Interpretations:It's Not My Birthday

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This song is about everybody's favorite subject, depression. The first set of lyrics convey this quite nicely, as the narrator tells how, even though he doesn't WANT it to rain, it still does anyway, and if the world were to crumble away into nothingness tomorrow he's holding out on the hope that reincarnation is a lie.

The second set of lyrics show he's dissatisfied with his lot in life. As he's walking around, he's thinking of newer, better ways he could be walking instead of the boring old normal way. He knows it's stupid and that he's wasting time thinking about this that could be used thinking about something else, but he can't help it. Even worse, when he tries to think of other things, his train of thought gets derailed, making him think about things that quite frankly he doesn't want to think about.

The third set shows how he feels trapped. He knows that he should try to escape this rut he's in, but he's grown so depressed that he fails to see the point. There'd be "no percentage or proof" of his getting out of his rut to others, and besides, it's not that bad in here. It's only raining.

Once again, I probably put too much thought into this, but nobody else had interpreted this yet, so I felt obligated. - TheNintenGenius

This song involves what I think is one of the cleverest of TMBG's lyrics: "It's not my birthday, so why do you lunge out at me?" I think this is a reference to surprise parties: friends lunge out to wish you a happy birthday. However, since it's not his birthday, that means the action of lunging is more violent than well-meant. To be more specific about the first interpretation, I think the song is about being depressed about a relationship, as shown by the chorus: "When the word comes down, 'Never more will be around'" leaves out WHAT will never more be around, perhaps showing that the narrator doesn't want to talk about it. I think that this line cuts mentioning the relationship, which will cease to be, but the narrator will wish she was there and apologizes for being "less than we could bear". The narrator notes that "I'm not the only dust my mother raised". Possibly the "mother" here is Mother Earth, a reference to the mother of all mankind. With this line, I think the narrator is saying "But I realize that there are other fish in the ocean." The narrator is blaming himself for a failed relationship and becoming extremely depressed by it. --Chuckie

I think this song is about the narrator realizing he can't control the universe and that he isn't at the centre of it. The rain doesn't need his help to fall, and the lawn doesn't need his permission to get wet. I also think that the narrator is embarrassed about his thoughts of grandeur, and doesn't want to go back to them (that the "world," his reality and beliefs, will crumble and he'll never have to look at them again)

If you accept that the "train" mentioned in the second verse is a train of thought, he can't even control that; he can't stop his thoughts from being different than he wants them to be-simply thinking about walking and thinking- but instead they make him think things that are "uninvited."

The chorus "It's not my birthday" relates to the idea that on your birthday, everyone and everything caters to your whims. As it's not your birthday, NOTHING caters to your whims. "Though I wish we were there/I was less than we could bear/And I'm not the only dust my mother raised" implies that the narrator wants to be the centre of the universe, but wasn't important enough- there are others just like him.

The third verse relates to trying to hide, the desire to "evaporate completely" disappear in some other way is familiar to anyone who's been severely embarrassed. He is embarrassed by his thoughts of grandeur. However, the narrator decides that "there'd be no percentage and there'd be no proof" that he was ever someone if he just disappeared, and that life just goes on.

As TheNintenGenius said, I'm probably looking too much into it, but those are my thoughts.- Dragonrose

I tend to agree with Dragonrose, but I think that what's interesting about the third verse is all the alcohol references-- drink tank (I assume that's a reference to the "drunk tank"), percentage, and proof. I took at as him implying that alcohol was a major factor leading to the depression that he is currently in. I just think it's a neat verse. I like the images.

I've occasionally entertained the thought that the lyric, "When the word comes down, 'Never more will be around'" should actually be "When the word comes down, never more WE'LL be around," which is to say, "When the word [whatever that is] comes down, we won't be around anymore." Kind of awkward phrasing, but it would relate to the end-of-the-world motif in the "when this gray world crumbles like a cake" part. I'm probably totally wrong, though. --VoVat

