What does Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks mean?

Panic! At The Disco: Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks Meaning

Tagged:   No tags, suggest one.
Album cover for Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks album cover

Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for Snacks Lyrics

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...

  1. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 1st 2007 !⃝

    Wow. no no no no no!! yall don't get the point of this song! (yes I am from texas, I say yall) I just commented on "Build God, then we'll talk." I will say two things here that I said there. Firstly, ryan ross has a point to every song he writes. The main point of a song won't be how everybody takes too many pills. what does he care about pills? people get the wrong impression of panic. They think they are just mad at certain people in society and that's why they are emo. but seriously, they hate everybody. They hate society. They see that society is always the same: corrupt. by writing these songs, ross isn't trying to change the world - he's basically just complaining. life has patterns that never change - and that's it. but I do like the thought that "tacks" and "nails" are drugs. not because I agree with that statement, but because that is going in the right direction. The second statement I wanted to say was that panic uses symbols a bunch. by calling tacks and nails drugs, you are making them symbols. ryan ross and the rest of the band basically take all their ideals from chuck palahniuk, an author who is real depressing and if you ever want to figure out a panic song - you better have read some of his books. palahniuk uses symbols a lot. He also uses themes a lot. a common theme of palahniuk's work is the fact that life is fixing a fix that fixed a fix that fixed a fix that... do you understand? basically the same thing as taking a pill to offset the symptoms of a pill which offset the symptoms of a pill... Take this as an example. alcohol. why do some people drink it? to feel better after life's problems. what do you get? a hangover. what do you do? take a pill. In fact, the first part of the song refers to alcohol. "your speech is slurred enough..." ross uses the example of alcohol because I have heard that his dad was an alcoholic. This is just what I have heard, I don't know for sure that he was an alcoholic. So basically the pill stands for a fix to a problem, a so-called solution. but there are always side effects - "the shakes." when it says "take it a day at a time" it refers to the "take one time a day" that is written on prescriptions. but the words are obviously switched. It means that NO MATTER WHAT, day after day, you are going to take these so-called solutions (symbolically pills), compared to the fact that you CHOOSE to take (actual, not symbolic) pills everyday when you are sick or something. There is so much in this song, but like the other comment I wrote on "build god then we'll talk," I am sick of typing.

  2. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 1st 2007 !⃝

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

    This means getting drunk

    'I'm sure you'd want, want to give up the ghost
    With just a little more poise than that'

    This means Denying the Holy Ghost (he's a Mormon remember)

    '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'

    He's questioning Heavenly Father

    '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'

    This means blaspheming

    'I am
    Alone in this bed, house, and head
    And she never fixes this
    But at least she...'

    This means he's lonely without drink or the Holy Ghost

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 3rd 2007 !⃝

    Oh! the drug interpitation, think its a good one I see what your saying. When they say "prescribed pills to off set the shakes to off set the pills" is talking on how a person is taking the drugs to solve one thing and then takes to solve another problem, some thing like that...

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 25th 2007 !⃝

    I agree that it is most likely about Ryon's dad.

    The name of the song "nails for breakfast tacks for snacks" is an expression that his father used to say to him. Possibly metaphorically telling him do this as to become tough and be able to handle things in a better way that he himself (his father) did with his alcoholism.

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 13th 2007 !⃝

    Hum this song is talking about Ryan's Dad battle with alcoholism...
    may be I get the idea..

    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

    Maybe its talking about that when his father was Like
    On treatment for his alcoholism, AA, that Ryan was Relax
    because he didn't have to deal with his father

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 26th 2007 !⃝

    Somebody had made the refrence of "a cut above all the rest"? well that may be true. but how I thought of it was that other people were in there for suicide attempts, he just made one more cut or mistake that everyone else.

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 26th 2007 !⃝

    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.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 10th 2007 !⃝

    "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

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 2nd 2007 !⃝

    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

  10. X_Babii_H_X
    click a star to vote
    Apr 6th 2007 !⃝

    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.

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 3rd 2007 !⃝

    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.

  12. paniqluv
    click a star to vote
    Dec 29th 2006 !⃝

    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?

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 27th 2006 !⃝

    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.)

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 24th 2006 !⃝

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

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 30th 2006 !⃝

    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.




More Panic! At The Disco songs »


 


Latest Articles

 


Submit Your Interpretation

[ want a different song? ]




Just Posted

Steve's Going to London anonymous
Yes I'm A Mess anonymous
Droppin' Plates anonymous
Rat anonymous
Cry for the Moon anonymous
And the Snakes Start to Sing anonymous
Gingerbread Man anonymous
Not Like the Movies anonymous
This Masquerade anonymous
Birthday Suit anonymous
Dollhouse anonymous
Death anonymous
Copy Cat anonymous
I Hate Jimmy Page anonymous
I Hate Jimmy Page anonymous

(We won't give out your email)