What does Cute without the E mean?

Taking Back Sunday: Cute without the E Meaning

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Album cover for Cute without the E album cover

Cute without the E Lyrics


Your lipstick, his collar.. don't bother Angel
I know exactly what goes on

When everything you'll get is
everything that you've wanted, princess
(well which would you prefer)
My finger on the trigger, or
(me face down, down across your...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 25th 2006 !⃝

    I don't know why this song needs interpretation, it's pretty easy to understand.

    A dude's in love with his girlfriend who keeps cheating on him with random guys ('you're such a sucker for a sweet talker') but he won't give up on their relationship. He realizes that he's wrapped around her finger ('you've got your gun to my head') and that it's not a healthy relationship but still won't get out. He realizes that his fantasies about her being faithful and finally having a monogamous relationship is fruitless ('this all was only wishful thinking').

    He lets it known that he knows all about her conquests and wants to throw it back in her face how she's a cheater ('a thousand clever lines unread on clever napkins') and that if neither of them ever talk about it, they can continue on with their sham of a relationship ('I won't ever ask if you don't ever tell me') because even having some part of her is better than not having her at all ('I know you well enough to know you never loved me').

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 19th 2008 !⃝

    I'm going to dissect every line in this song. Its long but OH so worth it.

    Your lipstick, his collar.. don't bother Angel
    I know exactly what goes on
    -he sees the person she's cheating with, sees proof. Tells her not to bother explaining/excuses, that he knows

    When everything you'll get is
    everything that you've wanted, princess
    -he does all she asks, 2nd nickname showing his love for her
    (well which would you prefer)
    My finger on the trigger, or
    (me face down, down across your floor)
    Me face down, down across your floor
    (me face down, down across your floor)
    Well just so long as this thing's loaded
    -if she would rather, he would kill himself, he's not in the best state of mind, willing/wants to shoot himself

    And will you tell all your friends
    you've got your gun to my head
    -tells all that she controls him/she holds the power
    This all was only wishful thinkin,
    this all was only wishful thinkin
    -relationship can neer work out, he just really wants it to


    Don't bother trying to explain Angel
    I know exactly what goes on when you're on and
    -2nd Angel, reinforcing he really knows
    How about I'm outside of your window
    (how about I'm outside of your window)
    -he is watching her to check his suspiscions
    Watchin him keep the details covered
    You're such a sucker (you're such a sucker)
    for a sweet talker,
    -hes doing what he can to hide it, possibly the guys friend, she falls for anyone who is "a sweet talker"


    (the only thing that I regret is that I, I never let you hold me back)
    -wishes he had never let her find out what was happening, possibly meaning she wanted to be caught

    Hoping for the best just hoping nothing happens
    A thousand clever lines unread on clever napkins
    I will never ask if you don't ever tell me
    -he doesn't truely know what is happening, and doesn't want to know. He's been writing/thinking about this for along time so he has always known something was up

    I know you well enough to know you'll never love me
    -knows that it wasnt true love

    Why can't I feel anything
    from anyone other than you?
    -he truly loves her and even after what she has done, he still loves her just as much

    And all of this was all your fault
    And all of this
    -repercussions are her fault

    (I stay jealous)
    I stay wrecked and jealous for this,
    for this simple reason
    I just need to keep you in mind
    as something larger than life
    -he holds it against her, still loves her after it ends
    (she'll destroy us all before she's through
    and find a way to blame somebody else)
    -between the cheated and the cheatee, saying that she will ruing both of them and to find a way to make it not their fault

    this is my favourite song. I hope I did it justice I tried my best.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 1st 2006 !⃝

    Definitely not about a guy cheating at all. It is about a girl that is cheating on him who thinks she is totally in control (tell all your friends youve got your gun to my head)... And he believes that the relationship is only wishful thinking. He knows all about the cheating and how she gets suckered in by sweet talkers. He regrets that he didn't get out of it earlier but wants to believe that she loved him but "knows her well enough to know she never loved him".

