Interpretations:Shoehorn With Teeth
As I started to listen to the song more, I came to the same conclusion two people here did: that the song was about Christianity. "Returning to the womb" seems really obvious, but then I thought some more and saw it doesn't fit the rest of the song. Even if it did, being born again wouldn't rule out thinking about Jesus' tomb; it would actually mean taking the tomb (and the resurrection) more seriously. So now I agree with the others who say that the song is about someone selfish. The shoehorn refers to his penchant for getting out of tough situations, and he's apparently lived a full life (getting the girl, playing in a band). By the time he's old, and he wants to be young again (does he actually regret his life or not?) it's too late. -Mark
I wonder if this quote, "He not busy being born is 'a busy dyin'." from the Bob Dylan song, It's Allright Ma' (I'm Only Bleeding), has any connection the the line "What's the sense in ever thinkin' 'bout the tomb when you're much too busy returning to the womb?" Perhaps this is another lyric reversal song, a la I Hope That I Get Old Before I Die. -Cronny
I believe that the song is about how stupid people come off as when they state beliefs or opinions as facts.
In the first verse the man is not ignoring someone and feeling more comfortable because of it. He's trying to tell someone what they should do, and it's easy for him to say so because he's not actually in the situation, the girl is not actually there so he's not getting nervous they way the person that he's talking to likely would if he tried actually asking the girl to sit in a chair with him.
The second verse... I vaguely remember someone trying to fool me when I was a child, saying that airplanes only need gas when they're on the ground, not when they're in the air. If the plane runs out of gas after take off, it will not be able to land. I can't remember where I heard this, might've been on TV or it might've been an older sibling or a grandparent, but I remember the argument and it seemed as though it had been passed along. I think that this attempt to spread false information is what the second verse is referring to. Note that it says the plane CAN never land, not will never land, meaning it's not possible for the plane to land without gas.
The third verse is talking about people who say "Don't live in the past". You need to remember the past in order to look towards the future. If you only look one way then you're either focusing on what ifs or you're not progressing at all.
-Rilom
Firstly, let us discuss the "he" in the song. "He" wants an object that doesn't exist. "He" feels that by killing freedoms like free speech, it will help him get it. But deep down, "he" knows there's no such thing. His actions will never get him what he wants because that thing does not exist. Thus, the he comports to selfishness. By "he" TMBG means the "unenlightened", to use terminology they don't use. *grin* The "he's" of society that want to control other people to get their way. But in a very real sense, we all do that. From this we can conclude this song discusses the darkest parts of the human self.
In the song we have him sitting in the same chair as a girl because he doesn't believe in her. In the real world, we behave the same way. If we only have enough for 1 person but 2 people need it, we use a winner take all system to ensure that the "he's" (and in this sense, we mean the powerful people) get the "chair". This also alludes to the ways we view relationships and the predator/prey games that far too many people play.
We have him touring the world in a band on a plane, having a big old party. Just then, the plane runs out of gas. Well, to "him" the party can never end so the plane must continue to fly without gas. The rationalizations about the plane come from the premise that "he" must always party. In a very real sense, our world sits at this same position. We will eat up the last 50% of the planet over the next 30 years or so and will have nothing left to do this "industrial civilization" thing. And just like the guy partying on the rock star plane, we refuse to recognize this fact BECAUSE we want our party to continue.
So now what "thing" could we all so selfishly want? I propose that it is nothing less than endless pleasure. Every one of use wants it. It causes all of the dark things we do as we strive to get it. Even though we know that no such thing as endless pleasure exists, we still chase it creating "shoehorns with teeth" such as police states, draconian laws. Even thought it hurts other people, denying them "chairs" as it were. Even though it cannot sustain itself, like running out of gas, we find our selves trapped because we WANT it so bad.
So we have been asked, "What's the sense in ever thinking about the tomb when you're much too busy returning to the womb?" Why would you want to think about the human race eating up all the life on Earth when you are just trying to get back to the endlessly pleasurable state of being in the womb. (Which goes doubly for sexual pleasures, as another here mentioned.) Why would you continue to push off the "death of self" until you die if you DIDN'T want to have endless pleasure? The micro and macro mirror each other.
