Lyrics for 405 as interpreted by jephque

405 Lyrics
I took the 405 and drove a stake down into your center
And stated that it's never ever been better than this
I hung my favorite shirt on the floorboard, wrinkled up from pulling, pushing, tasting

You keep twisting the truth
That keeps me thrown askew

Misguided by the 405 because it lead me to an alcoholic summer
I missed the exit to your parents' house hours ago
Red wine and the cigarettes: hide your bad habits underneath the patio

You keep twisting the truth
That keeps me thrown askew

You keep twisting the truth
That keeps me thrown askew

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Nintendo84
07-11-2002

Rated 0 
Yet another beautiful song. the acoustic version is just great, i have to roll down my windows in my car and just drive listening to it. the obvious guy would point out that he "pays tribute"? to highway 405 here in washington, the intellectual guy would say the highway is irrelevant, it's another song about a relationship, or hindsight of one.

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stars_burn_white
07-17-2002

Rated 0 
this song, the acoustic version, is my most favorite song in the entire world, by far. so beautiful.

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xalleex
07-19-2002

Rated 0 
words alone cant tell everyone how much this song is seriously so well written.

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Imbrifer
08-01-2002

Rated 0 
I encounter very few songs with Soul, but this song definitly has that soul,.. such a vivd realistic soul. In this song I see a person who has liberated themself, and sees a downhill future, yet has never been so free.

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intoyoulikeatrain
08-30-2002

Rated 0 
this song, acousitc or not, is fucking amazing.. i love the line misguided by the 405 cause it lead me to an alcoholic summer i missed the exit to your parents house hours ago".. im not really sure why.. its just fantastic. even when i only think about this song i can hear it

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monkiebob
03-03-2003

Rated 0 
I am in love with this song.

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stellaluna1125
03-19-2003

Rated 0 
this is one of those songs that i can listen to over and over again and still want to listen to it more.

it's so perfect and it just paints a picture in your head of really whatever you imagine, but there is something so vivid in the way it is written

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strykerchick
06-11-2003

Rated 0 
Does this song make anyone else wanna take a roadtrip?

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strykerchick
06-24-2003

Rated 0 
why don't you quit bitching and tell what the meaning is? As if it wasn't obvious already...to me anyway.

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a subtle allegory
05-03-2004

Rated 0 
red wine and the cigarettes: hide your bad habits underneath the patio.

that line is awesome.

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alternativeaddict06
06-17-2004

Rated 0 
ben gibbard is a freaking genius, i love the lyrics he writes! im so happy death cab is getting more recognized for their work, the same goes for the postal service. im from seattle, and with death cab being a seattle-band, im proud of them and ive been a fan a long time. this song, 405, is my favorite. im not really sure what this song is exactly about, but i know its about I-405, a highway that goes right into seattle and maybe this song is about memories of him always taking that freeway to get to this girls house or something

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dancehallhips
06-24-2004

Rated +1 
no shit alternativeaddict06

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iamchipdouglas
10-27-2004

Rated 0 
Let me contribute to the irrational bitterness of this thread by saying the first entry, the one with "obvious" vs. "intellectual", is ridiculous. I fail to see how knowing this song is about a relationship constitutes an "intellectual", whereas knowing it's about I-405 out of Seattle, constitutes only "obvious". I'll just assume that's not the word the contributor had intended.

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lovelornloser
11-29-2004

Rated 0 
I think when Ben Gibbard uses "405" he basically means a girl who he dating over the summer. Maybe she lived off the 405? or maybe they always used to drive down that highway together.

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airheadtwirler03
12-26-2004

Rated 0 
Like everyone else, I believe this song to be amazing. Just my own opinion of the lyrics, the part " misguided by the 405 'cause it lead me to an alcoholic summer. i missed the exit to your parents' house hours ago" means something to the effect that his drinking made the girls parents disapprove of him, therefore he missed his chance of marrying her. who knows. ben gibbard is amazing.

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Spunkle
01-13-2005

Rated 0 
Thanks, twirler03, for a great interpretation. I think you hit it. Instead of just bitching.

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cheesepuff
01-23-2005

Rated 0 
just to add my two cents: the song is about a fling he had with a great girl, just not a girl with whom he would've had a deep, long lasting, meaningful relationship.
did anyone else get the sexual references in the first verse? the imagery is pretty vivid with a shirt that has been "wrinkled up from the pulling, pushing, and tasting."
the girl is obviously enchanting and manipulating him to stay with this relationship ("you keep twisting the truth..")
at the end, he realizes that she was an addiction that he couldn't shake. he "missed the exit to" her "parents' house": meaning this relationship isn't going to lead to committment or marriage (what else do you do with a serious significant figure, other than meet his/her parents?)

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interpretthis
02-23-2005

Rated 0 
"i took the 405 and drilled a stake down into your center, and stated that it's never ever been better than this." ---also a sexual image, for those who did not catch it...just put your dirty mind on, and it'll come to you.

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yourface11
02-24-2005

Rated 0 
i listened to this song on the 405 once by accident...

it reminds me of LA and all the shit out there.. even though he's probably refering to a relationship

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yourface11
02-24-2005

Rated 0 
sweet jesus.. i've never heard the acoustic version of this song... listening to it now... thanks for tlaking about it here

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jtank
03-01-2005

Rated 0 
only recently did i get into DCfC, and im glad i did. this song is so amazing, especially the acoustic version.

i agree that its about a relationship, and i like cheesepuff's and interpretthis's interpretations.

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roadfool04
03-01-2005

Rated 0 
i love this song its really good

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redcedarfever
04-23-2005

Rated +2 
i actually dont think that the first line, "i took the 405 and drilled a stake down into your center" is actually a sexual reference. i think it is more like driving a pin into butterflies for viewing their beauty. I think this song is about a man who idolizes this woman but really the entire time she's making herself seem better than she really is. she "twists the truth" and makes things seem more perfect, more beautiful.
the 405 i think represents, cheezy as it may sound, the path of the relationship. the 405 is notoriously confusing and circular, and i think that the relationship also is showing patterns of going nowhere. about missing the exit- this is only a reference to the carelessness of the relationship, perhaps saying that the relationship isnt going back or ahead; its just staying where it is.
the entire alcohol part is confusing to me... i have a feeling one dragged the other into these bad habits. anyway... beautiful song. its one of my favs.

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ooolalalizzie
07-02-2005

Rated 0 
i`m not sure what this song means.. i want to know.. can someone tell me? cause my boyf has it in his info.. "/ instead of our date.. but its a greeeeat song :)

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Emberly
08-28-2005

Rated 0 
this song is so gorgeous.

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