DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL SONG MEANINGS

Most of these are interpretations and not definitely what the song represents. If you have any ideas, please mail me.

Brilliant Dance

This song's.. this song's about things getting screwed up.
"And the plaster dented from your fist in the hall where you had your first kiss reminds you that the memories will fade."
I think this part is showing where the upset lover punches the wall in the hallway at the memories, in painful realisation so to speak when the memories flood back. I've done this myself in a pretty much identical situation...

The Best Deceptions

This is about a really bad summer.
A song about feeling bad and feeling better.

I know this song is about a girlfriend cheating on you and not telling you about it, but I relate it to my so called best friend. She went behind my back and tried to go out with the guy I was being set up with. I found out about it from a friend. I didn't really like him that much, and I wouldn't have really cared except that she did it behind my back. She didn't tell me until she was already going out w/ him. She said that she was sorry, but it was too late in my mind. I eventually forgave her, but I'll never think of her the same way again. This song really shows how it feels to be betrayed by someone you love and trust. "I'm waiting for blood to flow to my fingers, I'll be all right when my hands get warm." It's like when you first hear it, you're so shocked you don't even know what to do. You feel like you never want to talk to them again, and you're not interested in hearing their excuses or apologies, you just hate them.

Standard Lines

"I hope that you're happy, you really deserve it (no you don't!)"

it wasn't till yesterday until the meaning of this song finally hit me. to me, it's about a relationship that has ended with "friendship." one person says that they still want to be friends and still wants to talk to the other person. but the other person knows that it will just be out of common decency and not because they want to. hence the "i've been meaning to call you, I've just been so busy."

Swiss Army Romance

"I'd like to thank all of you for being here and standing up like you are. That's really nice of you guys. But, um, I'd really like to thank all you guys who came out to the little venue shows. This song is for you. It's an old song called Swiss Army Romance." -Chris

my take on it is that it was a first romance gone bad. probably in the sense that whoever this song is written to has changed, sold out. i hate saying that but anyway, he sings it like he is so bitter about it and then in the last verse the tempo changes to a more upbeat one and he looks and hopes for the future, whereas before he was just slanderizing the blue jean girl. Besides the obvious fake history part, I see her as having "sold out" when he talks about seeing her undone. I think he means without her makeup and fake friends and history that she is actually a cool girl.

Ender Will Save Us All

"Okay, here's how that came about. First of all, my middle name is Ender, so when I saw the book I was like "Wait a minute!" And I got way into that book and I shared it with a friend, and then that song was actually a Vacant Andy's song just called "Ender," and it was written out of the fact that the friend and I kinda shared that book together and got a lot out of it, and we read the whole series of four together. Then we sorta had a falling out as friends, and talking about the book again brought us back to being friends again. So I had written the song when we weren't getting along so well. And I wanted to be able to get along with that person again, and I didn't have a title, but then after we started getting along again we started talking about the book again and I was like "let's just call this Ender." But it was a Vacant Andy's song and it was a rock song and it was a HEAVY song. And so when I re-recorded it, I just called it "Ender Will Save Us All." It had a way of saving our friendship. " - Chris

yes this song is about the book "ender's game." Chris said this in an interview after he wrote it when he was still with Further Seems Forever. Chris loved the book, he got his one friend into reading the book too and they both then loved it. Later on, Chris and his friend got into a fight and wouldn't talk to each other, but he knew that this book was something that they can both relate too, so it would save their friendship hence 'Ender Will Save Us All'

Turpentine Chaser

I think this song probably has the most unclear meaning of all of them so I will try to break it down..."This paint has been tasting of lead and their chips will fall as they may, but it is not just my finish that is peeling, and it is not alone fleeing these walls."...something that was good is now going bad, and because of that everything else in his life is going bad too..."Well sooner or later this cold its going to break, so our hands will be warm again, but all I want is not to need you now.
And sooner or later this code its gonna break and our words will be heard again, but all I want are vows of silence now."..Eventually he will get through this, but right now he needs to figure out why it is happening and just be on his own...."This turpentine chaser's got kick and the rag that its soaked in is rich." well since turpentine is paint remover, its like he is trying to get rid of all the things that once caused him pleasure but are now causing him pain, but it is really hard..."The fumes aide the pace of my cleaning and as soon as I'm done I am gone. Well sooner or later this cold its going to break, so our hands will be warm again, but all I want is not to need you now."...he works fast because his problems are so big he can't let them sit, but once it is taken care of he is turning his back on everything even though he knows that one day it will probably be fixed. "The frightening facts we've been facing our backs to for so long now are begging for eyes to bear witness to lies and indifference.
Now we're saying aloud the things we've declared in our silence.
That new coats of paint will not reacquaint broken hearts to broken homes."...The problems he has tried to ignore for so long are finally coming out and there is nothing he can do about it. Finally he is acting on what he has always been thinking, and even if he resolves his problems, nothing will ever be the same...so this song is really about facing your fears regardless of the consequences

