Interpretations:South Carolina

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Interpretation 1

Not a whole-song interpretation (it's pretty clear, isn't it?) but i thought I'd point out that I always though the line

"I was an I but now I am a V"

was extra-clever because it alluded to an IV, which he would obviously need in the hospital after the wreck... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Unknown Author (talk • contribs) 20:36, 20 May 2004

(I think this is a reference to the narrator having becoming bent in the accident - ASL)

Interpretation 2

I wanted to say that the Wheel had turned from an "O" into a "D" is because it got flattened on the top. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Unknown Author (talk • contribs) 17:32, 19 July 2004

Interpretation 3

I wanted to say that the Wheel had turned from an "O" into a "D" is because it got flattened on the top.

[ I think that part of this song is about suing the person who crashed into the bike riding narrator. The narrator wins the lawsuit and collects a large sum of money for the damage he sustained in the wreck. Though the bike was totally annihilated, the money won was more than enough to cover the costs of a new bike. However, the story is not told in real-time. It is being looked back on by the narrator who now has a butler (Garcon) and is dining upon snails and other expensive foods that he couldn't afford in the time before the crash.

"The other day my neighbor has a dented bike / Second day he called me from intensive care / Says he needs a picture of the dented bike / For the evidence of what a wreck he had"

While he is in the hospital, the narrator arranges a hearing of his lawsuit and thus he needs a photograph of the damages for the court case.

"Accident / Accident / Lift that fork, eat that snail / Garcon summoned, have a new cocktail / Lift that fork, eat that snail / Garcon summoned, have a new cocktail"

The events that made him rich still ehoes in the back of his mind as he enjoys his new lifestyle. Perhaps he feels a tad guilty? Maybe he didn't deserve that much money?

"If I had to do it all again, buy bicycle / If I had to do it, I would crash my bicycle / I'd crush my head / Collect the bread /Crash my bicycle"

He obviously rethinks his guilt and decides that if he had the choice, he would do it again if that meant he could have more money. He most likely was corrupted by the sudden increase of wealth, and has become very greedy. And that's my two cents (or more). -Brittany W.

Interpretation 4

I like how you get the _feeling_ of the wreck from the POV of the cyclist - the view from the ground: the destroyed bike, the red reflector bits, the policeman's chorus moving the crowd back; you really see yourself crushed on the ground.

It also kinda mimics the action in places, although this might have been accidental - there are lots of circular bits - the policeman's chorus goes round and round, over and over, like a wheel, like pedaling a bike. The section where the observations of the cyclist from the ground is punctuated by a line that's just "Wreck!" It's as if he's replaying the moment of impact over and over while looking at the scene.

Cool little song.

I think "Garcon" may not the name of the butler, it's how you signal the waiter in French, as in, "Waiter, where's my drink?" ~Christina Miller, September 2004

Interpretation 5

The singer gets into a bike accident, and he wins some money, but it doesn't satisfy him ("And I won some damages and they were punitive By which I mean the punishment was damaging")

So, he looks over his case, notices how easy all of the evidence for his case was, just some broken glass and twisted tires, and decides to do it again, to get more money. However, the second time, the police just ignore him, he lays there bleeding to death on the ground, and thinking about all of the stuff he will gain by getting into another accident, but the police officer just keeps repeating his refrain, and the singer dies there, on the ground, damned by his own greed. My own 2 cents. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.112.92.17 (talk • contribs) 02:47, 22 February 2005

Interpretation 6

As far as I know, garçon means boy in French, so it makes sense that he's talking to his waiter; he's telling the waiter/butler to summon up a new cocktail for him. It seems to me to be as if the narrator is telling the story to the listener in the restaurant or his home. The narrator is telling the story of how he got all his money. In the lines "Fork (fork)/Snail (snail)/Garçon (garçon)/Cocktail (cocktail)," he is demonstrating his newfound wealth to the listener. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.2.150.33 (talk • contribs) 03:23, 7 October 2005

Interpretation 7

Did he have a real accident the first time? One the first day he said he had a dented bike, and on the second day he said he was in intensive care. Either he took a long time to go to the hospital, or he staged the entire thing. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.237.245.17 (talk • contribs) 14:33, 7 October 2005

Dial-A-Song

This is about Linnell's bike wreck that prompted Dial-A-Song, or at least based on it... This is has 3 different points of views...

The first is the neighbor, or perhaps a witness. He thinks the narrator is out of his mind when he asks him to take a picture of the bike. So this could be an interview of the wreck.

The second is the narrator, telling about the wreck. He seems happy-- he sued the cause. So now he's filthy rich.