Now, I'm not a religious person, HOWEVER I've always though this was a song about a very disgruntled Jesus walking around on Christmas, getting drunk and feeling frustrated about how the Earth turned out. Historically, Dec. 25 was semi-arbitrary date picked for when J.C. was born, and only He could know when that day really was. I'd get really annoyed if everyone got my birthday mixed up, I imagine he would too. THEN there is the "I'm not the only dust my mother raised" line. Jesus had a brother (James, I think?) who kinda gets forgotten about. As everybody is running around being happy and Celebrating the wrong day of his birth, Jesus is spending his Christmas thinking of new ways to remake the universe. As he says: "When that Gray World crumbles like a cake, I'll be hanging from the hope that I'll never see that recipe again." As he walks he thinks about a new way for creatures to move, a new way for creatures to think. -Anyway, it's a neat idea, and not entirely without precident: They write a BUNCH of Christmas songs, and Jesus has been mentioned in a few songs, especially early ones. -Devin T. Quin

I've always looked at this song in a kind of different light, so I'll go through it line by line to explain. First you have to picture an unborn fetus (perhaps only a zygote) in his mothers womb.

"Well the rain falls down without my help I'm afraid And my lawn gets wet though I've withheld my consent When this grey world crumbles like a cake I'll be hanging from the hope That I'll never see that recipe again"

This tells me that the woman, his mother is on her... well, time of the month. The walls of his 'grey world' are crumbling, which goes hand in hand with that process. The 'recipe' is foreshadowing events that happen later in the song, so I'll discuss them in a bit.

"As I walk, I think about a new way to walk As I think, I'm using up the time left to think And this train keep rolling off the track Trying to act like something else Trying to go where it's been uninvited"

His time is running short as his world crumbles, hes trying to act like something else so he can stay, but the train is falling off the tracks.

"It's not my birthday It's not today It's not my birthday, so why do you lunge out at me? When the word comes down, "Never more will be around" Though I'll wish you were there, I was less than we could bear And I'm not the only dust my mother raised"

He's saying it isn't his time to leave, not today, but his mothers body is forcing him out, lunging him into the world prematurely. He is addressing his mother saying 'I was less than we could bear' meaning he knows he is coming out too soon, and that he will be miscarried.

"So, I'm rattling the bars around this drink tank Discreetly I should pour through the keyhole or evaporate completely But there'd be no percentage, and there'd be no proof And the sound upon the roof is only water"

This part clears up a lot, or maybe it just adds to the haze. He's rattling the bars around this drink tank, meaning hes waiting for the inevitable. The keyhole would refer to his mothers womb, and his premature exit. And finally to clear up the reason for his early demise, the lack of proof that his mother is only drinking water. The alcohol references are obviously his mother forcing a miscarriage, or a 'spontaneous abortion'.

Thanks for reading: M Stuefen

This song is based upon what happens in a capitalistic society

--Tara

To me the segment which references the cake is an obvious reference to Richard Harris' song "MacArthur Park". It is seemingly a bittersweet love song with straightforward lyrics until the chorus: 

MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, no!

I cannot entirely take credit for this; tgies told me that a line reminded him of a song called "Someone Left the Cake Out in the Rain", which he had heard of, and I have done the research. Suujita 05:55, 9 Sep 2005 (EDT)

Usually on your birthday you feel as if you have complete control of the day, at least in your teenage years. He's saying that everything is happening without his ok, but its not his birthday, as if that gives you control. If anybody wants to discuss tmbg feel free to contact me at finneganswake05 on aim.

I looked at it completely differently. I thought it was a song about an intervention. All his friends surprise him and his response is "it's not my birthday".

Also when you look at the lyrics. "When the word comes down, nevermore will be around" They trying to convince him not to drink anymore. "..And there'd be no percentage and there'd be no proof" once again, no more alcohol.

if you look at all the alcohol references it all points to intervention. Javalsu

Free flowing and child like, this song's nearest relative is "Older". One of the great great great early songs, one again wonders how it did not make a main album. Typical of Linnell to contrast paranoia with a joyful melody and vocal. One wonders how Linnell would have faired as the lead singer of the Smiths and Morrissey as the lead singer of the Giants! I prefer the accordion heavy bootleg of this song often heard on the clock radio.(Mr Tuck)

I have a bit of a different view of this song as someone in the landscaping business. Rain can be bittersweet as on one side it means a day off, while on the other it means that you won't be getting paid for that day. I see a landscaper sitting at home and getting drunk because he was unable to work that day due to rain. The world crumbling could be seen to represent how he needs to find a new job, and he hopes that he will never have to do landscaping work again.

"It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me." Would refer to the fact that a day off is a gift that he didn't ask for and that he doesn't want.