Hands Down

""This is a song about the greatest date I've ever been on, and it happened here [Hartford]. Can we turn on the disco ball for this one?"- Chris
"This song was about the best date I ever had. I always like ending the show on a happy note" boos from crowd "Don't worry, we'll be back for an encore."-Chris

Shirts & Gloves

Chris said that this song is about a really hard long distance relationship that eventually ended. But they shared something special...she used to make him watch Dawson's Creek every Wednesday. That is why he says "I think I miss you most on Wednesdays..." After they broke up, she would still make sure he was "up to date on TV night"
 

Rapid Hope Loss

"uh...this song is called rapid hope loss...its about..a...um..rapid hope loss?, heh"
"This song is about losing hope... fast."-Chris
 

Tonight I'll Take What I Can Get

"This song is about some of the fun things in life like drinking heavily...whoring around."-Chris
"We've been putting up some new songs on the website just for you guys and this is one of them. Its called 'Tonight I'll Take What I Can Get' and its about drinking excessively and...uh...kinda whoring around"-Chris

 

So Beautiful


Chris: "This is a song about drinking moon shine."
 

For Justin

I read that this song was written by Chris about his cousin that died on night in a car accident.

The ruined puzzle

You know, they say, "It's better to have love lost then to never have loved at all". I think that is some serious bull-shit. This song brings out the truth, "Does he ever get the girl?". No... This song isn't about a guy who lost a girl. Its about a guy who never had a girl, realises that he never will and puts it behind him. My first love never loved me the way I loved her, and I realised that if I wait for her, i'm missing out on alot.. so alot like him, I just put my memories of her in a book and moved on.

This bitter pill

To me, this song is about an argument or something bad that happened between two people or groups, one of which can't get over it, they've "run it in the ground." They use the incident as their means of why they're so upset with everything and refuse to let it go. The bitter pill represents the incident and the anger, frustration, and pain that coincides with it. Probably the most important line in the song is that one person's mouth, or words, are "void of all discretion," it cant separate or distinguish between things, meaning every time they hear about that person or see them, they think about the incident. Instead of the 2nd party. the speaker, being a person, they are a traumatic experience. The speaker is also upset, as he continues to "glare" at the person, but he doesn't seem to be dwelling on the incident like the other person who seems to want a pity party (the cap line). Instead of the Incident affecting him, it's the person. Perhaps that's the reason why he's so upset -- they can't move on. In the end they are both incredibly hurt, and since the line, "this feeling of despair is never wearing off," isn't clearly directed to either party, it's safe to say both are suffering.

For all we know, Chris might be the one dwelling. In the end it's basically a song about feeling incredibly hurt, betrayed, angry....just Bitter. It's a song about feeling like shit and it won't go away. It's an amazing song with so many meanings...

The sharp hit of new tears

I don't know if anyone alreayd knew this, But this is the song where Chris got the name DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL from, The line, "On the way home, this car hears my confessions" is the exact like he got it from. I love DBC, I want to have his baby!

The places u have come to fear the most

This song is about a girl that seems so perfect. she's beautiful and she's composed, but she's struggling on the inside but she hides it from everyone. deep inside she's hiding this secret, protecting it; but it's killing her inside. she's so lonely in being so hidden and closed off she can hardly handle it anymore. she's kept to herself to the point where she can no longer hide it and everyone knows her secret. it becomes obvious because she tries so hard to hide it.

The good fight

I think this girl was acting like she liked this guy. Then when he was preparing something special like a date or a poem, she sold him out in front of a lot of people. To her, he was just a joke. To him, she is missing out on his love. But in the end, he killed them all just like in Carrie! lol...

So impossible

I think this song is slightly more complicated than a good deal of Dashboard songs. Notice Chris's voice throughout the song has a cynical tone to it, and upon inspection of the lyrics, it is apparent that the interests portrayed by the girl are not held by the singer. (i.e. talking the big smack, playing the fool, latest fashions, etc.) However the singer plays along because he is a slave to relationships that are so impossible as stated but the title of the song. Then at the end he adds the bit about wading through all of your bad days just to end them with someone you care about.

Age six racer

I don't know exactly what Chris meant this song to mean.  its a beautiful song that reminds me of a relationship that formed in the beginning of the summer and ended in the fall. that summer was the most precious experience imaginable, but the long lonely winter has been torturous. this song makes me reminisce of that "sweet summer" and makes me sad. so, at least to me, this song is a nostalgic memory of a summer fling.

