Lyrics for I Started Something I Couldn't Finish as interpreted by weezerific:cutlery

I Started Something I Couldn't Finish Lyrics
The lanes were silent
There was nothing, no one, nothing around for miles
I doused our friendly venture
With a hard-faced, three-word gesture

I started something
I forced you to a zone and you were clearly
Never meant to go
Hair brushed and parted
Typical me, typical me, typical me
I started something
And now I'm not too sure

I grabbed you by the gilded beams
Uh, that's what tradition means
And I doused another venture
With a gesture that was absolutely vile

I started something
I forced you to a zone and you were clearly
Never meant to go
Hair brushed and parted
Typical me, typical me, typical me
I started something
And now I'm not too sure

I grabbed you by the gilded beams
Uh, that's what tradition means
And now eighteen months' hard labour seems fair enough

I started something
I forced you to a zone and you were clearly
Never meant to go
Hair brushed and parted
Typical me, typical me, typical me
I started something
And now I'm not too sure

I started something
I started something
Typical me, typical me
Typical me, typical me
Typical me, typical me, typical me
I started something
And now I'm not too sure

Interaction
Mail to a friend Send Lyrics to a Friend
Share on Facebook

Stumble It
Add to Del.icio.us Add to Del.icio.us




  • 32 Comments
  • Printer Friendly Lyrics
oldest first     Expand All
Charlotte-Molko
09-21-2002

Rated 0 
This song reminds me of my mate from high school, I'd flirt with him like mad and he'd say 'don't start something you can't finish', I kno this means nothin to anyone else, but whenever I hear this song, I think of him.

Log in to reply
periwinklebyday
05-30-2004

Rated 0 
All his growls are totally lost when the lyrics are written out this way.
Oh, typical me. I love these lyrics, they burrow into my head.

Log in to reply
driggsy
06-05-2004

Rated +2 
A gay friend of mine had impulsively declared his love and longing for someone who he thought might be receptive, but he was wrong. That person barely spoke to him again, and he ended up completely humiliated about it. He always told me that this song described his thoughts so perfectly...

Log in to reply
driggsy
06-05-2004

Rated 0 
A gay friend of mine had impulsively declared his love and longing for someone who he thought might be receptive, but he was wrong. That person barely spoke to him again, and he ended up completely humiliated about it. He always told me that this song described his thoughts so perfectly...

Log in to reply
z0MbiE
06-18-2004

Rated 0 
what are guilded beans?
your weiner?

Log in to reply
cheryluk
12-21-2004

Rated 0 
I think the guy in question is telling some1 he loves them on the spur of the moment and doesnt really mean it, hence the 'three word gesture' i love you being 'hard faced' . I think bein grabbed by ur guilded beams sounds painful!!!

Log in to reply
_zizzle
03-21-2005

Rated 0 
Do you think "eighteen months hard labour seems... fair enough" might be implying that something quite sinister has gone on?

Log in to reply
bazzz
08-29-2005

Rated +2 
in 1895, oscar wilde was sentenced to two years' imprisonment with 'hard labour' for his homosexuality. maybe it's that.

Log in to reply
infotainment_lad
09-10-2005

Rated 0 
My guess is that it's about a gay man who is in love with his straight friend. He eventually works up the courage to tell him, and decides to do so while they're going for a gentle, friendly walk together (hence the friendly gesture). His friend says that he loves him back, and they start a relationship, but then the gay man starts to fear that his friend is just going along with him so as not to hurt his feelings, while he himself is losing interest.

And what band, other than the Smiths, would write about that?

Log in to reply
CharmingMan
02-24-2006

Rated 0 
..this s the song with the video of Morrissey cycling around Salford supported by a dozen child look-a-likes also on bikes. It was the single that came out after the split in Oct 87. The video was later redubbed for the "Stop me...." video.

