Song Against Sex Lyrics

Performed by Neutral Milk Hotel

And the first one tore a picture
Of a dead and hanging man
Who was kissing foreign fishes
That flew right out from this hands
And when I put my arms around him
I felt the blushing blood run through my cheeks
And an eeriness surrounded when his tongue began to speak
And he said...Oh boy you are so pretty
Enough to wrap tight in rice-paper string...
And when I finally kissed him the whole world began to ring
Lost like a bell that's tipping over
With two cracks along both sides
And I knew the world was over so I took a look outside
And watched the fires that were reaching
Up to the weather vane and the tops of trees
And the waiting scene and the sunday dream
They're all waiting here for me

Deli markets with their flower stands
Pretty girls and the burning men
Hanging out on the hooks next to the window displays
And I took out my tongue twice removed from my face
Across a bridge and across the mountains
Threw a nickel in the fountain
To save my soul from all these troubled times
And all the drugs that I don't have the guts to take
To soothe my mind so I'm always sober
Always aching, always heading towards
Mass suicide, occult figurines
And wasted gas-station attendants
Attending to their jobs
And a nice drive in the country
Finds a nice cliff to drop off
Oh when this life just gets so grating
All the grittiness of life
But don't take those pills your boyfriend gave you
You're too wonderful to die

And the last one tore a picture
From the pornographic page
But all the pleasure points attacking
All the looks of love were staged
And its a lie that you've been given
It just hurts you everyday
So why should I lay here naked
When its just too far away
From anything we could call loving
Any love worth living for
So I'll sleep out in the gutter
You can sleep here on the floor
And when I wake up in the morning
I won't forget to lock the door
Because with a match that's mean and some gasoline
You won't see me anymore

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the person under me | Reviewer: Anonymous | 6/18/10

most important human endeavors are NOT morally relative, and also trying to make these lyrics sound relativistic is just wishful thinking on your part

in reality, and i'm basing this off of an interview i read of jeff's, it seems like this song is definitely of a moral position saying that sex is something important. he specifically says the song is about people who don't give a fuck what they put their dick into.

and i agree with him that other forms of sex are a waste of time. i dont buy this "sex is a holy sacred spiritually bonding act" bullshit, but i believe there is nothing special about sex or any real reason to have sex if you don't love or at least have a strong connection with the other person

i think that's what he's saying here, but of course the lyrics are pretty abstract and up for interpretation.

p.s. he named the song "song against sex". using my powers of reasoning, it seems to follow that this song is probably against something (maybe sex?)

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b | Reviewer: Anonymous | 5/20/10

one thing; this musician is just as oversexed as any other one, maybe moreso. in fact, he is pretty obsessive with sex. his images about it can be pretty, sacred ('from above you/how i sank into you soul') or base, primal ('smelling of semen all under the garden was all you were needing when you still believed in me') but all put across thru images that seem to awaken memories and emotions in most listeners.

there seems to be a great disconnect from any judgment of sex that jeff describes in his songs. they just are; most people experience all forms. loving, spiritual, horny, explosive, beautiful, debasing and desperate.

sex is not always supposed to be a 'holy, bonding' act. it is an act that means whatever to whomever is having it, whenever. beautiful, strong women have desperate, sad, regrettable sex for emotional release just as prostitutes have transcendent sex full of loving emotions.

we all do. i think its overly simplifying the human condition, especially at the apexes and nadirs of its being, to say sex should be just one thing and that the other forms are wrong. it's much deeper than that, and i think this song is much deeper than that as well.

sex in nmh's songs is always painted in abstracts -- sometimes beautiful, sometimes in words that repulse -- because like most important human endeavors, the morality behind it is totally relative.

describing such an all-enveloping human act of emotion in simple moralistic terms sells humanity short of its complexity and layers. applying that clear-cut moral code to these lyrics, i think, sells them short as well; tossing off all the complexity of the words which makes them so powerful in the first place.

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Song against sex... | Reviewer: Emily | 12/11/09

I just love this song. It's really a gem in this album. The whole album is amazing but this song in particular speaks to me. I agree with the previous reviewer. I'm tired of people who don't love each other throwing their bodily fluids at each other. Sex is supposed to be sacred, holy, the bonding of two bodies and spirits, and the people of today have made it into something dirty and wrong.

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SONG AGAINST SEX!! | Reviewer: Anonymous | 8/11/09

This is one badass song.
I, too, am disgusted with the sick and crass concept of pretending to love someone to just have sex with them. To the point of burning myself alive I guess, like Jeff here. Seems like a common concept in his songs; different scenarios of suicide. Burning himself alive, walking in front of busses, jumping off cliffs, falling from burning buildings, getting buried alive, etc.
Pretty awesome song. I like the way his frustration about the situation just escalates into elaborate metaphors and scenarios.

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