Know something about this song or lyrics?
Add it to our wiki.
I was dressed for success, but success it never comes
And I'm the only one who laughs
At your jokes when they are so bad
And your jokes are always bad,
but they're not as bad as this.
Come join us in a prayer
We'll be waiting, waiting where
Everything's ending here.
And all the sterile striking it defends an empty dock you cast away.
And rain upon your forehead where the mist's for hire if it's
just too clear.
Let's spend our last quarter stance randomly
Go down to the outlet once again.
Painted portraits of minions and slaves
Crotch mavens and one night plays
Are they the only ones who laugh
At the jokes when they are so bad?
And the jokes they're always bad,
But they're not as bad as this.
Come join us in a prayer.
We'll be waiting, waiting where
Everything's ending here
And all the spanish candles they sold away have gone to this.
And a "run-on piece of mountain" travels shivers runs down the freeway.
I guess she spent her last quarter randomly.
We guess a guess is the best I'll do, I'll do.
Last time, last time is the best time
And I'm the only one who laughs
At your jokes when they are so bad
And your jokes are always bad,
but they're not as bad as this.
Come join us in a prayer
We'll be waiting, waiting where
Everything's ending here.
And all the sterile striking it defends an empty dock you cast away.
And rain upon your forehead where the mist's for hire if it's
just too clear.
Let's spend our last quarter stance randomly
Go down to the outlet once again.
Painted portraits of minions and slaves
Crotch mavens and one night plays
Are they the only ones who laugh
At the jokes when they are so bad?
And the jokes they're always bad,
But they're not as bad as this.
Come join us in a prayer.
We'll be waiting, waiting where
Everything's ending here
And all the spanish candles they sold away have gone to this.
And a "run-on piece of mountain" travels shivers runs down the freeway.
I guess she spent her last quarter randomly.
We guess a guess is the best I'll do, I'll do.
Last time, last time is the best time
Lyrics submitted by vCheerUpEmoKidv
Track duration: 03:55
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
"We guess a guess is the best I'll do, I'll do" is a philosophical statement by the band regarding the inherent difficult of declaring absolute truths. So to say with certainty what the song is about is a risky thing to do! Nevertheless HERE goes:
"I was dressed for success" is about the difference between appearance and reality. For example you may be wearing an expensive suit and look like you are ready to bestride the world like a colossus, but that's just not enough. You need to have some substance. Or perhaps the line refers to dressing up for a Sunday church service - in order to receive something that you think you deserve (ie. absolution and forgiveness). I think the latter is more likely as the chorus says "come join us in our prayer...we'll be waiting waiting there...everything's ending here".
This brings us to the chorus and the heart of the song - which is religion and death and reflecting on the meaning of life as death approaches. I'll come to this in detail in a future post.
used to play this song a lot.
Incidentally, I have heard a version of the song where he subs in "I guess she smoked her last quarter randomly."
the singer is going out with or is friends with some person(s). he's wanted to be close to them and is now just tolerating them. he's forcing laughter and feigning okayness. the relationship's gone to piss, they hate their boring rituals, but they go on and smile. in high school, the logical thing was that you just smile until that last summer's over. the chorus says, uh, prayer does the trick. it is hard to be the one to call it off. near the end it can get bitter-- under the thinning mask of innocent friendliness you may fire attacks at one another, but keep it just ambiguous enough that they can't be certain that you're totally dissing them man. that's my interpreting of the "sterile striking/if it's just too clear" part, though the wording is weird.
the chorus kind of says, "uh, not really sure how to make a clean break. spontaneous prayer circle?" it's kinda just a hopeful way for people in a weird situation with each other to approach it as themselves and show themselves for who they are, etc. etc. it probably won't happen.
I imagine that painting portraits of minions and slaves is an activity of theirs. translates to: them spending time together is time spent asserting power or reinforcing roles on each other.
the "Spanish candle/mountain shiver" line's confusing to me. how I take it: despite hating what he has to be around this person, it sticks with him and it contributes to who he is. also, IMO it's "gone to piss". anyway, not really sure about that one. but I really like the last part. now he guesses she spent her last quarter (weed) randomly as she probably says when he asks.
he guesses. if that quarter was supposed to be for "them", what'd she go through it all for? you can't really get mad at "spent it randomly" in its vagueness. he can't be sure that she says that because she hates his guts, which is why both of them guess that a guess is the best he can do-- the security of keeping things ambiguous. so yeah. everything's turned cold, and soon the niceties only come in ambiguous "might be being friendly, might be masking pure hatred" and they'll become callous with each other, and that's how everything ends at the beginning of the false kindnesses.
oh yeah and "dressed for success" is a great line. to preface the song with that means that the singer's main motivation for really being in this relationship is personal social success, which he attempts to achieve by just getting himself all clean and proper. of course what follows will be a sham relationship.
Fast forward... just saw the PAVEMENT reunion, also in Toronto, and it was clearly one of the best shows I have ever witnessed. They didn't try to sound exactly like the albums, they just played intensely, in the moment, and were strangely relaxed and even seemed happy to be there. Again, a Pavement fan since 1997 and never saw them in concert back then. But one of my friends had seen them several times back then, and said they were better than he had ever seen them play. I swear to god we're all still glowing from it. At the concert, I just kept thinking "THIS is why... THIS is why... they are legendary."
People, please don't die for a band. But get to the Pavement tour if you can - though it's probably mostly sold out by now. And really, it's ok to like both the Pixies and Pavement. You can even like Coldplay. And if you can like Everclear too, well congratulations on your open mind - but I'll keep them off of my playlist, preferring a much more novel sound, and challenging lyrics.
same lyrics, but the space in "success" kind of makes it sound like the stanza is an intentionally bad pun on giving head (success it never comes (cums). he then admits to that joke being bad. probably nothing to do with the intention, but i think sm is clever enough to realize that, even if it wasn't what he was doing.
while i really don't care about the stupid debate i've skimmed over here regarding pavement, pixies, so on, i figured i'd toss in my own OPINION on the matter, with no intention of bashing anyone else's:
stop reading now, pixies fans :) pavement is so much better than the pixies that the two are not even comparable. (also, as someone brought up prior, they are nothing alike.) however, i also am willing to admit to never having been as hardcore a pixies fan as most, and even, perhaps, to say... that i feel that the pixies are maybe just a bit over-rated. and this is coming from someone who likes the pixies very much, owns all of their albums, and has seen them live several times.
despite maybe two songs, i hate coldplay... and i have nothing to say about everclear.
there are rare instances where bands are somehow able to sustain the magic. dinosaur jr was able to come back successfully, albeit not quite as good as much of their earlier work, but very good nonetheless. i owe part of bands reuniting and not quite living up to what they used to be to the fact that it was a different time, where everything was better... so, personally, i couldn't ask for more. built to spill are still churning out undeniably brilliant music. it's hard to say what might stop them. and, now, it seems you'll get your pavement reunion (all of those who said they'd die if this were to occur, i hope you've stuck to your promises).
oh, and i think that "slanted and enchanted" is far better than "crooked rain."
But success it never comes
And I'm the only one that laughs
At your jokes when they are so bad
And your jokes are always bad..."
Sums up everyone's life? (or at least some point in everyone's life)
This song sounds very nostalgic and sort reflective/wistful to me without being schmaltzy, which is always admirable. My favourite song off of Slanted and Enchanted, and perhaps my favourite Pavement song in general (though they have somewhere around 487984753 great songs).