r/Pinback • u/barrachmedosama • 1d ago
How do you interpret the lyrics?
I feel like Pinback is a pretty fantastic experience when it comes to interpreting lyrics. Some songs are literal (Walters, ect.) and some are pretty nonsensical (49531 doesn’t mean anything, it just fits nicely).
It leaves every other song in this perfect grey zone where you can kind of pick and choose. If some lyrics don’t fit your personal understanding, you can just ignore them. If you want to attach meaning to others, go ahead. Nothing is stopping you.
Hell, some songs I’ll just change the lyrics. Who’s to say in Glide, he didn’t say “Dreams move country” instead of “Dreams won’t come true”? I like my interpretation better. It’s more hopeful. And you know these captioning services can be unreliable.
That’s one of the reasons Pinback is my favorite band. I can tailor each song to be comforting, and still feel like it’s the correct version.
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u/memattp 1d ago
I've always been interested in all the mentions of water in their songs. Even see turns into sea.
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u/silversun_survive 9h ago
Never really noticed that before but you’re right. Maybe chalk it up to them being from southern CA and seeing a lot of water nearly haha
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u/DonCallate 16h ago
They leave a lot of little easter eggs in their lyrics. One example is from "Sherman" which is one of my favorites by them. "You're Born Against, you're ex-Infest" is a reference to two bands who were prominent in the 1990s hardcore punk scene. The "ex-Infest" part is also a wink at show flyers from the '90s hardcore punk scene which would always include a pedigree of each band and their members by saying they were "ex-(so and so)" band.
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u/FunAstronomer9985 1d ago
Pinback are one of those bands that like to write about being in a band, which i think is cool, the ways they put it. Fav lyrics from them go to bloods on fire though, hands down
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u/Olelander 17h ago
Bloods on Fire is the one song that I thought of with OP’s prompt because it’s the one song that I really feel has a specific meaning, lyrically (death or loss of a friend) - amazing lyrics. The last verse:chorus gives me chills.
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u/PossibleBasil 1d ago
I do think most if not all their songs have deep and personal meanings to both Rob and Zach but are deliberately written in such a way to leave it up to the listener's interpretation. A lot of their songs are these profound poignant spotlights on concepts that are simple and mundane on the surface but evoke deeper emotions. Penelope is about a goldfish but also has a deeper meaning about wanting to protect something fragile and innocent from suffering and death. Hurley is about a snowball fight but also how everything is so grand and important and epic when you are seeing the world through a child's eyes. A lot of Pinback songs make me think about suicide, drug addiction, depression, loneliness, and the absence of the past, somehow no matter what I always end up relating their songs to most of these topics, and not even in a hopeless or sad way, they're beautiful and almost always fill me with hope and make me feel validated. At the end of the day it's up to the listener and that's what makes them the most magical band to ever exist.