Log in to reply
tamnin
08-05-2006

Rated 0 
guilded beams implies a fancy place, a ballroom, a party. Something traditional

Log in to reply
LucyInTheSkyWithRH
08-14-2006

Rated 0 
i think it's about a guy (well... moz probably...) who is attracted to some other guy, he attempts to seduce him but the guy appears to be straight. maybe moz usually fell for straight guys and that's why there's the 'typical me...' line. and maybe 18 months was at the time a punishment for such... 'indecent' behaviour... i dunno. i'm only guessing, but the song is perfect.

Log in to reply
Nina78
09-06-2006

Rated +1 
Well you can grab me by guilded beams anyday, Moz ;)

Log in to reply
Rosemond
12-17-2006

Rated 0 
Could it be possible the song refers to something atrocious like sexual assault/rape (perhaps as an impulse after the rejection of his or her 'three word gesture')? This would more clearly explain the "18 months hard labour" and definitely the line "With a gesture / That was absolutely vile." Perhaps the narrator feels remorse - a remorse that must have kept him/her from carrying the act to its completion. the words "forced" and "grabbed" also suggest a darker physical aspect. Still not sure about the line "that's what tradition means," though.

Either way you read this it's a great song by a great band.

Log in to reply
all over
02-06-2007

Rated 0 
I've always thought this song draws parralels between starting a fight and starting a relationship with someone. He's all ready for action and thinks he sure he wants this but then when he actually starts either punching or kissing he sees its a big mistake and the other person totally isnt ready for it. And his punishment for this is either a jail sentence, real or metaphoric. I think it's how love/ lust can be so strong it's almst like an attack. The 'grabbed' and 'hardfaced three word gesture' and 'that's what traditon means' suggests to me a fight- a 'lets go and show how manly I am' type. If it's a relationship, I'd say Moz started one (' our friendly venture' with someone who really wasnt ready, couldve been a flaky girl or a confused guy and now that Moz isnt sure and feels he should end it, but its painful and typical of him and he thinks he might suffer for it

Log in to reply
BigNothing
02-18-2007

Rated 0 
Ol' Mike Joyce got the boot on this one, huh?

Log in to reply
cmrn
03-05-2007

Rated 0 
I respectfully disagree with tamnin about "guilded beams". I think that it is important that Moz used the archaic spelling of what would now be spelled "gilded". The archaic spelling, to me at lest, implies a reference to an archaic source. The phrase (or a variation of the phrase) "guilded beams" seems fairly common in 16th and 17th century English Poetry. Guilded beams (as in beams of light, not architectural) are the golden rays of greatness and/or light that emanate from the sun. In this song I think it is a reference specifically to 'A Hymn of the Nativity, sung by the Shepherds' by Richard Crashaw. It goes:
Welcome—tho' not to those gay flies,
Guilded i' th' beams of earthly kings,
Slippery souls in smiling eyes—
To me Morrissey's perversion of the original meaning of these few lines fits perfectly with the ironic treatment of language, religion, and sexuality present in 'I Started Something I Couldn't Finish' and in Moz's lyrics generally. More context, such as Crashaw's anti-Catholic feelings can be found on wikipedia and the full poem is available all over the web.

and moz can grab me by my gay flies any day

Log in to reply
cmrn
03-05-2007

Rated 0 
the golden rays of greatness and/or light that emanate the sun OR kings.
sorry, left that bit out

Log in to reply
kcsongbird
03-27-2007

Rated 0 
Moz makes the best noises EVER in this song. The growls.. uuuhhhhhrrrhhh! Thats what- tradition means! and the sort of intake of breath on ".....fair enough!"
Anyway. I am positive Morrissey is gay. Whatever he says and anyone else says, theres still no denying it in the lyrics! So, when I first heard this song, I thought it seemed to be about a gay guy *cough* Moz *cough* coming onto a straight guy, going much too far, and then regretting it when he suffers from it.

Log in to reply
OhPardon
07-07-2007

Rated 0 
I'll agree with bazzz, I think it could have something to do with Wilde. Though, I'm a bit of a Wilde fanatic, so I tend to see him everywhere. But that aside, I think this could describe Wilde's relationship with Lord Douglas very well.