We will never come to terms with death as long as we keep chasing backwards towards the womb and run away from life. To find it we must go beyond understanding and through death. And we will never do that as long as we keep trying to crawl back up into our Mommies.
Try thinking of TMBG more in this manner and you will find many more layers to their songs than you originally thought.
-- EntropyFails
It must have something to do with religion speaking of reincarnation - "returning to the womb" and the chair quote we can be some sort of christian prayer take on something
I think the song is about a man who acts only to make others miserable. He "wants a shoehorn [...] 'cause he knows there's no such thing", showing that he comes up with things to complain about. He "asks a girl if they can both sit in a chair" because he wants to make her feel guilty: "he doesn't get nervous", showing that he's trying to make the girl feel inadequate. The second verse is about the person's complaints: he had an opportunity to "tour the world in a heavy metal band", but he complains about it, or perhaps this verse reveals why the man is complaining. The "returning to the womb" line shows that he's becoming increasingly immature and childlike, but worrying and complaining about dying.
I can't figure out what meaning the "People should get beat up for stating their beliefs" has, if any. It doesn't really fit with the rest of the song. I'm pretty sure it's just TMBG being the witty and strange band we enjoy. --Whistling in the dark 18:01, 24 Jan 2005 (EST)
Well, I always just took that as a joke. "People should get beat up for stating their beliefs" IS a belief, so he'd be beat up if it were true.
-Mushroom Pie 'n stuff
- Agreed, it's pure irony. Imagine that, in a TMBG song? ;) ~Christina Miller, November, 2006
I thought "what's the point of ever thinking about the tomb, when you're much too busy returning to the womb" was a reference to Christianity -- "returning to the womb" = "you must be born again," "tomb" = Christ's empty tomb after the resurrection. But then the other 2 verses are just baffling. This does seem to tie in a little with "people should get beat up for stating their beliefs," but the whole thing is still a mystery wrapped in a conundrum.
The "returning to the womb" line is a direct reference to the bible; when Jesus meets with the Jewish scholar Nichodemus and tells him he must begin, Nichodemus asks how a man can return to the womb. As for how that fits in with the rest of the song... well, I have absolutely no idea. Tutt 15:06, 19 Oct 2005 (EDT)MasterChivo
I always interpreted this song as being about a boy who wants to let his imagination bring him places and to let him think what he wants instead of being bogged down by others' talk of religion.
He wants a shoehorn with teeth, even though there's no such thing. People should get beat up for stating there beliefs.
What's the sense in ever thinking about the tomb (death, afterlife, worry), when you're much too busy returning to the womb? (living life through a child's eyes, enjoying things as they come to you.)
I think TMBG are making a statement about religion and the overall morbidness of it, and how they guilt people into believing. And they do it, as usual, in a very clever and funny way. -AJK
Nobody here interpreted the last line the way i always did. SEX- as a distraction from -DEATH "what's the sense in ever thinking about the tomb, when you're much too busy returning to the womb"
I always felt this song was fairly deep, as most TMBG songs tend to be, but I felt it stayed mainly to one particular theme rather than embracing the entire human psyche. I think many of these concepts have been brought up, but I thought I'd give it a go anyhow.
I've always interpreted this song as about the great lengths man goes to selfishly escape uncomfortable situations. After all, the shoehorn itself pries the foot out of a tight shoe or boot, which seems to represent how man is constantly trying to pry himself out of the harsh reality of life by the easiest ways possible - violence and ignorance.
I mean, beating people up when their beliefs are different from yours is the easiest way to get out of a wretched religious or political conversation. Why discuss why your way is more right than theirs when you could knock their block off and be done with it? I think the Johns are being mildly sarcastic (or ironic) with this song, this line in particular, because they know it's not the best way to go about it but it's how many people (governments, religions) go about it none-the-less.
