Album: Give Up (2003)

Charted: 82

License This Song 

• I've got a cupboard with cans of food
  Filtered water and pictures of you
  And I'm not coming out until this is all over
  
  And I'm looking through the glass
  Where the light bends at the cracks
  And I'm screaming at the top of my lungs
  Pretending the echoes belong to someone
  Someone I used to know
  
  And we become
  Silhouettes when our bodies finally go
  
  I wanted to walk through the empty streets
  And feel something constant under my feet
  But all the news reports
  Recommended that I stay in doors
  
  Because the air outside will make
  Our cells divide at an alarming rate
  Until our shelves simply cannot hold
  All our insides in
  And that's when we'll explode
  And it won't be a pretty sight
  
  And we'll become
  Silhouettes when our bodies finally go
  And we'll become
  Silhoutettes when our bodies finally go
  And we'll become
  Silhouettes when our bodies finally go
  And well become
  Silhouettes when our bodies finally go
  
  And we'll become
  And we'll become
  And we'll become
  And we'll become Writer/s: Benjamin D Gibbard, Jimmy Tamborello
  Publisher: Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
  Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 10

• Maxx from Fort Atkinson, Withey come up with such original lyrics.. I've never really heard a band like this one before.. I think that's what makes me love them.. Especially this song :]
• Lisa from Phoenix, AzThe line "the air outside will make our cells divide at an alarming rate" is a reference to cancer caused by radiation exposure, like the leukemia that developed in survivors of the atomic bomb drops in Japan.
• Beth from Howard Lake, Mnmy only real thing is that the song itself at the top of the page is the version from the shins, but still giving credit to the postal service. i like both versions, but i think it would be beter publicity for the shins if they were recognized properly for their cover of this song.
• Nick from Raleigh, Ncyeah this song is about the nuclear holocaust/atomic bomb.
• Daniel from Philadelphia, PaI agree with Elise, about what the silhouettes are-they are markings left by a bomb after a explosion where a person's body was. Just a quick note about "dividing at an alarming rate:" Gibbard is talking about nuclear fission. The power of a nuclear bomb is a chain reaction of splitting atoms into smaller atoms.
• Sada from Cleveland, OhI would agree that this song is about nuclear holocaust. Besides the lyrics, the cover of the "We Will Become Silhouettes" single shows a cartoon-like drawing of a man holding a bouquet of wilting flowers in his had, and he is fading from existance. The faint shadows of other people are visable. The scene is a city street covered in snow with snow falling, which to me implies nuclear winter.
• Amy from Philly, PaThe Shins did a cover of this song. Very different, but pretty good.
• Elise from Holland, NjIt's true that it is about a nuclear blast, but you have the silhouette part all wrong. The light is so intense from the bomb that it burns the surface of buildings, and if there is a person in front of the building, it will leave behind a permanent shadow of the person.
• Ashley from Naples , Flwell, it's "our cells divide" not ourselves, but anyway...
  
  I personally prefer The Shins cover of this song to the origional, but whatever.
• Bill from Madison, WiThe song is really about a nuclear holocaust. The lyrics "i've got a cubboard with cans of food
  
  filtered water and pictures of you" descibe him stocking up food for a nuclear winter. the line "we will become silhouettes describes what people look like as the big flash from a bomb goes off.
  
  "because the air outside will make
  
  ourselves divide at an alarming rate
  
  until our shells simply cannot hold
  
  all our insides in,
  
  and thats when we'll explode."
  
  descibes the effects of radiation from the bombs.
  
  

More Songfacts:

Live ForeverOasis

The Oasis song "Live Forever" was written in response to "I Hate Myself And I Want To Die" by Nirvana. "Kids don't need to hear that nonsense," said Noel Gallagher.

Lady MarmaladeLabelle

"Lady Marmalade" is the only song to hit #1 twice in both the UK and US.

Let's DanceDavid Bowie

David Bowie's "Let's Dance" is about more than just dancing. It's about dishonesty, particularly when we mask our true feelings.

Do You Believe In Love?Huey Lewis & the News

The first Huey Lewis & the News hit, "Do You Believe In Love?," is a cover of a song Mutt Lange wrote three years earlier called "We Both Believe In Love."

Station to StationDavid Bowie

David Bowie's "Station to Station" is over 10 minutes long. Bowie was doing a lot of drugs at the time and later said, "I have only flashes of making it."

RespectAretha Franklin

Props to Aretha Franklin: her song "Respect" introduced the term "propers" as a sign of proper respect.

Editor's Picks

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Daniel LanoisSongwriter Interviews

Daniel Lanois on his album Heavy Sun, and the inside stories of songs he produced for U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."

Songs Discussed in MoviesSong Writing

Bridesmaids, Reservoir Dogs, Willy Wonka - just a few of the flicks where characters discuss specific songs, sometimes as a prelude to murder.

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.