"When the word comes down nevermore will be around." 'nevermore' I believe is a reference to the raven, so the line would refer to his girlfriend or ex-girlfriend coming around, and how he has no money to take her on that date that he promised her. In any case he sees the relationship as dead, and "I'm not the only dust my mother raised" would basically mean that there are plenty of fish in the sea.

-Taylor, Cowtown AB, May 19, 2006

Rattling The Bars

My view is that the song is Linnell's response to a Christian evangelist. He rejects the call to be born again ("It's not my birthday"), the idea of prayer ("The rain falls down without my help"), the concept of eternal life (I agree with VoVat above that the line can be read "When the word comes down, nevermore we'll be around"), and the evangelist's "evidences" ("There be no percentage" - no chance that it's possible - "and there be no proof"). And he insists that his "mother" (earth) rather than "God the father" is responsible for "raising" him from the dust.

In America, hearing a sound "upon the roof" has a fairly particular holiday connotation. So the line "The sound upon the roof is only water" might roughly be unpacked as: "The rain falling on my roof (like that on my lawn) comes without my prayers or God's intervention... it's only water, not a divine gift. To believe it is would be as silly as thinking it's the sound of reindeer hooves"... correlating religious faith to belief in Santa Claus.

The singer seems to assert a dry scientific naturalism/materialism against the claims of the Christian religion. But his emotions peek out in interesting ways. "I'm afraid": Grammatically it is just an aside to the previous line, but it can also be read as a (stealth) expression of his reaction to a godless universe. The evangelist promises that God will restore our world to paradise... but the singer never wants to see this "gray world" again after it crumbles - he's had enough of "that recipe." The second verse begins: "So" - because heaven is empty - "I'm rattling the bars" - you'll find me getting plastered at the local pubs.

Though I'm a Christian myself, I like and admire the song for its verve and wit. --Nehushtan 12:43, 10 Feb 2006 (CST) (updated) --Nehushtan (talk) 02:40, 5 July 2020 (EDT)

My dorm floor has a tradition of throwing floor members into the shower, on their birthday. For me, the song is about someone on my floor who is trying to get out of being showered. -- TheBlunderbuss 05:04, 2 Mar 2006 (CST)

I think that the reference to 'And I'm not the only dust my mother raised' is simply referring to the line in the bible simplified as 'For dust you are and to dust you shall return' not neccesarily referring to any mediocrity in the singer.

Yes, the reference to 'dust' is an allusion to the Bible, but it is said in opposition to the Bible: the narrator insists that his 'mother' (the earth) gave him life, not God the father. --Nehushtan 00:43, 29 Mar 2006 (CST)

Well, the rain falls down without my help, I'm afraid
And my lawn gets wet though I've withheld my consent

The husband is being sarcastic to his wife because he can't mow the lawn today, and it is wet (anybody that has mowed a lawn knows wet grass is a bitch to mow). Wife is angry, thinking he is just making excuses.

I'll do more when I'm not so...*ahem*lazy...--tehbagel 15:49, 29 Apr 2006 (CDT)

Ok. A year later.

"It's not my birthday, so why do you lunge out at me?"

This is one of my favorite lines by the Johns. It's sarcasm. What's your birthday? It's YOUR day, all about you. Everyone is supposed to be nice to you. "Lunging out" at someone (hurting them in any way with little or no antagonism by the victim) on this special day would be the meanest and lowest thing someone could do. The speaker is so depressed about his life that he's sarcastically asking his wife, "Hey, it's not my birthday, why are you ruining my life NOW?". GENIUS

Every day we live is mediocre sans the one day of year where attention is put on us. This song covers all the aspects of feeling mediocre, he can't control the rain, he can't stop his lawn from getting wet, and he's not the only dust his mother raised (a possible reference to the population of Earth and how we are just another piece of dust) -- Timus

IMO, many of their songs are about failed relationships (Ana Ng, Twisting) or fantasy relationships (Sleeping in the Flowers, Shoehorn with Teeth). Here I see a rebound relationship that he didn't actively encourage (my lawn gets wet though I've withheld my consent), but he is too busy obsessing about a prior relationship (I was less than we could bear) and how to make another one work (I think about a new way to walk) to give it a chance (why do you lunge out at me?). What I take from "I am not the only dust my mother raised" is that his mother was divorced or widowed (when this gray world crumbles like a cake) and found new love (though I wish I were there), but he hasn't accepted it (I'll never see that recipe again). But he tells one bartender after another (rattling the bars around this drink tank) it would all be easier if he could just "evaporate completely" as he listens to the rain (the sound upon the roof is only water).