And what better philosophy than this one! If someone makes you uncomfortable, just ignore them and they won't exist! (he doesn't get nervous/she's not really there) If you don't like the fact children are starving somewhere, ignore them and they'll disappear off the face of the planet. If you hate a man who has your seat, take it because you can ignore him into inexistance! It's all so very simple!
As for the plane, it's full of rock stars! The rich, the famous, the fabulous! They don't believe in death! So when their plane runs out of gas, they don't worry about crashing and dying---it just means that their plane will never land, because beautiful people don't die! Mortality is an uncomfortable thought! They must live forever!
Then, at the end, I think they're talking about midlife crises as the theoretical shoehorn. Man goes through those midlife crises, doing all that stuff to make himself feel younger (returning to the womb) because for the first time he realizes that he, too, is mortal (worrying about the tomb)and he must keep death at bay. But no matter how many times man tries to escape death, uncomfortable situations, unpleasant people, etc., he knows, just like the shoe horn with teeth, that there is no such thing, no true escaping. But he does it all the same because if the shoe doesn't fit, you gotta get it off no matter the cost, be it to you or to other people. And that's how I've always saw it. *shrugs*
--Beowolfe [edited 25.2.06@11:21 PM CST]
The line "He asks a girl if they can both sit in a chair, but he doesn't get nervous; she's not really there" reminds me of the Beatles' "Norwegian Wood": "She asked me to stay and told me to sit anywhere -- so I looked around and I noticed there wasn't a chair." That seems to be a reference, but I'm not sure. -- Sylvar
People sure have some convoluted interpretations of this song! Maybe not every TMBG song is a complex commentary on metaphysics or the human condition. I think Shoehorn with Teeth is probably one of many TMBG songs that are just supposed to be fun. It's not that I think this song is meaningless; there's definitely an idea behind it somewhere, however vague. In my opinion it's a silly song about a silly person with silly ideas, and as such it probably wasn't meant to be taken very seriously. -Ryan D
I remember a bugs bunny cartoon where he is flying an aeroplane which is falling from the sky and about to crash into the ground, only to stop in midair because it ran out of fuel, so the plane can never land or even move. - Thrawn
I feel this song actually has a very disturbing message hidden inside of it's words. To those who rip the song apart piece for piece, I don't hate you for it, but I do, incidentally feel it is worthless. Take one of Robert Frost's poems for example; people rip them apart like a paper with your Social Security number on it that is about to stolen by some random guy. And guess what Frost said, he said it was just about a walk he took once... Anyways, enough of my ranting, back to the main point: This song does have central themes - life, and sex (in some peculiar manner).
The chorus "He wants a shoehorn, the kind with teeth, people should get beat up for stating their beliefs," This, means that in life, you really never get what you want, too bad, go vent your anger on someone. (NOTE: Venting you're anger on people, contrary to popular belief, is fun...)
"He asked a girl if they could both sit in a chair but he doesn't get nervous, she's not really there," this one is simple - the guy masturbates.
"Tour the world in a heavy metal band, but they run out of gas, the plane can never land," this, on the other hand, is much more complex. As for how I feel, I think they are trying to say that in life, good things really do happen, but then something foolish messes it all up and you find out, 'well, that was worthless.' You go so far, but then it's all lost.
"What's the sense in ever thinking of the tomb when you're much too busy returning to the womb," this literally mean why think about dying when you just can have lots, and lots of sex. Deeper than that, this is the statement that keeps you alive. The previous things were telling you that life was sucking and you feel like committing suicide, but there is hope; something can drown your sorrows away - sex...
Well, that's all. I know I may have seemed like a hypocrite because I did type a lot and somewhat ripped it apart, but I'm trying to prove there is no reason for half of the things out there, and when you look at it deeper, you may find something, something possibly inaccurate, but what the hell, everyone takes risk huh?
-Falchy
Template:Interpretation Button| Shoehorn With Teeth |
| Lyrics | Download | Interpretations | Credits | Guitar Tab | Bass Tab | Chronology |
