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Interpretations:Vestibule

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Yellin' vents The intelligence That my skeleton's between doors

This bit it not what it seems. Nearly all the words have meanings different than you'd think. Like most of you, I at first thought "yellin' vents" referred to yelling through an air vent, but it's a weird way to say that, isn't it? So I though about it some more and came to the conclusion that "vents" is a verb, not a noun. When you vent you let out your feelings about something. For this song we'll say it means "lets out". So yelling lets out the information (intelligence) that he is trapped in the vestibule. It using strange wording in typical TMBG fashion and also sounds cool because of it.

So the big question is: what is a vestibule? The word is the title of the song, and the place the narrator is trapped, so it's meaning is important. I would like to submit this lyric is straightforward only on the shallow literal level.

A vestibule has a literal and some broader metaphorical meanings, too, which means the song, whatever the writer intended, is gonna function on several levels, as much TMBG stuff does.

It's a small room or space that initially impedes, then ushers, you into a larger room or space, it is an area of waiting, a lobby, a foyer. There is also a religious meaning, in that a vestibule is part of a church.

Vestibule is also a medical term for several areas of the body which serve that waiting room function. For instance the vestibule of the ear, or the area of your mouth outside your teeth, a place in the heart, area external to the urethra (hm). These spaces may act as barriers to germs, and he specifically mentions being a germ collector, trapped in between the internal space, and the outside where the car is.

He also says his skeleton is trapped, a medical idea, but also skeletons when discussing politicians refer to the stuff a politician, say, a senator, might have done, that he's like to keep quiet, keep locked away? The narrator is a germy secret, locked up inside, a skeleton the senator can't let out. The narrator says it's accidental, but is it?

I agree with the poster below. Since he specifically mentions Senator Spector (R-PA), who is correctly identified below as the former chairman of Senate Judiciary Committee, and on the Homeland Security SubCte of Senate Appropriations, AND the narrator uses the word "intelligence" to mean "information about what someone is doing," this could be a swipe at this particular senator. Also, if the intelligence is about a germ collector, that could be about biological terrorism, or people supplying them "germs by the jar."

This could be more general, as well, about misdeeds in the sense of lobbying misbehavior. It's a stretch, but if we think of a vestibule as a fancy name for a lobby, the narrator could be a lobbyist. Sort of a pun (and TMBG never use puns, right?) in the sense that lobbyists got their name from advocates hanging around the lobby (vestibule) of the Willard Hotel waiting to approach one of the Presidents. Grover Cleveland? Teddy Roosevelt? I forget.

If this is as political as it sounds, it sounds kind of Flansburghy, doesn't it? But the dreamscape layers of suggested meaning sounds all Linnellish, and he is the singer.

In any case, interesting song. ~Christina Miller, January 2007

It's pretty straightforward, about a guy that gets trapped in a vestibule. Awesome song, though.

The only part I don't get, though, is the line "I am the germ collector; I'm getting paid for every jar." It doesn't really seem to fit in. Also, what's up with the mention of Senator Arlen Specter? I just checked Wikipedia, and the main distinguishing thing I could find about him was that he is the creator of some theory explaining how JFK was killed (the Single Bullet Theory), which seems a bit cryptic to put in the song. ~ magbatz

Arlen Specter was the head of the Judiciary Committee and was responsible for introducing a bill that would legalize warrantless wiretapping and protect those involved with the illegal wiretapping program from prosecution. I suppose this could have something to do with the intelligence that this guy vents. Or maybe it just rhymes with collector.

The other day, I learned that the part of your nasal cavity directly inside your nostrils (gold-digging country) is called the "vestibule." In its function as part of the immune system, the nose actually is a "germ collector." It doesn't have much to do with the rest of the song, but neither does that lyric.

I thought this song was about a guy leaving his apartment to meet Arlen Specter, who's right outside. However, he gets stuck in the vestibule, and ends up having to make his way through the air(or maybe smellin) vents to get out.

"I am the germ collector, I'm getting paid for every jar" is obviously code. The narrator is a spy or informant working for Arlen Specter, and the "germs" he collects are actually tidbits of information. When he gets enough information to work with, a "jar" so to speak, he contacts the senator and makes the drop. The narrator was sneaking out of one of those old victorian houses with some new info when he got trapped in the titular vestibule.

In government facilities, a vestibule is a small room between a non-classified and classified portion of the building. This is the room where security checks are done before allowing one to enter the secure area. It sounds like the guy in the song is a spy working for Arlen Specter. A "germ collecter", I suppose, would be someone who collects dirty government secrets. He entered the vestibule and attempted to hear a classified conversation on the other side through the vent. Perhaps he succeeded, perhaps not, but afterwards he realizes the door he used to enter the vestibule had closed and locked behind him. So he then starts yelling into the vent, hoping that someone will hear him and unlock the door. But he's still trapped inside when the song ends. When he says his "skeleton" is between doors, maybe this is Linnell's way of saying this guy is not found in time, and dies in the vestibule. Maybe someone can do more research on Arlen Specter and see if there was an actual historical event like this that happened. -Milhouse911

I think this song is about the anthrax letters of late 2001, during which time the Senate building was shut down. I don't know if Specter was selected just because of his name rhyming with "collector" (which is probably the case) or if there is some specific reference involving him, but I think the key line is that the singer is "the germ collector." He's either cleaning up the anthrax, or, more sinisterly, distributing it. If he's the anthrax-er, that would explain why the case has never been solved: the guy's skeleton is trapped in the vestibule. Tutt 15:27, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Senator Spector (R-PA) was the ranking member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health something something, which would have been looking into the policy surrounding how to handle the anthrax outbreaks. Although Senator Tom Daschle's was the office that received the letter identified as containing the same sourced anthrax as sent to ABC, which killed several people, when the Hart Building was closed down in November 2001, Senator Specter's offices were also closed down and cleaned, because they as well as some other rooms were contaminated by the Daschle letter.
I also think he's a "germ collector" to 1. suggest the anthrax without naming it directly, and to 2. suggest the fact it was "collected" by environmental remediators, and that 3.the vestibule-room is analogous to a vestibule-body-part where anthrax enters. I think the meanings are all there, not just one, including the idea of Arlen not being able to hear to suggest the wiretapping. Specter is a powerful senator, so if you are going to talk about something he's been up to, you can't just mention his name. I have no problem imagining the lyricist is referencing both the domestic spying and anthrax legislative consideration in Specter's committee work.~Christina Miller, August 2007

Although the lyrics seem straight forward--a guy tragically dies between two locked doors in a building, however, the references to Senator Arlen Spector remain unexplained. My twisted mind conjured up a haunting metaphor for a "vestibule." Senator Arlen Spector is the head of the committee on mine safety and has lead investigations into the tragic deaths of trapped miners in various situations. Could a "vestibule" perhaps be a metaphor in this song?

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