The third is at the end, the policeman. This purpose is what happened to him, and the chaos. It's that whole, "Everything's ok. We're cleaning it up, let the guy breathe" while panic is behind the scenes as the narrator, perhaps seriously injured, is taken to the hospital (as seen in the IV allusion thingie). So yeah, it's a bike wreck, and some guy suing (sp?).

Agreed. The 3 narrator thing makes it like a musical and I think is unique on any Giants/solo recording. Easily in Linnell's top tunes. (Mr Tuck)

I imagine that the narration takes place in a fancy French restraunt-- the whole cocktail and snail thing. Both the witness and the narrator are there, both telling the waiter what happened...

Sorry, just my thoughts on the song. --Lemita 16:41, 1 Jun 2006 (CDT)

Punitive damages

You're not likely to receive punitive damages as a result of a bike accident, just compensatory damages (if any at all). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tcp (talk • contribs) 18:57, 17 October 2012

Interpretation 8

The neighbor (witness) said that Linnell needs a picture of the dented bike for the court case. He sues the court, then gets filthy rich. He gets bent (I was an I now I am a V) and his tires do as well, (O to a D) and now he happily munches on snails and endless cocktail refills. He loves the wealth so much, he decides to get into another bike crash. Then another. Finally, the cops get the point. They completely ignore him, leaving him bleed to death, damned by his own stupidity, losing all of his wealth, and his memories of his wealth and previous bike crashes flash before his eyes, leaving him dead.

Saskia16 (talk) 20:24, 29 December 2016 (EST)Saskia16

Background of the Narrator

My own additional interpretation is that the narrator is a courier & he got in the accident while on the job. And normally he makes minimum wage working as a courier, but after his accident which sees him able to afford fancy French dinners, he decides he's going to do it again once he's recovered enough to go back to delivering things.

This is kind of implied by the lines

"If I had to do it all again by bicycle

If I had to do it, I would crash my bicycle"

Did the narrator really win the suit?

I was just reading over everyone else's interpretations and it seems like I'm in the minority here but I always assumed that the narrator of the song didn't actually win the suit. I think I get that sense mostly from the intro: how the song begins with them frantically asking their neighbor to collect evidence for their case. It makes it seem like the lawsuit is still in its earliest stages, but the narrator is already celebrating their victory.

Also, it's unclear who's responsible for the accident. For all we know, the narrator could have crashed the bike themself and so there's not really anyone to sue in the first place. Or they're doing some kind of ill-advised cash-for-crash scam, making a fraudulent injury claim about a city bus or something. In any case, they're just assuming that because they were injured, they'll get a huge settlement, so they're going ruining their credit at a French restaurant. This really casts these lines in a new light:

And I won some damages and they were punitive/By which I mean the punishment was damaging/It crushed my hand/It crushed my head/Garçon, where's my drink?

First, they imply that they won the suit. Then they immediately walk that claim back (backpedal, if you will) by saying that they weren't necessarily invoking the legal definition of "punitive damages." Then they insist on the severity of the injury twice. And finally they get frustrated and change the subject.

I think the story is so much more tragic and Linnellian if the narrator is unreliable, delusional, impatient and greedy in this way: acting as if they already have a settlement purely because they feel entitled to one.

Danwillisdan (talk) 09:43, 15 November 2020 (EST)

Sub-“script”

Notice there’s absolutely no mention of pain from the accident. The song is completely celebratory. Obviously, he’s happy for the lawsuit, but I think there’s a subscript here about pain pills making you feel good. Note the “IV” and “OD” mentions, both poking at drug use, are also an anagram of “void.” Also note, the suit was punitive, not for pain and suffering.

I have two interpretations, actually

The first one I thought is that this could be a dying dream of the narrator in which they're being treated like royalty/someone of high status. Or, alternatively they're in Heaven explaining how they died. Heaven is a fancy restaurant that serves cocktails and escargot apparently... They-might-be-tortoise (talk) 23:22, 10 January 2024 (EST)

My interpretation

Here's my interpretation on it.

The first paragraph is from the neighbor's POV where the victim wanted pictures of the bike wreck to submit in court.

When he says "Lift that fork, eat that snail, garcon summon me up a new cocktail", he successfully sued the offender and became rich from it, now having his own garcon (butler).

He then seems to be talking about the extra money he got from the punitive damages, and then explained his injuries before getting fed up and asking the garcon for his drink to abruptly change the subject.

I didn't think much of the O becoming a D or the I becoming a V part (thought it was his bike wheel being ruined and him getting injured), but then I realized "OD" and "IV" were drug terms too. The IV might also be a reference to the IV drip.

