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What ghosts exist behind these attic walls?
There's got to be a simpler explanation,
Cause I scrimped and I saved
Just to find that they've been splicing my inventions.
Cold skin and bones and this latitude;
We ain't paying until the heat comes through.
So you slept in a stocking cap and wool scarf and the
Promises of payments were
Upon your shoulders constantly,
But don't foget to entertain
Cause this is your first defense.
Four-year offense to the devoted type.
I may have got an invitation, but I wasn't invited.
But I thought that this meant
Something more than broken hearts and new addictions.
We'll leave our sins within the carpet twine.
Our bodies will dissolve the chemicals in due time.
Promises of payments were
Upon your shoulders constantly,
But don't forget to entertain
Cause this is your first defense.
This is your first defense.
This is a first defense.
This was a first defense.
This is my last defense.
There's got to be a simpler explanation,
Cause I scrimped and I saved
Just to find that they've been splicing my inventions.
Cold skin and bones and this latitude;
We ain't paying until the heat comes through.
So you slept in a stocking cap and wool scarf and the
Promises of payments were
Upon your shoulders constantly,
But don't foget to entertain
Cause this is your first defense.
Four-year offense to the devoted type.
I may have got an invitation, but I wasn't invited.
But I thought that this meant
Something more than broken hearts and new addictions.
We'll leave our sins within the carpet twine.
Our bodies will dissolve the chemicals in due time.
Promises of payments were
Upon your shoulders constantly,
But don't forget to entertain
Cause this is your first defense.
This is your first defense.
This is a first defense.
This was a first defense.
This is my last defense.
Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery
Track duration: 05:56
"Scientist Studies" as written by Benjamin Gibbard
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I'm basing this off an interpretation of the album as conceptual I read somewhere.
What ghosts exist behind these attic walls? / There's got to be a simpler explanation.
(What/who from her past haunts the way she thinks? He doesn't understand how their relationship went awry.)
'Cause I scrimped and I saved / Just to find that they've been splicing my inventions.
(He worked hard at making the relationship work, just to have his investment go to waste.)
Cold skin and bones and this latitude / We ain't paying 'til the heat comes through.
(She treats him poorly and seems to want freedom, but he won't give in. She needs to come to him first.)
So you slept / In a stocking cap and wool scarf
(She wouldn't initiate contact, and stayed bundled up in bed)
Promises of payments were / Upon your shoulders constantly
(She promised to make more of an effort in the relationship, and this pressure weighed her down)
But don't forget to entertain / 'Cause this is your first defense
(She made an effort once in a while, but just enough to keep him around)
A four-year offense to the devoted type / I may have got an invitation, but I wasn't invited.
(He's invested his time and love for four years, but feels as though he was never truly wanted.)
But I thought that this meant something more / Than broken hearts and new addictions
(The breakup surprises him, and he wants neither a broken heart nor a new relationship.)
We'll leave our sins within the carpet twine / Our bodies will dissolve the chemicals in due time.
(All that remains are memories, like when they made love on the floor. Their bodily fluids will be walked over and stepped on.)
This is my last defense.
(He knows he can do no more, and is now moving on.)
I know of a relationship that went this way, and these lyrics immediately made me think of how hurt the guy was. While he may have known all along that the relationship wasn't balanced, he feels as though his time invested was worth it, will always cherish their moments shared, and knows in his heart that he loved honestly, consoling him throughout this difficult time.
what i don't love is who knows the last time they even played it live. songs like "the ice is getting thinner" and "your new twin sized bed" are simply no basis for comparison to the majesty of the entire we have the facts... album.
but yes, this is his last defense, he's got nothing else left, he just thought the whole experience of sharing time as borderline-poor grad students meant a lot more than it did to her. so it goes.
I think he's spending alot of time in his attic, thinking about the girl the album centers around, trying to figure out which memories of her are permanantly trapped in the house they lived in together.
"I scrimped and I saved just to find that they've been splicing my inventions", I see as having a double meaning. One meaning, he tried and he tried for her only to find that other people had been changing her, taking her away from him. The other more literal and tying in with the next part. He remembers them struggling to pay utilities and such, leading to a lot of time between them trying to keep warm when the heat was off.
I think the chorus means that he feels that she owes him something, that he still places her percieved debt to him upon her shoulders. But, at the same time, he wants to be friendly with her, if just because of the debt. To him, it's her first and last defense in a courtroom-style facedown he's imagined between himself and the girl in his head.
Perhaps the second verse means that this all took place over four years. He was only invited to the wedding in Company Calls Epilogue as a formality, a friendly gesture, though he wasn't really meant to come, and he thought the whole situation meant more to her than it really did, his broken heart and her new addiction to her new husband. In finality, he finds that even this will be a memory integrated into the house, into the carpet fibers, and the chemicals that made him love her will eventually fade.
Lastly, in the case he's made for her, this is his final defense. He's done fighting to win her back, and he's done trying to make his case against her.
... Or maybe I'm on crack.
The chorus is simply about him playing shows to make money to pay rent, and how entertaining people at shows is his best way to come up with dough (first defense).
He decides college is more like prison, and enrolling is a "four-year offense" (like a sentence for a criminal) if you are devoted enough to stick it out and get a degree. His "invitation" was his admittance to the university, but he didn't really fit in and wasn't cut out for college (he knew he wasn't really invited.. he would never do well). So, like many people, he said fuck it and took up alcohol/drug habits and just played shows for money. The chemicals will pass through your system, but the spilt drinks will and throw up will be soaked up by the carpet. He thought college would get him success and a promising future, but failed relationships and pressing for rent led to binge drinking and what not (broken hearts and addictions).
In the end, college isn't for ben, and he's playing shows just to pay his rent.
b.) Granted I have no knowledge of Ben Gibbard's life, your interpretation seems pretty spot-on and makes me appreciate the song that much more. Thanks man.
actually no, Silvertones and bullets refers to the two types of guitars ben played at the time. Bullets are a cheap fender guitar. No joy in mudville is about lou reed, not killing someone.