
Yeah, it's one of my favorites as well, but I haven't a clue what it's about. I really like "completely soused," 'cause you just don't hear the word "soused" much these days.

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light in august
06-29-2003

Rated 0 
this song is amazing. i dont know what it is about either but it really doesnt matter. it makes me die each time i listen to it. thats the only way to describe it.

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fish eat steel
04-29-2004

Rated 0 
if someone knows what it is about PLEASE tell us! lol.

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sambo28
04-29-2004

Rated 0 
im not sure, and i havent heard this song, but it sounds like this guy had all these ambitions when he was young, that he would make the most of life, and he had all these ideals that he wouldn't be like the older people that he saw just being lazy and wasting their lives away... and he's been trying to do that for so long now, and he has realised that he's not getting anywhere, and he is growing up, and his ideals are changing...and he just wants to stop trying and start to let himself live.

guesswork ^ ...any ideas?

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noschoolspirit7
05-24-2004

Rated 0 
you seem to be on the spot sambo, before i got up to this line "yet it still remains, this incessent refrain: "you're just like the rest. you restlessness makes you lazy." I thought it might've been about some sort of armageddon or the world coming to an end.

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antennas
10-06-2004

Rated 0 
When Ben hits the "All around" part, I nearly die.

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emojuice
10-24-2004

Rated 0 
I agree antennas. That line.. kills me everytime. Also, does your name come from GY!BE?

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kozmik
12-14-2004

Rated 0 
Instead of following logic and reason, the choice to remain with someone (" i know the conscious choice was crystal clear") was the correct one. The song is about two things at least, but one of them is moving on from an old relationship ("to clear the slate of former years") and finding love somewhere else ("when i sang softly in your ear and tied these arms around you"). Or maybe it's about Jesus. Good song either way.

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whoaitsme
01-30-2005

Rated 0 
whoaa yeahh!!! all those vocabulary word tests are helping me out now... okay... i may not be right but this is what comes to me... collegiate has something to do with college... and soused is to be drenched or inmersed in water... so im thinking hes talking about how hes made some mistakes in college and now he cant amount to what hes wanted to be because he had these bunches of ambitions and he never really acted on them so he wasted his time.

what do you all think?

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xawestruckxeyesx
02-14-2005

Rated 0 
ben gibbard has such an amazing voice..there are bits in this song which really do make me wanna cry. the lyric that really stands out for me is - *keeping busy is just wasting time and i've wasted what little he gave me.* because it just really hits home. i

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dancehall_hips
02-19-2005

Rated 0 
By "collegiate mistakes", he could either mean mistakes he's made in college, or mistakes that are characteristic of a college student, which I think is more what he meant. By "completely soused, a shower of formal ideas" he could mean he's drowning in, or overwhelmed by his own thoughts. The word "soused" can also be a synonym for "inebriated", which is the result of ingestion of alcohol or some other mind-altering substance, so he could be saying that he's overwhelmed by all the thoughts that are clouding his mind as a result of, or just while he's intoxicated. But to be inebriated doesn't necessarily imply the use of drugs; it can also mean to be exhilerated or confused as if by alcohol. So possibly his overwhelming thoughts of "formal ideas" has caused his state of inebriation. By "oh, what a tragic way to see our final days" he could mean his final days with his significant other (which is most often the topic of his songs), rather than the final days of life, which was suggested by those who have commented before myself. The next line, "I attempt to talk up the town: "the answers are in the arches of the 20th century towers and in comfortable cars in motion", I don't think he means a towering building; a tower is simply a building or structure typically higher than its diameter and high relative to its surroundings that may stand apart. Therefore, he could possibly be referring to a bridge, perhaps the Golden Gate bridge. Maybe he means another bridge, like the Brooklyn bridge, but I thought of the Golden Gate bridge because it's in California, and the song "Why You'd Want to Live Here", is believed to be in reference to his dislike for LA. Although that's a likely explanation, it doesn't really go along with his symbolic writing style. If I was right, and the first part of the song is about the end of a relationship, and fixing mistakes that are characteristic of a college student, and the second part is about a bridge, he could be trying to say that the answer to get in his car and "drive", or go elsewhere to find love (as suggested in another comment before mine). Then, by saying "Keeping busy is just wasting time and I've wasted what little he gave me", he would then be referring to time, which assuming he is talking about moving on from a relationship that has ended, he's trying to say that just keeping busy and dwelling on a lost lover shouldn't be done for too long, that one should move on. "I know the conscious choice was crystal clear, to clear the slate of former years" would just support the aforemented explanation, because he's saying it's obvious the right choice would to be to move on. And by "concious", I think he means the choice that is right once the relationship itself is examined conciously. If you've ever had to decide whether to end a relationship, you'd most likely agree that it's easy to get caught up in your love for the other person, and not make the correct decision. This would also support my earlier explanation of the first stanza, about being clouded by his thoughts. What he then meant by the last part, "when I sang softly in your ear and tied these arms around you" would be in referring to his former years with former lover.

