anonymous March 4th, 2006 06:10PM  

To elaborate my point further, not sure if there really are legitimate 'script nicknames, such as "nails" and "tacks" but it makes a lot of sense if certain drugs are known by these names, even if not, they are good metaphors for such. I'm also beginning to think that there is no physical "she" in the song, he's just talking about pills in human form, well documented in history as being common:
"lady heroin", "mary jane" etc

anonymous July 30th, 2006 06:20PM  

This song, like camisado is about his father and alcoholism. It was in an article in the july issue of kerrang!

anonymous August 17th, 2006 08:53PM  

It is about Ryan's father and his alcoholism. Ryan said so himself.

anonymous August 22nd, 2006 09:23PM  

This song is about ryans dads alcholism hence" your speech is slurred enough that you just might swallow your tongue" although it does seem like it is putting some human personalities to the drugs like others have said before me.

anonymous September 30th, 2006 02:44AM  

Well actually I read in a magazine article interview with Ryan Ross that he actually wrote this song about his dad, and Camisado was written about his dad as well so haha!! Lol

anonymous October 9th, 2006 01:22PM  

Ryan's dad died on July 28 2006. He was an alcoholic. That's at the time he wrote these songs he didn't know his dad would die so soon. But he did know he was addicted to alcohol.

anonymous October 22nd, 2006 12:15PM  

This song is about Ryan's father. He died earlier this year, but this is what it used to be like for him (*tear*)

anonymous November 14th, 2006 05:04PM  

This song is about ryan and his alcoholic father.
The 'she' is probably someone (a nurse) who knew his dad had problems and was an alcoholic but never really did anything to help the situation.
It's just a song ryan wrote to try and express how he felt about his dad.

anonymous November 18th, 2006 02:19PM  

The song happens to be about Ryan Ross' father an alcoholic. When he was young his father had to go to a hospital for it. His mom was dead, and so basically at that time he was alone, confused and depressed. He's talking about his feelings about the subject and his father's illness.

anonymous November 26th, 2006 02:38AM  

I read in an article that one of the member's father's was an alcoholic. This song is clearly an ode to him.

Watch your mouth
Oh, oh, oh
Because your speech is slurred enough
That you just might swallow your tongue
I'm sure you'd want, want to give up the ghost
With just a little more poise than that
--
when you are drunk, you're speech is usually slurred and hard to understand. "with just a little more poise" possibley refers to how drinking is horrible and ruins what the public thinks of you. "wouldnt you want to go with a little more dignity," is probably what that means.

Or was it God who chokes
In these situations, running late?
No, no, he called in
Or was it God who chokes
In these situations, running late?
No, no, he called in
--
this verse mentions how God clearly didn't help his father's situation, and wasn't there. it's really quite sarcastic.

The hospice is
A relaxing weekend getaway
Where you're a cut above all the rest
Sick and sad patients
On first name basis with all the top physicians
--
this verse reminds me of the late great show everwood, where jake goes to rehab for drug abuse. Here, I think PATD is making reference to an AA meeting, where the acloholics spend the weekend.

Prescribed pills
To offset the shakes
To offset the pills
You know you should take
It a day at a time
--
medication, but seems to be a little more poetic...i can't tell.

That's when you stu-stu-stutter something profound
To the support on the line
And with the way you've been talking
Every word gets you a step closer to hell
--
stuttering...you can't think straight when you are drunk or have been drinking. the say he has been talking--slurred, aka, when he is under the influence, he is getting closer to dying...and going to hell.




and that's basically it.
it's a really sad song, but really poetic and I love it.

anonymous November 28th, 2006 06:52AM  

brendon has said that the title for this song is something that ryan's dad used to say to him: 'well, if you're not tough enough you'll just have to have nails for breakfast and tacks for snacks'. I think this song is about ryan's father and his alcoholism, as ryan has said it is about his dad.

'with the way you've been talking every word sends you a step closer to hell' - about being told by his father that his life is so awful (ergo, he drinks) and feeling like he was the one that caused him to feel like that.

