Interpretations:Memo To Human Resources

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I always thought this song was, quite obviously, about a guy fed up with life about to commit suicide. Well, that's putting it simply. He's alone, depressed, and in denial. "Things like 'Then the people came to talk me down'" can be obvious references to him about to throw his body off a building. "I'm searching for some disbelief that I can still suspend" would be representative of his being fed up with trying to make his existence more interesting than it actually is.

Interesting point: The Johns said that they wanted the title to be 'I'm Down' but decided against it as it was already the name of a Beatles song. But even the title 'Memo To Human Resources' can be seen to be about suicide, someone in human resources is, well, quite literally in charge of buying, selling and generally organizing human life and committing suicide is kind of trivializing the job of someone in Human Resources. --Timus

"Never mind the futhermore, the plea is self defence" is a reference to a line from two Monkees tracks on their Headquarters album - Zilch and No Time... unless the Monkees themselves were referring to something US popular culture (or common legal jargon) that I'm not aware of and which Flans is also referencing. ASL

"Nevermind the furthermore, the plea is self defense" is also a direct quote from the Rogers and Hammerstein musical "Oklahoma!" I know this because I performed in it at the same time that The Spine came out. The line is delivered by Old Man Carnes at the end of the play when Curly kills Jed or Jeb or Judd, I don't remember. Anyways, it's all right before he and his new wife are supposed to go on their honeymoon, so as soon as Curly says that it was in self defense, and attempts to eloquate more on the fact by saying "It was self defense, and furthermore..." when he is interrupted with the line in question....Just thought I would let everyone know.


Before readin Flansy's interp, I always thought it was about a guy at work who feels bad and needs everyone to leave him alone.

Flansy checks in with another song about white-collar inertia and depression. Woo!

From the title I would guess this is another Flansburgh song at least partially dealing with Aversion To Work. Though I can't discern a real plot, the major themes seem to be alienation and a kind of inarticulable sorrow, maybe with some suicidal intimations in the chorus there. The stalled countdown behind the verses I particularly like -- it seems to suggest that the narrator is waiting for something important to happen, but he keeps getting mired and never finds any satisfaction. He only gets tripped up and tangled in "issues much too small to force," and eventually decides that the best, safest course is to sit by himself in the back and let it all wash over him ("I'm searching for some disbelief..."). Gloriously, hummably dark, in the best TMBG tradition. -- Octofish

I think this song is about a man who was just dumped and tries to confront the situation using the white-collar tactics he learned at work ("taking stock", "mental notes"). At the start the narrator is lying in bed trying to figure out what just happened, while his girlfriend (the "disinvited guest") rifles thru his bathroom packing up her things. The chorus is obviously about suicide and therapy. He gets well enough to start driving to work, but breaks down again in his car.

I believe this song is about a guy that was driving drunk and crashed through the wall of a house where some people were having a party.

Flans said, in introducing the song at the Columbus, OH, concert that it is about a guy you work with who really doesn't like you. - amyloo

Sounds to be like a song sung by the Melvin Waddams character from "Office Space". The events don't literally fit, but the overall tone seems dead-on to me.

I think the narrator must be talking directly to human resources or recalling his talk to them, because of the insincere, falsely cheery language one would use when speaking to a coworker ("I'll be in the back, and I don't need the help / I'm good here in the back / I'm good all by myself")

i don't know if this was intended by flansburgh, but i find it interesting to interpret "i'm down" in the chorus as having a sort of double meaning. the most obvious interpretation is that the narrator is down with what's going on - that is, he doesn't need any advice because he's already going along with the company plan, he's in agreement with everyone about how things should be happening. however, "i'm down" could also be meant in the sense of "i'm hit! i'm going down! i'm down! man down!" in which case advice would be a weapon that human resources uses to take out employees. they don't need to give him advice again, because they already crushed his will - he's down for the count.

similarly, of course, "talking somebody down" could mean just talking through a run-down of the plan with them, or it could mean talking down to somebody and putting them in their place.

I believe the song is about a man who feels driven to commit suicide, but can't get up the nerve to actually go through with it. That much, at least, seems plain from the "5, 4, 3, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2" in the background. He's counting down to the jump, but keeps stalling.

The chorus seems to refer to his therapy. He's being counseled not to commit suicide--in other words, they're talking him down off the building, either literal or metaphorical. But he doesn't need their advice, because he's not going to go through with it. Of course, there's another double meaning here: "I'm down" can mean either that he's no longer on the ledge, or that he's depressed.

From the first time I heard this song I thought it was about suicide.

The first verse sounds like the narrator at work, trying to get away from his coworkers and convincing them he'll be fine on his own, just so they'll leave him be. ("I'm good here in the back, I'm good all by myself"). From "I'm busy..." to "...the plot" I start to get really sad "vibes". It's as if he's sitting back, reflecting on all of the bad things he felt he's done, and is ready to just accept defeat.