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dancehall_hips
02-19-2005

Rated 0 
*his former lover

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dancehall_hips
02-19-2005

Rated 0 
P.S. sorry that was so long, I had never examined the possible meaning of the song, and after doing so, I guess the reason for getting carried away would be that the meaning I suggested really applies to my own life right now.

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_murphy
02-22-2005

Rated 0 
when ben says "completely soused" i also think he means under the influence, mainly because he has made other references to alcohol in other death cab songs. that line makes me think that his initial love interest was alcohol induced, and when he says "they drowned" perhaps he could be referring to himself and his lover, or perhaps a metaphor their hearts, being drowned in alcohol. i'm not so sure about the "final days" line. perhaps he thinks that his drunken love will begin a new chapter in his life, and he is bidding farewell to himself, to begin life as a new ben.

or something like that.

i'm not so sure about the rest of the song, but i think the overall meaning is about a relationship that he may regret getting into, but can't let go of.

not too sure about the middle passage.

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_murphy
02-22-2005

Rated 0 
after reading dancehall hips' entry, it made me think that maybe the "towers" could be in reference to God, as he makes another reference to God in the line "i've wasted what little He gave me." i think that is what he means anyway: That "the answers" are in some giant, almost incomprehensible form that seems terribly overwhelming to him.

the meaning of "comfortable cars in motion" is still unclear to me.

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unesco
03-31-2005

Rated 0 
I've always thought the subject was fairly clear, well maybe not crystal clear. The title speaks of 20th century towers and the entire song (and the whole 'stability EP') certainly feels like it was written in the wake of september 11th, 2001. certain words "shower, drowned, screaming, final days" all create a metaphor for those who lived their lives ignorant of true politics of the world only to have them forced upon them.

the second stanza seems to have a focus on how even with the destruction of the world trade center, life continues to move (cars in motion) however a fundamental aspect of his life has changed: no longer can someone live with the false sense of security once provided during the 1990's (restlessness makes you lazy)

third stanza has a feel of personal repentance towards a former lover or friend. mistakes now seem small compared to the shock of death and those previous mistakes should be forgiven. to say your arms are tied around someone makes me think that there's a sense of urgency and palpacy to the actions.

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unesco
03-31-2005

Rated 0 
I've always thought the subject was fairly clear, well maybe not crystal clear. The title speaks of 20th century towers and the entire song (and the whole 'stability EP') certainly feels like it was written in the wake of september 11th, 2001. certain words "shower, drowned, screaming, final days" all create a metaphor for those who lived their lives ignorant of true politics of the world only to have them forced upon them.

the second stanza seems to have a focus on how even with the destruction of the world trade center, life continues to move (cars in motion) however a fundamental aspect of his life has changed: no longer can someone live with the false sense of security once provided during the 1990's (restlessness makes you lazy)

third stanza has a feel of personal repentance towards a former lover or friend. mistakes now seem small compared to the shock of death and those previous mistakes should be forgiven. to say your arms are tied around someone makes me think that there's a sense of urgency and palpacy to the actions.

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loveANDpretend
08-09-2005

Rated 0 
of course i love this song, just like everything else ben does. but that crazy-ass five-part (or w/e) harmony on the "all around" is insanely fabulous. it gives me chills. plus, the fact that it's ben times 5 is awesome.

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kylemumford
08-09-2005

Rated 0 
it's simple. he had a girl now he's lost her and he's drinking himself into a stupour over her, and he's upset about it. "completely soused" "collegiate mistakes" "drowning"; all references to falling into alcoholism as an escape from this girl. then he's trying to just talk to people about stuff, get her off his mind. he's talking about these towers, just to talk about anything that's not her or that regards her. he's so restless about the situation that he's become apathetic to everything and he just sits around and thinks about her. he knows he's just been keeping busy and it's getting him nowhere, yet he still wants to just clear her from his memory.

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blythegun
02-07-2006

Rated 0 
I heard this song and i think about the people that dies in the 9/11 Great inspiration sad melody, tragic guitars, the best part in the song is the union of the voices singing "ALL AROUND" GREAT BAND GREAT SONG

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LJA90
03-16-2006

Rated 0 
"when i sang softly in your ear"
that lyric wil stay with me for ever! bens voice is amazing in this song!

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LJA90
03-16-2006

Rated 0 
"when i sang softly in your ear"
that lyric wil stay with me for ever! bens voice is amazing in this song!

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musicforlife!
05-19-2006

Rated 0 
I'm going with the 9/11 interpretation of this song. When I first heard it, I thought that it was about the songwriter losing his faith in God, with 20th century towers being churches. But I think the 9/11 thing fits better.

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