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 4th 2014 !⃝

    This songs actually about the singer cheating with the singer of brand news (his bestfriend) girlfriend. Brand new wrote a song called seventy times seven about the same situation.

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 25th 2012 !⃝

    Yeah but can anybody explain what the title means?

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 26th 2011 !⃝

    The dude fell in love with a sociopath. If you've ever been in that position it'd all make perfect sense cuz the lyrics are golden. Listen to some other songs, they're about the same thing. "I'm sick of writing every song about you".

  7. VoltageLesley
    click a star to vote
    Dec 3rd 2009 !⃝

    Shakespeare's Othello ring a bell anyone?

    Opening line," your lipstick, his collar" Lago & desdemona's secret marriage.

    "How about I'm outside of your window, watching him keep the details covered"...talking about all the plotting of secret plans to out each other & kill Desdemona

    "You're such a sucker, for a sweet talker"...Othello being accused of seducing Desdemona with witchcraft but everyone explains that Desdemona fell for him b/c of the stories he told.

    "clever lines unread on clever napkins"...the handkerchief that can reveal everything but is misinterpreted.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 23rd 2009 !⃝

    It`s about a boy who is in love with a girl who likes him back. Their relationship isn`t what it should be,but the boy never gives up. She can`t keep waiting for him to change even though they`re both confused they won't stop being with each other because they care too much about each other to say anything.

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 23rd 2009 !⃝

    It`s about a boy who is in love with a girl who likes him back. Their relationship isn`t what it should be,but the boy never gives up. She can`t keep waiting for him to change even though they`re both confused they won't stop being with each other because they care too much about each other to say anything.

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 23rd 2009 !⃝

    It`s about a boy who is in love with a girl who likes him back. Their relationship isn`t what it should be,but the boy never gives up. She can`t keep waiting for him to change even though they`re both confused they won't stop being with each other because they care too much about each other to say anything.

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 25th 2009 !⃝

    This song is clearly about a male who is being cheated on by a lying female with whom he is smitten and obviously involved. He states he is aware of her infidelities "...don't bother angel I know exactly what goes on" and "when everything you'll get is everything that you wanted" can be interpreted as him basically saying that the consequences of her actions (a break up?) are exactly what she wanted all along. "Well which would you prefer, my finger on the trigger or me face down, down across your floor?" can be seen as the breaking up of the relationship and he is inquiring as to whether he should do the breaking up (his finger, the trigger) or if she would rather have him defenseless as she takes the reign but either way it has to be done -"well just so long as this thing's loaded!" The "and will you tell all your friends" line is implying that she is a domineering woman who gloats in her control over the male and acts as though she is all high and mighty, and the relationship was merely a delusional dream -"wishful thinking" -a mistake from the start.
    "How about I'm outside of your window watching him keep the details covered, you're such a sucker for a sweet talker, yeah" could suggest that he is trying to inform the female he is well aware of her antics and even knows who the culprit is, he isn't as fooled as she thinks he is and he states he knows how easy she is, how desperate for affection.
    "Hoping for the best just hoping nothing happens" can be seen as him stating he sincerely hopes the outcome of the situation will be the best and yet the second part can be seen as two things: ether he hopes nothing comes of the ordeal and they remain together in oblivion or he hopes nothing further happens between his girl and her partner. "I won't ever ask if you don't ever tell me" shows how even though he knows the circumstances he will never ask her about it if she never confirms it, perhaps to avoid the hurt it will bring or so that he can live safely in his uninformed bubble.
    "I stay wrecked and jealous for this, for this simple reason" is him saying that he cannot leave her and it eats away at his being, though in some sense we can detect he actually thrives off this. Am I on the right track?