'prescribed pills, to offset the shakes, to offset the pills you know you should take (it a day at a time)' - about trying to convince his father that he should stop drinking and persuading him to take medications and then other medications to counteract the effects of the first ones. He feels helpless because he'd watching his father kill himself and there's nothing he can do about it.

'thats when you st-st-stutter something profound to the support on the line' - taking the piss out of how easy it is for his father to convince the outside world that there is no problem with a few well chosen words. feeling like he's the only one who could do something but he can't because he's a kid and no one would listen to him.

to sum up: ryan's feelings and experiences with his father's alcoholism

anonymous November 30th, 2006 05:07PM  

Well, Ryan Ross wrote the song and he said it was about his father, [[who died recently]] who was an alcoholic, i.e "Watch your mouth 'cause your speech is slurred", "The hospice is a relaxing weekend getaway where you're a cut above all the rest"
Thats what I read recently. So, yeah.

anonymous December 24th, 2006 03:32PM  

this song was written by Ryan Ross and it's about hsi alcholic father. It's a sad song in my opinion

anonymous December 27th, 2006 09:43PM  

One verse to back up that this is about alcoholism (can't confirm that it is Ryan's father, more or less correct if he was an alcoholic but I believe that this includes anyone with chain addictions.)

"Because your speech is slurred enough
That you just might swallow your tongue
I'm sure you'd want, want to give up the ghost
With just a little more poise than that"

Speech slurred; swallowing tongue - incoherency stemming from alcohol.

Give up the Ghost - a phrase meaning most commonly "To die; usually in a pathetic manner." Drinking them self to death... I.e. Ryan's father (died from his alcohol addiction and abuse of the substance.)

paniqluv December 29th, 2006 10:58PM  

ok, I'm really not sure but I think it goes like this:
i know it's about ryans dad but I twisted it up a bit-

"watch your mouth, your speech is slurred enough that you just might swallow your tongue" means he is so confused and delirious he doesn't know what he is saying, nor does anyone else.

"im sure youd want to give up the ghost with a little more poise than that"- "give up the ghost" means die. If he is confused and delirious he has no poise, so that speaks for itself.

"or was it god who chokes in these situations? running late? no no he called in" is obviously saying that his dad is thinking god isn't doing his job of saving him, but everyone else knows that its not gods fault, but his own.

"problem: the hospice is a relaxing weekend getaway where you are a cut above every sick and sad patient" its a problem because he doesn't want to be just another patient, even if less damaged. also notice how brendon says "weekend getaway." it sounds like "we can get away" (remember that; you'll see why soon)

"where you're on first name basis with all the top physicians" its still part of the problem. on first name basis probably means either: a. He's been there so long he knows all the physicians or b. He got a little closer to a certain physician and his family shoudnt know

"solution: prescribed pills to offset the shakes to offset the pills you should take...um... Take it a day at a time (fix a vice with a vice)" to clear his mind he goes to pills to calm him, which calls for more pills, in a continuing circle. His condition worsens.

"thats when you stutter something profound to the support on the line and with the way youve been talking every word gets you a step closer to hell" 'on the line' could be on the phone to his supporting family (including ryan) the way he's been talking (stuttering something profound- saying something that might make everyone feel better, but they can't understand him) his words kill him a little more 'step closer to hell'

"a pessimist? no I just can't help it. To say what everyone else is thinking" say this is ryans point of view. He wants to believe in his father, maybe. while the others dont.

"(let me state the obvious again) I am alone in this bed house and head. She never fixes this but at least she makes me forget" this is ryans fathers point of view. what if "she" isn't pills, but an actual she. a person. a phyiscian who he can call by their first name. for a special reason?

anonymous April 3rd, 2007 05:38PM  

I think the song is basically about a drug addict who is trying to become sober but he just can't seem to break away from drugs.

"Watch your mouth, oh oh oh,
Because your speech is slurred enough,
That you just might swallow your tongue.