I think we all have the tendency to let our own lives have too big of an impact on our interpretation of songs. Freud called it projection. So I feel with a song as vague as this one, it's near impossible to know exactly what john was trying to say. If you ask me, I think this song is about something depressing that is masked with the metaphore of a rainy day. In the first two lines john admits he has as much control over the situation as he does the weather. The end of the first verse is about how when this ordeal comes to an end, he'll be happy to put it behnind him, and "never seeing that recipe again" means he never wants to revisit it/feel as badly as he does now. At first this song seems like a very pessimistic song with a bleak outlook on the situation at hand: "It's not my birthday" seems like a very ironic way of saying hes having a bad day and he talking about drinking in the second verse. But I feel the attitude of the song is captured in the line "But the sound upon the roof is only water". He's saying that the rain is nothing too serious and is underplaying the situation. This line allows you to view the rest of the song with an optimistic spin. Rather than a dirge about how horrible his life is, it turns into a song about how he's going through a tough time, but it's nothing to fret about, and nothing to take too seriously. I don't think we'll ever know if john was speaking in general or had a specific ordeal in mind, but i feel this is what he was trying to get across.

-LR

Just for the record, John wasn't trying to say anything with this song. He said something. If he wanted to say something else he would have said something else. There is no try there. Secondly, projections are what poetry is all about. John felt something and wrote it down, and we're talking about situations where we feel that feeling, though they may be different situations, the feelings are the same. That's the whole point of music and poetry. Trying to find out what the poet was thinking when he wrote the poem is nigh impossible in any situation for any poem. Best we simply talk about what it means to us rather than some ultimate meaning no?

Well now... this song is very, very sad and, also, in tandem with that, one of the best TMBG songs there is; I once was trying to read outside and, instead of doing that, just started singing this song to myself, over and over, for a half hour. "It's Not My Birthday" very quickly took on the connotation for me of, it's not my BIRTHday... HELL no. It's my DEATH day. And as such, I consider it a part of a Death Trilogy continued with Dead and Mink Car.

"It's Not My Birthday" is a suicide note. "When the word comes down, never more will be around" -- as soon as you find out about my intentions, it'll be too late, I'll already be gone. "I'll be hanging from the hope" -- play on "rope", obviously enough. The lyrics to this song may be stream-of-consciousness, but there are plenty, plenty of TMBG songs, especially early TMBG songs, that talk about depression (Become A Robot, Alienation's For The Rich, The Biggest One, Don't Let's Start), and if Linnell just wanted to improvise a TMBG song, I feel like these words come naturally to him. "I was less than we could bear": a key, key line. Like LR says below, I'm relating this to my own life here (especially my own life when I first heard the song), but it was always the case for me that a feature of depression is believing that one's self is a nothing, a void, a nonentity, and that it's practicially criminal to try to "inflict" one's nothing-self on others, even on one's dearest friends. Thus: "I was less than we could bear", and also, "When I walk I think about a new way to walk" (isn't this also a reference to that song "I've Got A New Way To Walk"?), trying to establish one's creative personality somehow, even in the smallest, silliest way possible. I can't imagine all this not occurring to Linnell at least subliminally.

The narrator knows his death will be taken hard by his friends, but he's convinced himself to not let that get in the way: "Why do you lunge out at me?" (Meaning, "Why are you so angry? I'm not the one who's at fault here.") He plays and toys with his ideas so as to make them seem almost heroic: "The lawn gets wet though I've withheld my consent". The only thing that'd be good enough for him is to be able to control the weather itself: what a funny idea, flippant, even. But then again, he'd obviously never be able to control the weather at all; so his death was fated all along. But the horrible thing about "It's Not My Birthday" is that at the end of the song I do, I think, every time, whether by his daisy chain of poetic images or just the hot-damn catchiness of the whole song, justify his suicide; and then I shake my head over again and just say, no, no, this can't happen.

- The Silver Chauffeur

I think this one might be from the perspective of a drop of water, or a potential drop of water, in a cloud. It's not my birthday means that today, it won't turn into rain. But since something is lunging out at it, maybe it did become rain, and it's in denial. Then all the recipe stuff doesn't make any sense. Maybe this is uninterpretable. --Kit

What? I thought it just wasn't his birthday!

