Really good ideas on here! Back a year ago I dedicated a blog post to this song's meaning. (if you wanna see it, go to nik-o-laus.blogspot.com/2007/04/silversun-pickups-lazy-eye-melts-in-my.html)
To me, you gotta pay attention to the instrumentals as well as the lyrics.
The initial Pumpkins-knockoff riff just keeps ticking with nervous energy throughout the song, mostly just below the cloudcover, but at lucky moments popping up above. It’s sweet; simple; young; innocent -- from way back in our boyhoods, but also from way back in rock history, like the simplest rock, played by the truest garage bands. Old college bands like Ween and Breeders.
It's the nervous energy of youth uncontainable despite it’s owner’s best efforts. Ripped baggy jeans, skater shoes, ballcap, and a cracking voice when he ventures to open his unsure mouth.
And then the song picks up and screams out, takes risks, and flourishes, just like the boy in those daring moments of blind courage in the face of fears and uncertainty. Drink what the senior hands you. Talk to that girl. Kiss her among your fumbles. Drive home drunk and get away with it. And then call your buddies the next day to talk about how you shouldn’t have gotten away with it. Those moments with friends which he will someday realize defined his personality for the rest of his life. The lyrics, in that Ween-dead-ringer voice, fit the metaphor “I’ve been waiting all my life…but it’s not quite right …I’ve been waiting for this silence all night long … it’s just a matter of time…”
Yet again resurfaces the nervous, repetitive rhythm like life’s steady heartbeat through all the fits and starts, ups and downs, excitements and boredoms, adventures and mishaps, growths and losses, contests and comparisons. That repeating phrase “everyone is…” but am I ? Do I rate? Do you suppose those Silversun dudes meant any of this? Whether they did or didn’t I’m sure they relate.
@nbdubya I read your blog and I like it. I like to keep things simple. I came here more interested in actual possible artists intentions with the lyrics. I came up with something different. Not to dismiss the music (minus lyrics). That's essentially the hook. If you won't listen to the music, you won't listen to the lyrics. My first impression of the music was "Belly meets Hole." Yes, I assumed lead singer was a woman. I definitely get your impression of Smashing Pumpkins, especially "1979." As for the lyrics, I think they are simple and a little deep. As...
@nbdubya I read your blog and I like it. I like to keep things simple. I came here more interested in actual possible artists intentions with the lyrics. I came up with something different. Not to dismiss the music (minus lyrics). That's essentially the hook. If you won't listen to the music, you won't listen to the lyrics. My first impression of the music was "Belly meets Hole." Yes, I assumed lead singer was a woman. I definitely get your impression of Smashing Pumpkins, especially "1979." As for the lyrics, I think they are simple and a little deep. As with many of the mesmerizing lyrics that capture our intentions, they have a double meaning (perhaps a third - a triple entendre, if you will). This song is without sexual reference, IMO, so a double meaning is my take. On the surface this song is about the crazy first steps in adolescent courtship (if you can call them steps - perhaps thoughts -- and many of them). Same goes for the quest to being a successful entertainment artist. Here's what I think -- the moment the artist has been waiting for is to get in front of a crowd to experience what the artist has to offer. When the artist gets there, it's not what they had imagined. From the crowd, they hear words but do have capacity to process or respond. At some point the artist realizes that the quest to connect with the crowd is riddled with decoys. The people staring back at him or her are not focused and engaged. Rather they are high, wasted, bored or other. They shine with the kind of excretion that musical events will foster (details other than heat & humidity omitted). This lead singer has a lazy eye (true fact). Perhaps it has been a source of stress in the past (I doubt so much now). The artist is relating a life long insecurity with a life long disappointment in the hope of life long redemption. This is not intended to be any deeper than the song itself.
Really good ideas on here! Back a year ago I dedicated a blog post to this song's meaning. (if you wanna see it, go to nik-o-laus.blogspot.com/2007/04/silversun-pickups-lazy-eye-melts-in-my.html)
To me, you gotta pay attention to the instrumentals as well as the lyrics.
The initial Pumpkins-knockoff riff just keeps ticking with nervous energy throughout the song, mostly just below the cloudcover, but at lucky moments popping up above. It’s sweet; simple; young; innocent -- from way back in our boyhoods, but also from way back in rock history, like the simplest rock, played by the truest garage bands. Old college bands like Ween and Breeders.
It's the nervous energy of youth uncontainable despite it’s owner’s best efforts. Ripped baggy jeans, skater shoes, ballcap, and a cracking voice when he ventures to open his unsure mouth.
And then the song picks up and screams out, takes risks, and flourishes, just like the boy in those daring moments of blind courage in the face of fears and uncertainty. Drink what the senior hands you. Talk to that girl. Kiss her among your fumbles. Drive home drunk and get away with it. And then call your buddies the next day to talk about how you shouldn’t have gotten away with it. Those moments with friends which he will someday realize defined his personality for the rest of his life. The lyrics, in that Ween-dead-ringer voice, fit the metaphor “I’ve been waiting all my life…but it’s not quite right …I’ve been waiting for this silence all night long … it’s just a matter of time…”
Yet again resurfaces the nervous, repetitive rhythm like life’s steady heartbeat through all the fits and starts, ups and downs, excitements and boredoms, adventures and mishaps, growths and losses, contests and comparisons. That repeating phrase “everyone is…” but am I ? Do I rate? Do you suppose those Silversun dudes meant any of this? Whether they did or didn’t I’m sure they relate.
@nbdubya I read your blog and I like it. I like to keep things simple. I came here more interested in actual possible artists intentions with the lyrics. I came up with something different. Not to dismiss the music (minus lyrics). That's essentially the hook. If you won't listen to the music, you won't listen to the lyrics. My first impression of the music was "Belly meets Hole." Yes, I assumed lead singer was a woman. I definitely get your impression of Smashing Pumpkins, especially "1979." As for the lyrics, I think they are simple and a little deep. As...
@nbdubya I read your blog and I like it. I like to keep things simple. I came here more interested in actual possible artists intentions with the lyrics. I came up with something different. Not to dismiss the music (minus lyrics). That's essentially the hook. If you won't listen to the music, you won't listen to the lyrics. My first impression of the music was "Belly meets Hole." Yes, I assumed lead singer was a woman. I definitely get your impression of Smashing Pumpkins, especially "1979." As for the lyrics, I think they are simple and a little deep. As with many of the mesmerizing lyrics that capture our intentions, they have a double meaning (perhaps a third - a triple entendre, if you will). This song is without sexual reference, IMO, so a double meaning is my take. On the surface this song is about the crazy first steps in adolescent courtship (if you can call them steps - perhaps thoughts -- and many of them). Same goes for the quest to being a successful entertainment artist. Here's what I think -- the moment the artist has been waiting for is to get in front of a crowd to experience what the artist has to offer. When the artist gets there, it's not what they had imagined. From the crowd, they hear words but do have capacity to process or respond. At some point the artist realizes that the quest to connect with the crowd is riddled with decoys. The people staring back at him or her are not focused and engaged. Rather they are high, wasted, bored or other. They shine with the kind of excretion that musical events will foster (details other than heat & humidity omitted). This lead singer has a lazy eye (true fact). Perhaps it has been a source of stress in the past (I doubt so much now). The artist is relating a life long insecurity with a life long disappointment in the hope of life long redemption. This is not intended to be any deeper than the song itself.