When you were languishing in rooms I built to foul you in
And when the wind set down in funnel form and pulled you in

I don't need to walk around in circles
When the ghostly dust of violence traces everything
And when the gas runs out just wreck it, you insured the thing

But I can't sigh now that you made the move
It has gone and gone to dogs, lay down on the floor
For the right price I can get everything
Slip into the car, go driving to the farthest star



Lyrics submitted by bizzichild

Track duration: 03:07

"Circles" as written by Michael Doughty, Sebastian Steinberg, Mark Degliantoni, Yuval Gabay

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing

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Circles song meanings
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19 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I think maybe the walking around in circles might be a reference to weight loss from cocaine use since the album refers to drug use and weight loss and the music video seems to correspond to that idea (he loses the red sweater- representing his weight and "skips over" the guy eating cereal which is what people do to lose weight). He doesn't have to walk or run around in circles since he lost weight with drugs. Maybe.
    Flag maadelineon July 08, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Doughty has written that the "going in circles" part is how he felt about the band at that point. The "rooms I built to foul you in" refers to the Wincester Mystery House.
    Flag argopelteron January 30, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment: i agree its a break up, but he is cutting his losses with the breaking, to foul u in, to pull u in he put alot of effort towards the relationship just to start it
    Flag pinkbunny713on August 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song has a lot of personal weight for me. None of this really helps with the objective meaning of this song, but here is what it means to me.

    This was actually me and my first girlfriend's "song." We picked it because we both would sing the chorus to each other on the phone under the covers when we were supposed to have been asleep.

    She eventually broke up with me because I cried in front of her when she asked about my dad (who had died a few months before we met). She said something like she wanted to be with a real man. As you might expect devastated for at least a year (we dated maybe two months), I'm sure you know how it goes.

    I also found out that she lost her virginity soon after that and later she became a lesbian (or so the rumors go).

    I saw her maybe five or six years later at a really awkward dinner thing that she happened to be at. Afterward she took me outside and apologized for what she did. Apparently she'd felt guilt over it for years. I told her it was a good learning experience for me and that I'd forgiven her for it a long time ago.

    I just heard the song today on the radio and really listened to the lyrics for the first time. I never realized how appropriate it was to the relationship and the aftermath for me.

    Hope you enjoyed my story :)
    --
    Flag Dodavehuon September 25, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:yeah, entitude, my kid brother, who is only a year younger than me turned me on to them too. I think he got it off of Cartoon Network from something. Lol My lil bro is awesome lol.

    this song is really amazing, as well as the band.

    Devon, 13
    Flag crazycrane02on June 14, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Memory:This is a great song. My kid brother actually told me about it, and turned me onto this band. The band's style reminds me a lot of Placebo, but a lot more docile and less creepy without as much, *ahem*, "mindfucking" as Placebo. Great band, awesome song overall. I agree with Taobeth and slugsinthefields on the meaning, though I haven't put much thought into it.
    Flag entitudeon April 23, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Great song. The lyric is "when the gas runs out just wreck it" I have heard this song on the cartoon network too, but not the first time hearing it. I have seriously wondered why cartoon network used that song. Obviously he's fed up and feels like he is going nowhere.
    Flag NutzyPixeon November 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think the line is "when the gas runs out"
    Flag pimaxcon July 26, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:^ haha I heard it there first, too
    great song
    Flag painted_faces_frownon October 05, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I remember hearing this song on Cartoon Network for the first time. It was with the Flinstones where Fred and Barney would walk off in opposite directions and run into each other (because they put the backgrounds on those conveyer belts back then, repeating themselves or "walk around in circles"). This was probably the song that got me into Soul Coughing.
    Flag Alpha13on January 08, 2006   Link

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