"I stuck around too long feeling sorry for myself" - Reletively self-explanitory, in terms of the suicide interpretation. Sort of "I've moped about long enough, time to end it". "A disinvited guest rifles through the bathroom shelf." Again, referring to himself as a "disinvited guest", having already attempted suicide, to no avail. "I'm searching for some disbelief that I can still suspend/But nevermind the furthermore, the plea is self-defense again". Perhaps last minute second-guessing of his decision.

The chorus, as already mentioned, gives me the visual of the narrator on a ledge about to jump, with everyone clamoring about, trying to give advice and stop him from doing so. "But I don't need advice, I'm down" seems to say "it's too late for advice". The "5 4 3 2 2 2 2 2", again as previously mentioned, seems to, again, show some hesitation on the narrator's part.

The next verse ("Later in my car...") feels like a sort of background story, while through the whole thing I only envision this man, standing on a ledge, thinking this all through. This verse sounds like the reasoning behind his decision to end his life: a bad breakup, trying to convince himself and "you" that he's okay with the situation though "I'd be shouting out to you but I was mighty hoarse/Talk you through the finer points and issues much too small to force" is his final confession of sorts. "No, I'm not okay with it all, but I couldn't convince you to stay. I could talk and reason with you for hours, and would, but I know its useless; you're leaving me."

Obviously, the chorus repeats, and the final "I'm down" is almost mobidly open to interpretation. Either he is echoing a "depressed" meaning of "down", or, again as mentioned, a literal physical "down" as in off the ledge. Perhaps it's a morbid spin on the song, but it was my first thought upon listening/crying to it.

I've always assumed this song was a suicide note (or, more specifically, a suicide memo). Just a little more evidence to add to this interp:
In the second half of the first verse, the singer could be "rilfl[ing] through the bathroom shelf" looking for some sleeping pills (or possibly 47 Advil). Later, when he says "The plea is self-defence," he may be making a morbid joke that he's killing himself in self-defence. I'm not certain, but I think that there may be a version of this joke in the graveyard scene of Hamlet. "Later in my car" could also be describing a means of commiting suicide: running a tube from the tailpipe of a car in through the window and leaving the car running (like in The Client or Death of a Salesman). He is "mighty hoarse" because he's asphyxiating.
Wow. That all is really depressing. I hope I haven't brough anybody down to much with this interp. Ultimately, I think the song is anti-suicide, in the style of Blink 182's "Adam's Song" or Third Eye Blind's "Jumper." Tutt 17:55, 18 Oct 2005 (EDT)MasterChivo

I think this song is about how a relationship ended up (unsuccessfully) and having to realize that there is nothing you can do about it, even if you find out what went wrong.

The lines "I'm busy taking stock of all the things that I've forgot And making mental notes of just exactly where I lost the plot" I think are about looking back on the relationship and figuring out what you did wrong, and the exact point in time that showed that it was finished.

The lines "I stuck around too long feeling sorry for myself A disinvited guest rifles through the bathroom shelf" I think mean that you are trying to find one last shred of hope that it may work out, but the other person has clearly moved on. Hence, the disinvited guest may refer to your former partner's new partner.

Finally, I think the lines "And I'd be shouting out to you but I was mighty hoarse Talk you through the finer points and issues much too small to force" means that you would still like to talk things out, even though you've brought the same points up over and over again, even to the point of insigificant things that you know won't help matters.

I think this is more about a guy trying to believe he's fine when he isn't. He talks about looking for some disbelief to still suspend, and about people talking him down. It sounds like a failed attempt at optimism to me.

I think of this song as two stories going on at once, both telling how this man deals with things. when he breaks up with his girlfriend, he divides into two entities. Man1 is the logical entity and man2 is the emotional entity. "I'll be in the back/and i don't need the help" seems to say that man2(emotion) simply wants everyone to leave him alone. But man1(logic), unable to understand WHY he wants everyone to leave him alone, comes to the conclusion that he's "Busy taking stock of all the things that (he's) forgot". Then man1 comes to another conclusion of why he is so unhappy, which is that he's "Feeling sorry for (him)self".

Then the stage changes and man2 is starting to get into a pit of self-loathing eventually hating himself calling himself a "disinvited guest". He is still in the shock of being dumped, so he is "searching for some disbelief that (he) can still suspend", compared to the disbelief of being dumped.

Later on, he becomes less shocked, saying that "He can sit at what (his girlfriend) said". man1 tries to say that he's good with what his girlfriend said, hes gotten over it. but deep down his emotions just want to shout feelings to his girlfriend,about how he feels (the finer points). However, man1 tells him that his feelings are "much to small to force", stopping him and making him "hoarse".

This song is not in chronological order, so the chorus is the culmination of everything. He is on the ledge and his emotions have won over his logical brain. the people come to him, trying to talk him down, including his girlfriend. then the story splits in two again. Man1 hears his girlfriends advice, and calms down. Man2 than takes over, marked by the repition of the people coming to talk him down. Man2 doesn't listen, feeling that he doesn't need advice any longer. The phrase "i'm down" fits in both stories. Man1 has come down, convinced by his girlfriends advice. Man2 has come down also, but not in such a pleasant way, for he has jumped of the ledge to come down.