I’m sure you would want to give up the ghost,
With just a little more poise then that.
Or was it God who chokes in these situations?
Running late? Oh no, he called in.

Or was it God who chokes in these situations?
Running late? Oh no, he called in."

He is so far into the drugs he can't even speak properly or realize what he's saying. If he keeps going this way he know that he's going to die, and doctors are telling him don't you want to die with some dignity instead of just being some druggie who wasted his life and money on getting high. He blames God for not being there for him, and not helping him on time. He thinks God is running late on helping him, when in reality the only person who can do anything to help him is himself.

"The hospices, a relaxing weekend get-a-way,
Where you’re a cut above all the rest.
Sick and sad patients,
On first name basis,
With all the top physicians."

He is sent to a hospice (a home with all the medical equipment needed to take care of a sick person)and to him its just a get-a-way, and since he's not as sick as the other patients he feels as if he's cut above all of the rest. He's even on first name basis with all the physicians and he feels he doesn't have a problem, but he still craves his drug. But since he acts so well, the doctors send him home with some pills to control his urges.

"Perscribed pills to offset the shakes,
To offset the pills,
You know you should take it a day at a time"

He's taking pills to offset the shakes that he gets because he's not on drugs anymore so he won't want to take drugs anymore. He wants to be sober in a day and then get back to a normal life even though he knows this is something that he should take one day at a time. He's impatient and doesn't know if he can do it.

"That’s when you st-st-stutter something profound,
To the support on the line,
And with the way you’ve been talking,
Every word gets you a step closer to Hell"

One day he feels like he's really close to breaking, and he calls the support line to get some help and some reassurance that he can beat this thing. But every word they tell him just make him feeling like breaking.

"I am alone in this bed, house and head,
She never fixes this,
But at least she…
I am alone in this bedroom.
She never fixes this,
But at least she…"

He's all alone in his house, and he feels abandonned. He has a hidden stash of drugs and he takes them out. "She" refers to the drugs he liked to take, and he's saying that although he knows "she" never fixed how depressed he feels, he feels as if "she" at least tries to console him. And he's tempted to take the drugs. The song ends with him confused about whether or not to take the pills. He decides not to but he still can't seem to get rid of his hidden stash but he keeps trying to work towards being sober.

Maybe its just my active imagination but that's what I think the song means.

X_Babii_H_X April 6th, 2007 11:24AM  

Its about Ryan's dad being an alcoholic.

I can't be bothered to list all of the obvious quotes that everyone has already written, but I think 'take it a day at a time' is what they say at AA meetings.

anonymous May 2nd, 2007 02:38PM  

To me, the lines

"Prescribed pills to offset the shakes,
to offset the pills you know you should take..." etc

describe how people are drugged up for an illness say, but no one ever mentions the side effects of the pills and the fact that even after the illness has gone, you are still full of pills.

This may not be the actual interpretation but its what it means to me and,to me at least, it makes a valid point

=]

xx

anonymous May 10th, 2007 11:39AM  

"She never fixes this,
But at least she…
I am alone in this bedroom.
She never fixes this,
But at least she…"

(in the demo, the last line is:
"but at least she... makes me forget" )

the "she" referred in the song is actually ryan's girlfriend. He said that he used to live with her for weeks at a time coz he couldn't deal with his dad. from what I know, his dad was an alcoholic and had passed away some time ago

anonymous June 26th, 2007 07:23AM  

It's about drugs and alcohol. The first part about how his speech is slurred means that he's so drunk but he needs to talk to someone. This person is in a mental hospital and apparently has been there for a long time "on first name basis with all the top physicans"
he has to take pills because he's "insane"
"That's when you stu-stu-stutter something profound
To the support on the line" basically that means that he dialed into a help line and needs someone to talk to. I guess the next part means that he lost his girlfriend/wife/ someone he loved to this problem. He said I am alone in this bed house and head...so that means quite litterally that he is alone in this world.