
the great masochistic misery anthem, made catchy and amazing by FF
the great masochistic misery anthem, made catchy and amazing by FF

This song is almost like a Radiohead song in that its pretty angsty, but cuts right to the point, even if it's through your heart. This is obliquely demonstrated in the accompanying music video. I think some songs on Room on Fire were trying to be 'political', at least in the songs 'You Talk Way Too Much', which is supposedly a back-and-forth during a presidential debate. The End Has No End exemplifies this. I'm sure the band felt at some point that they had to have some sort of 'political message' as a New York band to show that they...
This song is almost like a Radiohead song in that its pretty angsty, but cuts right to the point, even if it's through your heart. This is obliquely demonstrated in the accompanying music video. I think some songs on Room on Fire were trying to be 'political', at least in the songs 'You Talk Way Too Much', which is supposedly a back-and-forth during a presidential debate. The End Has No End exemplifies this. I'm sure the band felt at some point that they had to have some sort of 'political message' as a New York band to show that they really did care about things post-9/11, but I have the feeling Julian didn't like talking about these things, especially when he was younger. In the video there's a scene of Ryan Gentles (the band's manager and main protagonist in the video) scrolling through channels on TV, and then for a second you can see footage of the inmates being held at Guantanamo Bay. This song does have some streaks of politics but I wouldn't say it's the whole song, nor were The Strokes trying to make a political record like Radiohead was in 2003.

A lot of people think this is just a fun vacation song or party song, but it sounds more complicated to me: "Now that I'm away, I wish I'd stayed / Tomorrow's a day of mine that you won't be in." "When you looked at me I should have run / But I thought it was just for fun." I think she met someone while on vacation - maybe even cheated on her husband or boyfriend - and now she is questioning her regular life at home.
A lot of people think this is just a fun vacation song or party song, but it sounds more complicated to me: "Now that I'm away, I wish I'd stayed / Tomorrow's a day of mine that you won't be in." "When you looked at me I should have run / But I thought it was just for fun." I think she met someone while on vacation - maybe even cheated on her husband or boyfriend - and now she is questioning her regular life at home.

I think the couple in this song has been together for a while. The wife/girlfriend is feeling discouraged and gloomy. The husband/boyfriend believes they can overcome their current situation together.
I think the couple in this song has been together for a while. The wife/girlfriend is feeling discouraged and gloomy. The husband/boyfriend believes they can overcome their current situation together.

This song means the world to me. To me it represents unrequited love. My heart yearns for this special girl, my ex, who broke up with me 4 years ago because of MY mistakes. I am a christian and honestly i pray for her almost every day still and that if it is true love we will find our way back to eachothers hearts. When I am ready and able to treat her like the queen she absolutely is. I know it sounds stupid and i should move on but 4 years later i still see her in every other...
This song means the world to me. To me it represents unrequited love. My heart yearns for this special girl, my ex, who broke up with me 4 years ago because of MY mistakes. I am a christian and honestly i pray for her almost every day still and that if it is true love we will find our way back to eachothers hearts. When I am ready and able to treat her like the queen she absolutely is. I know it sounds stupid and i should move on but 4 years later i still see her in every other woman. Ive tried dating, but its not fair to the girl because i truly cannot get over my last love. I will wait a thousand years more and i know it will be worth every single second i wait. She will come back.

1971, one of my first 45's when I was a kid. Have always loved it, but never could understand the last word/words in the line "Seems as though, a month ago, I was Beta-Chi." Now I see it here, but have looked for the meaning of Beta-Chi, and it does not make sense. Stands for a fraternity or brotherhood? If anyone knows how that makes sense, please post. thanks
1971, one of my first 45's when I was a kid. Have always loved it, but never could understand the last word/words in the line "Seems as though, a month ago, I was Beta-Chi." Now I see it here, but have looked for the meaning of Beta-Chi, and it does not make sense. Stands for a fraternity or brotherhood? If anyone knows how that makes sense, please post. thanks

My $0.02….its about rejecting both the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality of American capitalism and the never-indulge-your-temptations mentality of fundamentalist Evangelicalism.
My $0.02….its about rejecting both the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” mentality of American capitalism and the never-indulge-your-temptations mentality of fundamentalist Evangelicalism.
Dude does not want a job of drudgery and boredom, which makes him feel hopeless and want to seek sensual fulfillment to cure it. When he says “I just want to be evil” he is not saying he’s a comic book villain or a sadist or something. Its that he wants to give in to temptations…as we all do, thats why they are temptations. I think its a tongue in cheek use of the word “evil,” like...
Dude does not want a job of drudgery and boredom, which makes him feel hopeless and want to seek sensual fulfillment to cure it. When he says “I just want to be evil” he is not saying he’s a comic book villain or a sadist or something. Its that he wants to give in to temptations…as we all do, thats why they are temptations. I think its a tongue in cheek use of the word “evil,” like the definition from a Christian fundamentalist but one he doesn’t believe is necessarily morally wrong.
From the music video, it appears those temptations for the singer are drugs and hookers. But in any case, the more we lead lives of drudgery, the more prone we are to falling into temptations (that may end up having bad consequences) to give our lives some sense of meaning, something at least we can look forward to. We need something to believe in, and in the absence of a spiritually/artistically meaningful life, the pleasure-seeking hedonism becomes something that we can believe in.

I feel late to the party. I know the writer said it was about his mother who passed away. I’ve tried looking at it from that perspective, but it doesn’t really make sense in that context. I think the song is about a guy who’s girlfriend left him to go find herself and see the world, and she’s returned now and he sees her seeming really happy and fulfilled: “Now that she’s back in the atmosphere” “She acts like summer and walks like rain” “She listens like spring and talks like June” So he starts wondering and asking questions to himself in quite a sarcastic...
I feel late to the party. I know the writer said it was about his mother who passed away. I’ve tried looking at it from that perspective, but it doesn’t really make sense in that context. I think the song is about a guy who’s girlfriend left him to go find herself and see the world, and she’s returned now and he sees her seeming really happy and fulfilled: “Now that she’s back in the atmosphere” “She acts like summer and walks like rain” “She listens like spring and talks like June” So he starts wondering and asking questions to himself in quite a sarcastic and almost passive aggressive way feeling quite angry that she left him: “Tell me did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the milky way to see the light all faded? And heaven was overrated?” He’s afraid that she has moved on to bigger things and won’t love just a small town guy like himself: “I’m afraid she might think of me as plain ol Jane- who was too afraid to fly so he never did land” He wants to ask her if it was worth leaving what she and him had, they had something really special in the small things and she threw that away: “-Love -pride -deep fried chicken- always sticking up for you even when I know you’re wrong- best soy latter you’ve ever had… and me” The “and me” breaks my heart every time. He’s asking, “Was I not worth staying for?” He asks if it was all worth it, if she successfully found herself, it feels angry when he asks, but this is also juxtaposed with the other line where he still wonders if she’s ok, and whether she’s lonely: “And did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?” Compared to “And are you lonely looking for yourself out there?” It’s heart breaking. He’s so angry at her for leaving, he wonders why he wasn’t worth staying for, he doesn’t feel good enough, so he just wants to lash out at her, but he can’t help but still care about her and wonder if she’s ok. He still loves her so much. One of my most favourite songs.

It may be worth noting that the French ‘mère’ (pronounced roughly as ‘mare’) means ‘mother’.
It may be worth noting that the French ‘mère’ (pronounced roughly as ‘mare’) means ‘mother’.
This is a song about a dog who helps people.
This is a song about a dog who helps people.