What does The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows mean?

Brand New: The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows Meaning

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Album cover for The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows album cover
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The Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows Lyrics

We saw the western coast
I saw the hospital
Nursed the shoreline like a wound
Reports of lovers tryst
Were neither clear nor discript
We kept it safe and slow
The quiet things that no one ever knows

So keep the blood in your head
And...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Oct 18th 2008 !⃝

    I think the quiet things that no one ever knows are the secret thoughts inside his head. On the outside he shows that he cares and loves her and wants to be with her forever but on the inside, the quiet things..., his feelings for her have died long ago. This is about fighting the urge to go through the motions of love when love is not there. He says, "I lie for you, only you. And I lie well, Hallelujah" because he is living the biggest lie he has ever experienced.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jul 12th 2007 !⃝

    "The real meaning of this song is ending something because you know its gonna turn out bad. It could be anything a friendship,relationship,etc"(JESSE LACY)lead singer of brand new. Interview on MTV.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Dec 20th 2006 !⃝

    the "wasting words on lower cases and capitals" part is him saying "I need to tell you these things, but instead, I'm writing them down." because when you write things you write in lower cases in capitals, but when you speak, you don't.

  4. anonymous
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    Apr 29th 2016 !⃝

    I can't really interpret the rest of the song. I agree with what everyone else is saying on how it was a bad relationship. The line that's gets me is the 'Keep the blood in your head and keep your feet on the ground' I feel like it's saying not to kill yourself. Keep the blood in your head as don't take a gun to your head and keep your feet on the ground as don't hang yourself..

  5. anonymous
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    Oct 11th 2012 !⃝

    Opening verse: A couple was on a nice scenic drive, and got into a car accident. They were on a secret date. The relationship was starting out slow. This couple isn't married, because if you're married, you don't need to keep your love a secret.
    Chorus: The guy wants the girl to survive. If they don't feel love after this situation, it's time for the relationship to end. They guy gave up his great, old life to be with her, even though that life didn't look as great. The part that says wasting words on lower cases and capitals means most people worry about trivial things. He didn't do this when he left his old life to live with the girl.
    2nd Verse: He contemplates the day he wed his wife. He's not reminiscing because he regrets it. He doesn't want to be with his wife, he wants to be with the other girl. He can do without his wife. Even though he has kids with his wife, it tore them apart.
    Bridge: The guy only lies for his secret lover, to his wife. The lies are believable, not giving anything away.

  6. anonymous
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    Jun 28th 2012 !⃝

    I agree about the going through the motions marriage part. They started out with their "lover's trysts" and maybe a pregnancy ("saw the hospital"). Then they're married and he doesn't want it. They day went badly ("Your veil was ruined in the rain") and instead of remembering the good parts, the annoyances stick out ("Your friends were boring me to death") even then he didn't want to be there. ("I knew it was you I could do without")But they had kids so they couldn't get out of it. So even though they didn't want to be married before then and they're bored, ("there's nothing new to talk about") like a stereotypical unhappy family, they let the children feel like it's their fault. They go through the routine ("Today's the day it get's tired, today's the day we drop out") maybe drop out of touch emotionally. Now they speak but it's just words, lower cases and capitals. No meaning or feeling behind them. He knows they loved each other though he regrets his decisions including maybe infidelity ("I sold my body and bed all for an empty hotel") but he knows that he'll stay. He'll pretend it's what he wants. ("I'd lie for only you and I lie well, hallelujah") These are the secrets the family has, those ugly things swept under the rug, the quiet things that no one ever knows.

  7. anonymous
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    Jan 31st 2012 !⃝

    If you have ever seen the video it explains itself. They were on the run and got into a wreck , his girlfriend was hurt and sent to the hospital the guy was not found and died and thats were the quiet thing noone ever knows comes in .

  8. anonymous
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    Jul 7th 2011 !⃝

    The girl gets hurt at the beach (like in the music video) and the guy dies (thats why he fades out all the time)

  9. anonymous
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    Jul 7th 2011 !⃝

    I think that they are dating and she gets pregnant. they are forced to marry and she loves him but he fell out of love with her. but he resents the kid and the kid knows that the blame is on him/her.

