Personal tools
The TMBG Knowledge Base

Interpretations:Narrow Your Eyes

From This Might Be A Wiki

They're breaking up, but they're staying friends. hen you're in love, you have wide-eyes for the person, but they're narrowing them and going back to see each other as just friends. That's why they're able to 'race the the bottom of a glass' like drinking buddies. Beautiful. (perspixx)

A very straight break up song with none of the usual spins on the genre. An early example of Flans' post-Flood habit of trying to write more commercial songs. (Mr Tuck)


The relationship is over, and resentment and regret permeate the narrator, but he's given up. He remembers what they've been through and realizes it's hopeless.

It seems that, even as they try to simply resolve themselves to the fact that the relationship has failed, there is a tension that makes them want to compete with each other about it. This competition is certainly up to interpretation. It could be a literal contest of alcohol consumption or it could be a contest to see who can get "to the bottom of a glass" of their "toast" to the fact that the relationship is a hopeless failure. In other words, a contest to see who can 'get over it' (or at least put up the best facade of having gotten over it) first.

I don't really think its about competition. I think the 'race to the bottom of the glass' is more of an idea of trying to forgive and forget, get over each other as quick as possible. Not really a race between each other, just more of a personal race against one's self. Just my opinion

I love the accordion solo in this song!

I see the 'race to the bottom' line as: their relationship has gotten so crooked that even the most trivial things are points of contention. In response to Mr Tuck, I don't see songs like this as an attempt by Flans to write more commercial hits, but as exercises in post-irony, efforts to make the emotional connection more straightforward, and attempts to insert at least a few entries into the 'songwriter's songs' canon, the kind of thing Elvis Costello has been trying to do over the last third of his career. Such efforts might seem to us Giants fans be inappropriate for the 'TMBG' concept, but apparently at least one half of TMBG itself seems to disagree. Certainly EC has been scorned for going from being the Angry Young Man of London's punk/new wave movement to schmoozing with Burt Bacharach and writing orchestral mush for ballets. But he seems to be pursuing a dream of 'respectability' and communion with those he considers his fellow craftsmen. It's not hard to imagine Flans (a great pop talent and an admirer of Frank Sinatra) following the same kind of dream. Hence songs like this, Another First Kiss, and I Can't Hide From My Mind. --Nehushtan 22:03, 31 Mar 2006 (CST)

This song, to me, seems to be a song about a mutual breakup. Each line clearly shows that they both realize that their relationship can never work and don't even want to bother trying: "I don't want to change your mind, I don't want to think about your mind...You don't want to understand....I just can't bear to tell you some lies". As for the 'race to the bottom of a glass' line it seems to be more playful and tongue-in-cheek than a real contest as nehushtan suggests. They simply don't see the point in feeling bad about the relationship any more and want to forget. --Hitako47

The "race" to the bottom of the glass might not imply any competition. It might just mean "get drunk fast", because this is awkward and painful.

Retrieved from "http://tmbw.net/wiki/Interpretations:Narrow_Your_Eyes"