Log in to reply
cmrn
09-02-2007

Rated 0 
I would agree that the imprisonment of Wilde is a part of understanding this song, but 2 years imprisonment with hard labor was the on-the-books sentence for any man convicted of homosexual acts in Britain until 1967 (see Labouchere Amendment, also Buggery Act ). This is also clearly alluded to in Shoplifters of the World Unite ("My only weakness is a listed crime/My only weakness is ... well, never mind, never mind). I think that Jason Little nicely relates this off-the-books-law (by the time of these songs) to Thatcher's Clause 28 (1988-2003) regarding the 'promotion of homosexuality'. Jason Little's more articulate discussion of this can be found at
www.compsoc.man.ac.uk/~moz/lyrics/theworld/shoplift.htm
As far as I can figure Shoplifters was released in early '87 and Started Something was also released in '87 (these dates are taken from the excellent site linked above). This means that both predate the actual enactment of Clause 28, but it was first added as an amendment in '86. I don't think that it is unreasonable to imagine that songs released in '87 could have been written in '86? So yes, I agree that this could be about Wilde, but it could just as easily also be about the political oppression generally faced by homosexuals in Britain until very recent times.

Log in to reply
KainIIIC
11-08-2007

Rated 0 
The meaning of most of Morrissey's songs about relationships are supposed to be unisex and not constricted to simply an interpretation of simply "him(gay guy) asking straight guy but no go"... The universal meaning, of course, would be the saying the "3 word gesture" to someone he liked, but clearly didn't like him back. Also contrary to most of these explanations, "grabbed you by the guilded beams... err, that's what tradition means" actually implies a female... asking someone in a ball/dance/promenade... which is what "tradition means".

and of course, Morrissey's songs necessarily always reflect personal experiences (and are just expression of feelings), as I'm pretty sure that he hasn't rocked the cradle for example... and I'm in the school of thought that Morrissey is straight who may or may not have had sexual experiences with guys... "Half a Person", afterall, is the closest thing to a biography Morrissey has written.

Log in to reply
alexnunes
12-12-2007

Rated 0 
It means that the person - Morrissey or not - made a mistake - or not - trying to have whatever he wanted to have with someone, that, as we can notice on the song, did not aprove the idea. The person can be a girl.. I just don't know why do you have to say that it has to be necessarily another guy. Even because the person can be a girl talking about a guy.. or a whatever. It really doesn't matter. The important is that the song is something divine. Beautiful.
The Typical me, typical me , Typical me really came from a genius mind.
Morrissey is the best.

Log in to reply
sunnydreamer13
12-14-2007

Rated 0 
It could be about pushing someone forward in a relationship... maybe someone older with someone younger to show that they are trying to steal one's innocance and then feels remorse. that would explain "18 months hard labor" as going to prison as a pedofile

Log in to reply
LeonDo
03-24-2008

Rated 0 
It doesn't HAVE to be homosexuality like what KainIIIC said. Its just the words "I love you" that matters.

It seems that he (a person) is shy, thus telling the person when they're alone. However this could lead up to something awkward if the other doesn't feel the same. Once he said that, he kind of forced him to a zone (you just can't walk away from that):

I forced you to a zone
And you were clearly
Never meant to go

The other didn't feel the same way, so he kind of regretted what he said:
I started something
...And now I'm not too sure

He told his other. I guess its tradition (I grabbed you by the guilded beams) but found it vile after he realized it was his mistake:

I grabbed you by the guilded beams
Uh, that's what tradition means
And I doused another venture
With a gesture
That was ... absolutely vile

He wanted to take back (his words/gesture) and wanted to replace it with "never mind, thats vile!"

"Seems ... fair enough" (fifth verse)
Accepts his fault. It was typical of him to do that.

" ...Do that again ?"
It'll be typical of him to do it again. He really does love his other but is afraid of rejection, so its kind of a take back/nevermind/gross the word gesture.

Don't take my word on this by the way...

Log in to reply




  • Add Your Comments
What does this song mean to you?

You must be logged in to post your comments.

Feel free to create an account with us, or log in with your existing account, to start adding your comments to songs.





Popular
Top:   Lyrics, Artists, Albums
Random:   Lyric, Artist, Album

Your Ad Here