He says he could get even richer by getting into another bike accident, and was willing to get injured again to get more money, referring to the money as "bread". (When I was younger, I thought he literally meant bread so I drew bread when making an animated music video for this song)

He gets into another bike accident, but the police realize what he was trying to do so they just leave him to die this time. The police were singing the last few verses of the song. It's implied he injured a girl as well as one of the lines were "Push her back there, move along".

Another interpretation: Since State Songs were describing states based off of their shapes, it's most likely they compared South Carolina to a broken bike wheel.

--Rhapsody1337 (talk) 22:03, 6 April 2025 (EDT)

¨State Songs¨ Universe- Linnell gets seriously hurt.

I have this grand theory that the songs of ¨State Songs¨ are telling a story. The same story that led to the creation of the famous ¨Dial-A-Song¨ service- John Linnell breaking his wrist. However, I think that this might take place in a different universe, where the wreck was way more serious, and it involved a car.

The story goes like this,

A young John Linnell is riding his bicycle on a paper route, just like he always does. While riding, a car strikes him, crushing his bike and hand. He then goes to the hospital, where he gets an IV in Intensive Care.

(¨Wreck! Observe the front wheel spinning upside down. Wreck! The red reflector fragments strewn around. Wreck! The back wheel's 'O' is now a letter 'D'. Wreck! I was an 'I' and now I am a 'V'¨ ¨Second day he called me from intensive care¨ ¨Move around, folks, Push her back there, move along. Show's over, folks, Let him breathe, step lively.¨- South Carolina)

While in the hospital, Linnell receives a lot of drugs and painkillers, and starts hallucinating and ¨tripping¨ on the drugs, leading to him talking in delusions to the man in the hospital bed next to him. He is on so many drugs that he convinces himself that he will die after making the huge nonsensical discovery- that Montana is a leg! (He is going crazy)

(¨What are you staring at, In that hospital bed?¨ ¨I won't need this-Electric folding bed- I can lose these Tiny pillcups now¨ ¨Give out my lungs, give up and tell The information to the man in the next bed down. In the morning, he'll tell someone the last thing that I said, When I told him that Montana was a leg¨ ¨And it seemed to me Montana was a leg¨- Montana)

After getting out of the hospital, the drugs are wearing off, but Linnell is still paranoid and tired from spending the whole last night talking about Montana. Even though he is in New York (Or South Carolina, I don't know yet), he is stuck thinking about Montana, and is now being driven home by his new butler (more about that later). No, he doesn't think he is IN Montana, but driving NEAR it. That's right, he thinks he is in Idaho. As he drives past signs, he hallucinates again and starts hearing car alarms and sirens, a form of PTSD after the car hit him, triggering the car alarm, and sirens from when the first responders show up.

(¨Everybody's passed out, They don't know, How close we are now, Idaho¨ ¨There is a sign, Just up the way...I make it out, It says that Idaho Welcomes you¨ ¨Car alarms and siren sounds¨-Idaho)

Linnell then goes to court to settle the case and get money from the wreck. While in court, the driver who hit him doesn't even recognise him, perhaps becuase they were going so fast, or they were trying to deny the truth. As a very tired and hurt John sits in front of said driver, who just says ¨I forget you...¨ over and over again.

(¨Weren't you the one I hurt? ...Did you stay angry with me? I forget you. I forget you...¨-Utah)

The driver, who was very, very rich and lived in an expensive penthouse, was sentenced to prison and must pay Linnell a very large sum of money. The accident was also a hit-and-run, as the driver panicked and fled the scene. Eventually, however, the person is so rich that they simply pay the bail and return to their fancy pied-à-terre, which Linnell does not think is fair.

(¨Here it comes, Now it's after you, Flee to some place new, Run away, Run away.¨ ¨From the penthouse To the prison, To the humble pied-à-terre, Are they taking up the cry?¨-Oregon)

Linnell gets so much money from the settlement and insurance that he has a butler (named Garçon) who makes him drinks. He also feels a little guilty, because the only reason he has a large sum of money is due to an accident.

(¨His brushes with success were just an accident.¨-New Hampshire ¨Garçon summon up a new cocktail¨- South Carolina)

As Linnell sips on his cocktail, he calls his friend, John Flansburgh, whose apartment just got robbed. Linnell spends his money buying Flansburgh's stolen goods back, purchasing ads in a paper, and buying an answering machine. Then, he decides to donate the rest of his money to a registered charity.

This brings us back to our timeline, and the rest was history.

And it was all because of the big wreck.

¨Accident...Accident...Crash my bicycle, Crash my bicycle, In a big South Carolina wreck, I crash my bicycle.¨- South Carolina

Mikey T (talk) 09:42, 21 August 2025 (EDT)