  10. anonymous
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    Jun 9th 2011 !⃝

    Jesse said himself the song is about a relationship that's bound to end and he knows it so he ends it while everything is going good

  11. tbucket
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    Sep 10th 2010 !⃝

    I think the one about knowing things are going to turn out bad in the end so you end it sooner rather than later is right. The video shows a girl in an accident, showing she's getting hurt but by the end of the video she is "saved" but he takes the fall instead. It looks like some kinda way of saying he knows the relationship won't work and he'll end up hurting her but then again he probably doesn't want to end the relationship but does anyways for her saying he dosn't want it and lying just to save her from wasting time. It's like a sorrowful departure song about leaving someone you love because you know it's best even if they don't realize it yet.

  12. anonymous
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    Jan 10th 2008 !⃝

    Haha I'm probably wrong, but I always thought this song used world war 2 as a metaphor for something you have to do, even tho the outcome might not be what you want. If you think about some of the lyrics, he talks a lot about like D Day. "We saw the western coast, we saw the hospitals, nurse the shoreline like a wound." idk that's just my thoughts

  13. anonymous
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    Aug 30th 2007 !⃝

    Ok this is just about the "wasting words on lower cases and capitols." Now just stay with me on this...

    I think that they are referring to life as a whole story, and instead of living their life by writing the story, they are focusing on all the little things like capitalization in every word written on the paper. So they're wasting all the time they have on little things instead of really living.

  14. anonymous
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    Jul 7th 2007 !⃝

    I think "the quiet things no one ever knows" is more of a reference to the things in a marriage or love that they don't share, the hard times.

    "we saw the western coast, I saw the hospital nurse the shoreline like a wound. reports of a lover's tryst were neither clear nor descript, we kept it safe and slow the quiet things no one ever knows, so keep the blood in your head and your feet on the ground, if today's the day it gets tired then today's the day we drop out, gave up my body in bed for an empty hotel, wasted words on lower cases and capitals."

    I'm thinking it's more like the video, there was an accident and the girl got hurt, "reports of a lover's tryst were neither clear nor descript," maybe that's what the cops were trying to mark it off as, a lover's tryst or a lover's leap.

    He's going through all these things in his head, thinking about past memories, praying for her to come out fine, "keep the blood in your head, keep your feet on the ground."

    Then he goes into thinking about their wedding that they may never have, the life they may never live. Her friends are boring him, her veil is ruined, a completly horrible wedding that they'll never forget and love for the rest of their lives, even though it was bad. How eventually they'll get to the point where their in a nice little rut and they won't have anything left to say, and their kids will be the ones to blame.

    I lie for only you, I'm pretty sure from what I've heard about Brand New's and TBS's history, Jesse doesn't like Liars, maybe that's his way of saying if you survive I'll love you enough to lower myself to lying.


    ...maybe

  15. anonymous
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    Apr 6th 2007 !⃝

    ive heard that "wasting words on lower cases and capitals" means mr and mrs which goes with the pregnancy/marriage thing.... but I kinda think it means that he regrets wasting so much time worrying about things that don't really matter... like grammar... when he should've been concentrating on the things that do... like the actual words and their meanings

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  16. anonymous
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    Mar 17th 2007 !⃝

    I believe this song to be about a couple who rushed into a marriage for whatever reason (pregnancy, for example), though at the time they were both naive and in love. However, they began taking one another for granted until something happened to the "you" in the song. The "wasting words on lowercases and capitals" is perhaps a letter written to "you" after the other person realizes he still loves "you."

  17. anonymous
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    Mar 1st 2007 !⃝

    I think that the first interpretation was right and the "quiet things" refers to both their relationship in the beginning and the lie (his sacrificing the opportunities in life due to the obligation to his family) that the protagonist is suppose to live through in the end. I think the line "keep the blood in your head and your feet on the ground" can also refer to the fact that he has to bottle up his true emotions.

  18. anonymous
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    Dec 11th 2006 !⃝

    i think the first one is right and a little bit of the second one


    But I think the shoreline is when they first met on a beach and when he's thinking about the shoreline he also remebers the hospital she's gives birth to the babys to


    the hotel part of the song is him saying I would give away my body just to relax from being a parent


    theres my 28 dollars

    i think the lower cases part is him saying were wasting our time we shouldnt have had kids so now we have to teach them everything like there abc's etc.

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