What does Sugar, We're Goin Down mean?

Fall Out Boy: Sugar, We're Goin Down Meaning

Album cover for Sugar, We're Goin Down album cover

Song Released: 2005


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Sugar, We're Goin Down Lyrics

Am I more than you bargained for yet
I've been dying to tell you anything you want to hear
Cause that's just who I am this week
Lie in the grass, next to the mausoleum
I'm just a notch in your bedpost
But you're just a line in a song
(A...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 5th 2005 !⃝

    I think that a part of the interpretation that is missing has to do with the phrase, "I'll be your number one with a bullet" which is probably a proper use of the phrase. It basically means the best or the first, and with a vengance or passion, and it comes from the way songs are listed in Billboards. Being number one is at the top of the charts, while a bullet signifies that the album or single sold better this week than the previous week, indicating it is continously gaining popularity.

    This could be part of his dichotomy of wanting to be with her and being her "best" while hating her for using him. Also, "lie in the grass, next to the mausoleum" could be about how he feels like dying for being betrayed so badly (in his mind). And lastly, what I feel hasn't been addressed in full light, is the line "a loaded God complex, cock it and pull it." A God complex is generally referring to an individual's (generally erroneous) belief that they are God or have superhuman abilities or powers (most commonly used when someone believes that have an inherint ability to get away with things or do things that most people can't).

    Here, he is probably referring to her attitude of being able to use guys sexually without having to face any consequences, and it's metaphorically used convey that the hurt he feels because of her attitude is like putting a loaded gun up to his head, cocking it, and pulling the trigger. In short, either the fact that she blows him off, or quite possibly the whole relationship (if you can even call it that), is emotionally killing him.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    yourexsilly
    click a star to vote
    Nov 6th 2005 !⃝

    This is the ACTUAL interpretation...

    God complex means when someone believes they are better than everyone else. They pretty much think they're God. And the loaded God complex means the person is at full force.

    I'll be your number one with a bullet refers to pop charts, how on the Billboard 100 the number one spot doesn't get a bullet next to it but every other song does. This line pretty much means "I'll be your everything."

    The "Am I more than you bargained for yet? I've been dying to tell you anything you want to hear cause that's just who I am this week" part refers to fans. How fans expect so much out of a band and expect them to be a certain way. Pete (the writer) is basically saying that he sometimes feels like he's forced into saying things that you want to hear.

    The rest of the song is about a STRAIGHT relationship. Not a homosexual one. The 'watching you two in the closet' is meant to be taken as he's hiding in the closet watching the girl he loves and some guy wishing he could be him.

    'Sugar, we're going down swinging' isn't meant to be sexual either. It's meant to be that he's fighting to the death for this girl.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    ShockerGirl19
    click a star to vote
    Sep 1st 2005 !⃝

    I think this song is the about a boy who is having an intense reaction to the simple supposedly physical based relationship he is in with this girl. Their chemistry was only supposed to be sexual, and the guy realizes that he is falling for her. In the song, the hook says, "I'm just a notch in your bedpost, but you're just a line in a song." I think it's here that the band is singing about how the girl is totally emotionally detached, and sees the sexual conquest with the guy, as a "notch in her bedpost" and the guy, in retaliation, states that she's "just a line in a song" even though, he knows she more than that to him.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 5th 2016 !⃝

    i think the song interprets jealousy, that this guy really likes this girl, but maybe 1:the girl doesnt like him the way he likes her 2: they may have broken up 3: he likes her, but shes taken...i dont know why i think that, i just do. and i think the line "take aim at myself, take back what you said" means that something she said is making him want to commit suicide. this is my favorite song, yet i dont even feel that my interpretation is correct. im going to try to base it off of other interpretations of the song. these are all obvious, but there are some dumb people out there that wouldnt notice that. i will post a more reasonable interpretation soon. if you have any ideas, just email me: essadnadia@gmail.com

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 6th 2016 !⃝

    I think it's about a guy who's in a relationship but is in love with another girl ('we're always sleeping in and sleeping for the wrong team' I interpret that as he's sleeping with his girlfriend but he feels as if it's with the wrong person) who is also in a relationship or sleeps around and who feels the same ('am I more than you bargained for yet/ is this more than you bargained for yet?' referring to the feelings they have for each other but shouldn't or don't want to have) but she is in denial and tries sleeping around to prove to herself that she doesn't care (hence 'I'm just a notch in your bedpost' and 'drop a heart' is how he feels when she sleeps with other guys) in the end they get together but people disapprove or something and try to get them to break up and no-one thinks they'll last but the guy would do anything for the girl (this is basically the entire chorus apart from the God Complex bit which is basically saying they think they can do anything and don't worry about repercussions). The rest of the lyrics emphasise these points.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 8th 2016 !⃝

    This song is totally a song about falling in love with a prostitute.