Screaming infidelities

This song is about moving on. It seems Chris just got done with a painful relationship that forced him away from the girl he really cares about. He can't sleep at night without her beside him. He rolls around, and he thinks about how she's moving on, and he isn't. He's being nostalgic with his relationship, and he finds many things to remind him. Her hair that's everywhere, well... she's got hair that's everywhere. He finds strands of her locks on the pillowcases and throughout the place, and every one he finds reminds him of this girl, and how she's off with some other guy right now. They're screaming infidelities. He thinks she's just doing it to get over him, that she's not happy, and that she's not enjoying herself. Well, I know one of them isn't enjoying themselves. Poor Chris here is heartbroken, but he'll get better in time.
"This song is about a girl I used to love. Well, I guess I still care for her but I also think she kind of sucks right now"-Chris

Saints and sailors

Its about not caring about yourself and not thinking anyone else cares "Waiting here with hopes the phone will ring and I'm thinking awful things and I'm pretty sure that few would notice. And this apartment is starving for an argument. Anything at all to break the silence. " Its as simple as that.... and Silence is some dark beast, and you pray that it is waiting for you to exhale so it can devour you whole in the darkness....but all it really is a reminder of how alone you truly are.

Remember about breathe

Chris is a god. His voice is absolutely incredible, this song especially, the passion that he puts into these, simple lyrics, *simple lyrics with overwhelming meaning to them* literally his voice sends chills up and down my entire body. His voice oh man, its and ecstasy in itself.
"I'm starting to panic"-- he's beginning to wonder, he knows this is what he wants, but he's not sure he's going to be enough...
"remember to breathe"-- he realizes that he can get through it, he sees this as an awesome opportunity to confirm his feelings, as long as he can keep his cool he will not falter...
"and the memory fades"--the memory, or the thought of what he anticipated for so long came through his mind as a reminder, left him thinking about it, and slowly drifted...
"we'll be okay"-- he knew it from the start they'd be alright, he had some doubts, but he *remembered to breathe* and it brought him back his assurance that it was going to be just fine..
this song touches me in a lot of different ways..
how I forget to breath and how my heart forgets to beat.
 

Living in your letters

its that feeling in your stomach. grade school love. I hate to sound cliché, but its just that flutter in your stomach. falling in love when you're ten. such a freaking good song.  come on, how many of us haven't poured over photographs?

Jamie

you cant really say that Chris does this better than rivers, even if you think it maybe sounds better, cause think of the theory behind it. to put it into perspective, lets say you absolutely love this one newish band (not dashboard) and on a tribute to dashboard, your favourite band plays a dash song. wow, its great, right? but its not Chris Carrabba singing his own song with his own emotions, so its simply just a cover. the same goes here. now, I love dc more than any band, but i'm a big weezer fan as well and I can say that as well as Chris might do this song, it will always first be a weezer song and therefore will always be done best when played by rivers.

Hands down

I don't really know what to say about this song... no about the EP. Just once try to live out what these songs express so clearly...

For you to notice

I love this song. it means so much to me. you know I'd never admit it normally but this song reminds me so much of someone that I have been in love with for so many years, and I'm still waiting for them to notice me. and no matter how hard I try, and no matter how many other people I date, my feelings always come back for this person and it's absolutely horrible. and every time that this person does notice me I always do something stupid or am with someone else. But that's ok. I guess this song just reminds me of him.

Drowning

I do think this song is about drinking, but the drinking isn't the focus, the focus is the fact that he feels he has to drink, because he's scared of something. I'm not going to pretend to know what's going on, but I love this song, and I know someone who saw dashboard in concert recently, and they were right in the front with their friend, and in between songs they asked Chris to play drowning, and he made kind of a face, and said he couldn't because that song made him upset. so whatever this song is about, it's definitely something deep.

Anyone anyone

"This song is so about me. I wonder about other people, their motives, etc. I have plans for the life I want to live but there's a big part I need somebody (bodies) to fill. I've got my eye on one, I'm not sure how to approach and I can't turn my interest off. She need not turn her life around to fit in my plans but we can compromise. Still I'm not sure about her, her motives, etc. Whatever she feels I can't keep dragging through my plans alone."-Chris

Again I go unnoticed

This was the first of Chris's songs that I heard, and after that listen I was hooked. The version I speak of is the original from "The Swiss Army Romance", the better of his 2 Lps, in my mind. I generally don't look for meaning in songs, but believe that this song is about a girl either playing with his head or someone that he slowly lost. "Close lipped/ another good night kiss/ was robbed of all it's passion". It sounds like someone who lost interest in him. Maybe that's just me.

A plain morning

its about missing the one you love and how everything you do no matter how much you don't want it to reminds you of them and how desperately you want to get back to them.