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/DonCallate 1d 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.