Ok, a little more levity amidst all of the horror that is New Orleans and Mississippi Gulf Coast.
I was listening to music whilst working and heard this song (Breakfast At Tiffanys) which was a semi-hit in the mid-1990s and reminded me how I have always found the lyrics amusing/baffling.
I have always liked the tune, but the lyrics have always struck me as ludicrous:
You’ll say, we’ve got nothing in common,
No common ground to start from,
And we’re falling apart,
You’ll say, the world has come between us,
Our lives have come between us,
Still I know you just don’t care.And I said, “What about ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s?’”
She said, “I think I remember the film,
And as I recall, I think, we both kind of liked it.”
And I said, “Well that’s, the one thing we’ve got.”
So he and his girlfriend are breaking up, but he doesn’t want to do so (such is the implication, anyway) and so he decides his best argument is to appeal to a movie they both liked? And it isn’t even a movie they both loved, rather “we both kinda liked it”–what kind of idiotic argument is that?
Further, I have never decided if the fact that that “the one thing we’ve got” means that they stayed together, or it was proof they should break up.
I have always leaned towards the former interpretation, with the whole thing leading me to think that neither the dude nor the chick involved in this musical story are especially bright.
Further, it really must be the tune that led to airplay for this song, because, quite frankly, the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody ultimately make more sense than these do.
Chalk this one down as lamest love song argument put to music ever.
Update: I took out the “Matchbox 20: ref–that came from the source of the lyrics and I revised my assessment–I agree that “lamest love sound ever” doesn’t fit.
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Ummm…not to pick any nits, but I think Breakfast at Tiffany’s was done by Deep Blue Something. They were a band out of Dallas that used to play occasionally at a bar I ran (in the early 90’s, no less).
http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/deep_blue_something/115021/album.jhtml
That having been said, I can’t disagree with your conclusion. The guys in the band weren’t especially bright either.
Comment by Matt — Tuesday, September 6, 2024 @ 2:59 pm
Yep. Deep Blue Something.
My interpretation was that she wanted to break up because they hasd “nothing in common” and he knew that was bullsh*t, and he wants her to admit that she just doesn’t want to be together (the line “still I kn ow you just don’t care”), and really he doesn’t care about the break up as much as he doesn’t want her to lie to him….
I hope that made some sense
Comment by caltechgirl — Tuesday, September 6, 2024 @ 3:12 pm
Oh the beauty of song lyrics, just like poetry they say different things to differnt people.
Anyway, I too like the tune and have always found the words to be somewhat intriguing. I don’t know that I would go so far as to call it the lamest love song ever, or necessarily even one of them (not that I can think of a better example off hand).
I assumed that he was, to some degree, harkening back to a happier time in the relationship. That maybe if they could recall something that they did together that they both “kinda liked” it would help them to remember why they like each other. Who knows.
And, btw, Bohemian Rhapsody is an awesome song. A little odd, but I love it.
Comment by Jan — Tuesday, September 6, 2024 @ 3:31 pm
Lyrics that don’t make sense
Steven Taylor doesn’t understand the lyrics of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,â€? a song by one-hit wonder band Deep Blue Something (the remainder of their album sucked, by the way). Meanwhile, I’m trying to be on the cutting edge by deciphering the l…
Trackback by Signifying Nothing — Tuesday, September 6, 2024 @ 4:38 pm
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is a song about death, sung in a deliberately operatic way (since operas are always about someone dying tragically). At least, that’s how I’ve understood the song.
Comment by Kingdaddy — Tuesday, September 6, 2024 @ 5:54 pm
The lyrics to “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” make more sense than do the lyrics for any David Bowie song.
And yet Bowie is excellent and Deep Blue Something sucks big time. Clarity ain’t everything in rock, it would seem.
Comment by Paul Brewer — Tuesday, September 6, 2024 @ 6:08 pm
Well, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” makes more sense than “Starship Trooper” by Yes.
Comment by Patrick Carver — Tuesday, September 6, 2024 @ 7:06 pm
It may be a lame argument, but it just strikes me as so normal/realistic. Being as how you married your high school sweetheart (or so I’ve been told), I assume you have very little, if any, experience with the break-up process. When one person wants to break up and the other doesn’t, the rejected person often tries to remind the other of the “good times we had together”, whether they ever existed or not, and the person uses what ever they can think of at the moment. Plus, emotionally based arguments often seem lame when one doesn’t have the same emotional attachment as the other.
Just for the record, I love analyzing song lyric and would have majored in it if such a field of study were available to me.
Comment by Jan — Thursday, September 8, 2024 @ 8:08 am
“Well, we did have a good cheeseburer that one time at Burger King”
“Yeah, it was ok.”
“See! We both kinda liked it. Let’s get married!”
“Ok!”
:)
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Thursday, September 8, 2024 @ 8:18 am
Hey, you get it now.
By no means was I indicating that it works, mind you.
Comment by Jan — Thursday, September 8, 2024 @ 1:09 pm
:)
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Thursday, September 8, 2024 @ 1:11 pm
Now if you want to talk about a lame argument set to music, check out “Stay with Me� by Rod Stewart. Now that will really convince a woman to spend the night with you!
Comment by Jan — Friday, September 9, 2024 @ 12:11 pm
Everyone missed the point of this song.
The point isn’t that she doesn’t care and he does; the point is that neither of them cares all that much. This is a postmodern song and the writer is illustrating the randomness and usually, meaninglessness of the things that connect us in relationships. A half-remembered film that they both “sorta liked” gives them as much common ground as plenty of couples who’re still together. His argument’s not “I can’t live without you,” it’s more ilke “why not keep hanging out if we don’t have anything better to do?”
Comment by DT — Wednesday, June 14, 2024 @ 3:35 pm
Just Lyrics
Trackback by Just Lyrics — Sunday, October 29, 2024 @ 2:57 pm