  7. MyPanicBoy
    click a star to vote
    Jan 5th 2016 !⃝

    "We're always sleeping in, and sleeping for the wrong team"

    This line makes me think that this guy has a girlfriend but relies that he may be gay. But he doesn't want to lose the girl as a friend and is just lost.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 14th 2015 !⃝

    I personally think it could be a bout a couple who are going down (being arrested) and that's were the sugar were going down comes from but I am not 100%

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 7th 2013 !⃝

    I think it's about how a guy is obsessed with a girl that doesn't notice him. Like when he says he's watching her (assuming her) and him from her closet wanting to be him. I think what the chorus means is "We're going down, down in an earlier round (meaning they'll die as teens before their time comes) and sugar, were going down swinging (I think he plans to take her hostage and kill them both, and maybe someone else as well. Like going down with a fight, so swinging like swinging fists)" and the rest of the chorus Im not sure about.
    What I mean overall is she doesn't love him so he plans to kill them both, and kill whoever tries to stop them.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 22nd 2012 !⃝

    ""Drop a heart, break a name" it should definatly be "drop a name, break a heart" but they just made it that way."

    You do know FOB's songs all are created with meaning, right?

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 14th 2012 !⃝

    I don't care what it's about. I drive my brother nuts singing the entire thing when it comes on the radio! But it's about being obsessed with some one and it hurts you to see them with some one else.

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 15th 2012 !⃝

    Maybe it means that even though shes betrayed him hell always be there for her as her number one or her best friend but how he secretly envies her boyfriend but he wants to die because he dosent mean much to her but he cares so much that he might come off a little weird but whenever she needs him hell be there as strong as god to help her all she needs to do is tell him what to do but

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 16th 2011 !⃝

    I really think this song is in fact actually to do with gay relationships. And how isolated gay people sometimes feel from society.

    Another God complex refering to people judge them and shun them. Cock it and pull it being they need to die lol.

    Theres far too many lines in there that is gay orinetated - it can't be just a coincidence

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 30th 2011 !⃝

    Am I more than you bargained for yet
    I've been dying to tell you anything you want to hear
    Cause that's just who I am this week
    Lie in the grass, next to the mausoleum
    I'm just a notch in your bedpost
    But you're just a line in a song
    (A notch in your bedpost, but you're just a line in a song)

    The lie in the grass part can be taken as whoever felt hurt, most likely the guy is to the point where he feels like he's dead or dying because of how the relationship was or is ending. The "am i more than..." part can be taken in different ways. In one sense, it's the band stating "this is what you guys want to hear, so we will tell you this". In the second sense, it's more of a relationship thing, in which the relationship could be failing so they both are just saying things to make the other feel better when in reality, it's a failing relationship. By being a "notch in your bedpost" is most likely referencing that they had pretty much a sexual relationship with each other, that kind of didn't mean a whole lot until they realized that it was ending.


    Drop a heart, break a name
    We're always sleeping in, and sleeping for the wrong team

    Pete uses some pretty clever switching of some phrases here: Drop a name, break a heart. By switching them, they will of course take different meanings. Drop a heart could just be how the guy feels while the relationship is ending as in his heart has dropped, and the name of his former lover being "broken" in the sense it doesn't mean that her literal name is broken, but just him saying her name doesn't sound the same or something like that. On the flip side, whoever the main focus may be, because they're always "sleeping in" probably can refer to how their relationship was in the beginning, as in just not really caring about things until they got to them, but when one of them is "sleeping for the wrong team" that is like sure, they're having a sexual relationship but not with each other, rather cheating on each other instead.

    We're going down, down in an earlier round
    And Sugar, we're going down swinging
    I'll be your number one with a bullet
    A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it

    The chorus is simple enough. The first two lines are just talking about how the relationship is going down sooner they expected, but they won't give up on it so quickly and let it fail. The main guy/Pete/Whoever is saying in the 3rd line that he will be her "first" and her "best" relationship(not her first literal relationship but the one that didn't fail). However, because she did cheat Whoever the main focus may be, feels as if because she cheated on him he should just take a gun to his head and kill himself. The loaded god complex part could be the lover herself saying "nothing bad will happen to me, i am invincible!"

    Is this more than you bargained for yet
    Oh don't mind me I'm watching you two from the closet
    Wishing to be the friction in your jeans
    Isn't it messed up how I'm just dying to be him
    I'm just a notch in your bedpost
    But you're just a line in a song
    (Notch in your bedpost, but you're just a line in a song)

    The first part is more or less Pete/whomever just asking if cheating on him was really worth it, but the second line is probably in Pete's imagination he is quite literally in the same room as her new lover(s) as they are beginning to have sex and how badly he wishes that it was him, not the other guy(s). And he continues by asking the question if it is messed up to want to be that guy, because it would have been brought up on Jealousy.