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 7th 2009 !⃝

    On this song I don't think it's about cheating think about it he says "Hoping for the best just hoping nothing happens
    A thousand clever lines unread on clever napkins
    I will never ask if you don't ever tell me
    I know you well enough to know you never loved me" I think he liked her but she liked someone else then at the end "I just need to keep you in mind as something larger than life" so he is trying to get over her :)

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 17th 2008 !⃝

    The song is about the the singer being cheated on by his girlfriend with his best friend.. He wrote this song to his girlfriend and there's no I in team to his friend who happens to be the lead singer of Brand New. The brand new song seventy times 7 also has to do with it.. The lyrics "And is that what you call tact? You're as subtle as a brick in the small of my back. So let's end this call, and end this conversation."

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 20th 2008 !⃝

    The writer of this song is talking about how a girl has been leading him on. She's been acting like she loves him, only for her own fun. Like she thinks it's a game to make him suffer. "and will you tell all you're friends you've got your gun to my head?" means he is asking if she's going to torture him even more by telling all of her friends how she did him. He can't help loving her, even though she is just playing with him.

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 15th 2007 !⃝

    I think the girl leads the guy on that she likes him and wants to be with him. He then finds out that she is with other guys and is jealous. "I stay wrecked and jealous for this" He figures out that she never actually loved him although he loves her. He thinks that he should've never thought it was possible for them to be together "I just need to keep you in mind as something larger than life." Which means he has to keep in mind that it would be too good to be true if she actually loved him back.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 12th 2007 !⃝

    I don't even care what you guys think. I love this song. So suck it. "I will never ask if you don't ever tell me, I know you well enough to know you never loved me"

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 8th 2007 !⃝

    I'm open to the whole cheating thing associated with this song but I do think there is a few meanings to this song.
    I can see why so many people are associating cheating to this, the lyrics such as:
    "Your lipstick, his collar.. don't bother Angel,I know exactly what goes on"
    makes a blatant point that cheating is going on and the writer,who is involved with this girl knows.
    However I think that this song tells the story of a couple who have previously gone out and due to their fiery arguments about petty situations has caused their previous relationship to breakdown. However,in my opinion, the couple might have stayed on good terms which has re-ignited feelings for each other which in turn may have resulted in a affair/cheating of some sort. However the boy,who has got himself involved with this girl again emotionally,does not know where he stands with this girl cause she still has a "Secret" tender and loving realtionship with this boy, but is also seeing other boys which is killing him inside. And the lyric :
    "Why can't I feel anything
    from anyone other than you?" expresses the boy's feelings, as he wants to feel for others but cannot, as she is always on his mind.
    The lyric "And will you tell all your friends
    you've got your gun to my head " suggests that the girl may possibly use the cover up story that consists of a lie about stringing the secret boy along,and that they are just close. However the boy has realized this and "Gun to my head" relates to the relationships stability,stating that it could end at anytime,just like a life can end by pressing the trigger of a gun aimed at the head.

    Also I think that "I will never ask,if you don't ever tell me" suggests that they couple may never have a serious upfront relationship because the girl lacks in three words that the boy is hanging on for,"I love you". This,along with the revaltion expressed in the opening lines,suggests that due to the goings on within the relationship and how emotionally attached this boy is to the girl, that this will continue for a while until someone turns up and changes his life forever.

  18. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 11th 2007 !⃝

    this song is about a guy being cheated on. he starts talking about how he would rather kill himself then lose her so he is willing to pretend he dosnt know what she is doing as long as she won't bring it up because she is the only one he has ever fallen in love with. he knows she dosnt really care about him though.

    "Your lipstick, his collar.. don't bother Angel
    I know exactly what goes on "

    "well which would you prefer
    My finger on the trigger, or
    me face down, down across your floor"

    "And will you tell all your friends
    you've got your gun to my head "

    "I will never ask if you don't ever tell me
    I know you well enough to know you'll never love me "

    "Why can't I feel anything
    from anyone other than you?"

    "I stay wrecked and jealous for this,
    for this simple reason
    I just need to keep you in mind
    as something larger than life"

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