This is one of those Giants songs I take quite literally. I believe that it is a memo written by an employee to Human Resources. This employee has been working in the same company, and most probably the same job, for many years, and he's stuck in a rut. He's become increasingly frustrated, and depressed, until, probably the day before the song begins, there was some sort of blow-up: maybe he attacked or shouted some abuse at his manager, or something, and HR have stepped in and asked him to explain himself. This song is the memo he writes them.

First of all, he's talking about how he's going to retire to the 'back' - maybe a recreation room, or something - for a while to recuperate. He wants to assure them that he's okay there by himself, as he recovers from the incident, and he accepts what the HR people said to him.

Then, as he relates to them what he's been doing there in the back by himself, he becomes more reflective: he starts to contemplate how he got into that situation, how he 'lost the plot' of his pervious career ambitions. He feels as though he's being undervalued by the organisation; HE is the 'disinvited guest', not some putative girlfriend, and he's rifling through the bathroom shelf partly because he has nothing better to do, and it's also a metaphor for the kind of unwarranted intrusion he feels he's making into the organisation.

Then, he starts to become angry: in his disillusionment he makes reference to many past instances of frustration (he can barely even suspend his disbelief any more at the way the organisation is being run), and the quoted 'nevermind the furthermore...' line is a rare glimpse of self-knowledge for him, as he alludes to the fact that this isn't the first time he's claimed that others were responsible for his poor behaviour (he's pled self-defence before).

"Then the people came to talk me down" relates what happened immediately after the blow-up incident; the 'people', from HR, tried to reason with him, and advise him, but as at the start of the song, in his complacency he can't bring himself to accept their help. The conclusion 'I'm down' does have a double-meaning, yes: the one he expects HR to want to hear is that it's all right, they've convinced him, but what he really means is that in spite of what he's tried to tell them, he remains depressed.

Then, in his car on the way home, he started to think about what they said more deeply. His first reaction is as defensive as before - he wants to convince them that he accepts what they said to him - but then the anger returns; he says he would have vented his frustration at the organisation, but he frankly couldn't be bothered, and had no confidence that anything would be done about his complaints, which in any case only amounted to a large number of minor irritations of no consequence on their own, but crippling to his morale when coming, as they did, all together.

Then the chorus is repeated, and its interpretation remains the same as the above except This repetition emphasises the lack of moral or emotional progress he has made from this experience, and despite his the venting of his frustrations, nothing will change.


It's about how soul-smothering work is[edit]

When I first listened to this song, it didn't really connect with me. THEN I started working at a Dick's Sporting Goods store selling shoes, and when I heard it again, it was like, "THIS IS ME!"

Customer service is like being a mindless slave to the whims of your customers and the strict codes of conduct of the corporation, add on the pressure of annoying coworkers and you've got a whimsical salad of torture. Sometimes I just want everyone to go away, and I feel like I might snap any minute. My favorite thing at work is sitting in the back processing freight. I don't want anyone around to bother me. I'm good in the back. I don't need help. I just want to be alone with boxes full of shoes and security tags.

And of course the line, "I'm down" really rings true at those moments. I don't need anyone to talk to me or give me advice... I'm down. =[ It's a double meaning, too. I'm down= "depressed", and I'm down="I submit". However much I want to go crazy and quit my job and yell at customers and shove my co-workers... I won't. I'm okay, I'm fine, I'm good, I'm down... I obey your corporate rules and I'll be your zombie.

As for the plot of the song, I think it's about someone who actually did go crazy at work, he was standing on the ledge of a building about to jump (metaphorically or literally), and human resources ("the people") stepped in and gave him some advice, i.e. gave him a stern talking to and put him back in his place. And later in the car, he accepted what they said. But jumping is just a metaphor for calling your boss an idiot to his face, throwing a shoe at a whiny customer, wearing a non-standard uniform, not selling that warantee plan they force everyone to push. But the countdown never reaches 1... you never actually break the rules, or quit your job, or jump off the ledge. You just get down and accept everything management pushes on you.

Thus, it's a song about a guy who hates work and has no soul left. Like how Flansy said it's about that guy at work who doesn't like you. It's basically that.


Anyone else think it isn't a coincidence that this comes right before "Wearing a Raincoat"? I think that the two songs are related; they are about the same person, and this song is about how the person feels, and the other is about the motions the person goes through. Something like that I guess.

  • Don't let all of the dicks in that Dick store keep you down ChaosS (talk) 16:57, 12 September 2013 (EDT)

Part 2 of The Spine

Sitting in the bed of the pickup truck, The Skullivan sings about how he reached this point so far. Basically he wasn't getting much work done, so he and his girlfriend, The Spine, should go on a trip together. The Spine is driving the truck, and thus is out of earshot of The Skullivan.

Singers: The Skullivan

--MidoFS (talk) 08:59, 1 June 2018 (EDT)

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