    The second part of this verse and the rest of the song have been discussed already, but this is just my own little take on the song. :)

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 25th 2011 !⃝

    I'm definitely seeing homosexuality in these lyrics; there's no way to ignore it. But it sounds to me like it's about a guy who slept with a girl and basically used her to figure out for sure that he's gay, and the song is the girl pining for him even though she knows they'll never be able to be together again. If you listen to "Thnks fr th Mmrs" right after this it tells the guy's side of the story.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 8th 2011 !⃝

    When I heard this song,I thought it was about two guys who realize they are gay for eachother.

    That is what is being refferred to when they say "We're always sleeping in, and sleeping for the wrong team." To be sleeping for the wrong team is to have a homo-sexual lover.

    "Am I more than you bargained for yet?" Nobody PLANS this stuff, and it is a little more than some people can handle when they realize who they really are.

    "Isn't it messed up how I'm just dying to be him" is refferring to being the one, but it's "messed up" because it's with a guy.

    "Lie in the grass, next to the mausoleum." A cemetary can be the greatest place sometimes. The dead don't judge people, and some people find a cemetary to be a place to escape it all.

    In the backround, you hear the words (Take aim at myself). They decide to commit suicide together to save their relationship from the ridicule of society. The God Complex is reffering to them stepping into the "place of God" by taking their own lives.

    Many people commit suicide after realizing their true sexual-orientation to "save" themselves from a cruel, homophobic society of which we live in today.

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 7th 2011 !⃝

    So basically the chorus is about him jizzing on a girl's face:

    "We're going down down in an earlier round, and sugar we're going down swinging, ill be your number one with a bullet, a loaded God complex cock it and pull it"
    They are skipping all the getting to know you bullshit and getting right to the sex (hence the earlier round part) and the number one thing is obviously his penis becuz ur penis looks like a number one and the bullet is the semen about to explode on the girl's face, and the loaded god complex part is him saying he is awesome and about to jizz (hence loaded) and the cock it and pull it is self explanatory

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  18. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 14th 2011 !⃝

    When you figure out the meaning of parts of the song, and put them together like a puzzle, it becomes a bit clear. The clever chorus is a good way to begin: 'Going down swinging' is cleverly used with a double meaning....These are just 2 people having a fling....both of them are already involved with other people. As a result, their fling won't last long, so "going down in an earlier round" is a direct reference to this being just a 'fling' that won't last, and 'swinging' has the clever double meaning: It may not last, but it's going to be great, intense; and 'swinging' also being a reference that they each have somebody, yet they are both with other partners (this is also referenced in the 'wrong team' line).

    The guy in the song is extremely confident and cocky (referenced by "a loaded god-complex"), and 'cock it and pull it' is basically saying that she can have what she wants, he's all hers.

    There are references in the first verse that she's free to have this fling (her boyfriend is out of town, or they had a fight, etc): Saying what she wants, that's who he is this week, etc...meaning he'll give her what she wants, he's taking her boyfriends' place....temporarily.
    The 'drop a heart' line is referencing how he sees her: A heartbreaker...and 'break a name' references their reputations being on the line, as well as him thinking that he will always think of her whenever he hears someone else with the same name, and never wanting to hear the name again. Why...? Well, we move on to the 2nd verse...Now, after things transpired between the two of them, this over-confident guy, is now basically asking 'how was I?', 'do I blow you away', etc..... and having a difficult time accepting the situation, (he is the one blown away; it's the reverse) as she just sees him as a guy 'on the side' (this is referenced by the 'notch on the bedpost' line), but he is now becoming attached, and jealous. The 'closet' line is a metaphor; he is not literally in her closet, watching. She has her man, and has this other guy at her convenience; while he is feeling attached, asking about her, observing, feeling possessive and jeoulous. And this is the same guy that was so full of himself, that was going to blow her away...but it is somewhat opposite (he also remains in denial, as referenced by him stating she is just a line in a song). Maybe he deserves it, for being unfaithful to his girlfriend (there is no reference or metaphor which gives the listener an idea, as to if he is in a bad relationship, or just dishonest).

    Lines such as 'always sleeping in' are referencing their need to be discreet; the 'grass in the mausoleum' line is a double-meaning metaphor: They need to be discreet, do things in strange places quickly; yet their relationship ('fling') is not going to last.

    The nature of the fling is open to interpretation, as they are both cheating on someone. It is not necessarily a dirty sex song, etc....these two found something in each other, and can only be together on a limited basis...maybe they are unhappy with their partners...and this is not the most uncommon situation nowadays. There are many people, who found themselves in a very unhappy relationship, and were unable to move on for various reasons; and they met someone who made them 'cross the line' (have a fling). Whether it's right, wrong, good, bad, is up to the listener. You may know someone that reminds you of this song...

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