It just might be about abortion. "It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me?" and "I was less than we could bear", as in bearing a pregnancy. "Discreetly I should pour through the keyhole / Or evaporate completely" also goes with this explanation. "And I'm not the only dust my mother raised" - does this mean that fetus's mother is promiscuous? However, I have no idea what the rain, the lawn, walking and thinking would mean in this case, so I give up.

Life as an Artist

''Well, the rain falls down without my help, I'm afraid
 And my lawn gets wet though I've withheld my consent
 When this gray world crumbles like a cake
 I'll be hangin' from the hope
 That I'll never see that recipe again
'' (I am not an important person, and as such I have no control over my destiny – it’s such a disagreeable arrangement that I hope I never have to relive life on earth.)

As I walk, I think about a new way to walk
 As I think, I'm using up the time left to think
 And this train keeps rolling off the track
 Tryin' to act like something else
 Tryin' to go where it's been uninvited
 (Life is short, and leading a normal life is the safest bet - yet my mind favors pondering abstract ideas that are typically viewed as irrelevant and wasteful, and my life as a struggling artist is not normal or safe.)

It's not my birthday
 It's not today
 It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me?
 'When the word comes down "Never more will be around"
 Though I wish we were there
 I was less than we could bear
 And I'm not the only dust my mother raised
 (I’m not an important person, and I find it odd that you’ve mistaken me for one. This band will never be considered one of the greats. No matter how much I wish it were true, this band will not stand the test of time because I’m not important enough, and bands are a dime a dozen.)

So I'm rattlin' the bars around this drink tank
 Discreetly I should pour through the keyhole
 Or evaporate completely
 But there'd be no percentage and there'd be no proof
 And the sound upon the roof is only water
 (What the hell am I doing with my life, playing rock shows in bars? If I was wise I would quit now and lead a safe normal life, but then I might as well have never existed. Besides, this pays the bills, so all that talk of a normal, safe life is just a suggestion, not a rule.)

And the rain falls down without my help, I'm afraid
 And my lawn gets wet, though I've withheld my consent
 When this gray world crumbles like a cake
 I'll be hangin' from the hope
 That I'll never see that recipe again
 (I am not an important person, and as such I have no control over my destiny – it’s such a disagreeable arrangement that I hope I never have to relive life on earth.)

It's not my birthday
 It's not today
 It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me?
 When the word comes down "Never more will be around"
 Though I wish we were there
 I was less than we could bear
 And I'm not the only dust my mother raised
 I am not the only dust my mother raised
 (I’m not an important person, and I find it odd that you’ve mistaken me for one. This band will never be considered one of the greats. No matter how much I wish it were true, this band will not stand the test of time because I’m not important enough, and bands are a dime a dozen.)

-J-

Wasn't there an interviewer that asked the Johns about the meaning of TMBG's songs, and John said sometimes even they couldn't figure them out, and referred specifiically to "It's Not My Birthday" as an example?

Justin

I think that this song is about the narrator realizing how little control he has over his world. He can't tell the rain to fall, but it does anyway. The lawn gets wet, despite his attempts to stop it.

When this gray world crumbles like a cake I'll be hangin' from the hope That I'll never see that recipe again

This bit is the narrator saying that he does not like the world. "crumbles like a cake" may mean that it is on the brink of destruction, somehow. Gray is a bleak color, and serves as an excellent descriptor for the speaker's view of the world. The recipe may be a metaphorical "recipe for disaster" that caused the world to crumble like a cake. He doesn't really want to see that recipe again.

The chorus seems to be a reworking of the phrase "I wasn't born yesterday", or so I theorize.

...I've only heard this song a couple of times, so that's pretty much all I got. :| I might try and interpret more later.

PNEUMONIA

"Well, the rain falls down without my help, I'm afraid / And my lawn lung gets wet though I've withheld my consent" The narrator goes out in the rain and gets pneumonia "When this gray world crumbles like a cake" When the narrator dies... "I'll be hangin' from the hope / That I'll never see that recipe again" He hopes that he'll be reincarnated as someone that does not have pneumonia

"As I walk, I think about a new way to walk" It is difficult to walk when restricted by a hospital bed, so the narrator has to adjust to this new sort of life. "As I think, I'm using up the time left to think" There's little time left to think, because he's going to die. "And this train keeps rolling off the track" His life is rolling off the track, so to speak, ie, it's all messed up because of pneumonia. "Trying to act like something else / Trying to go where it's been uninvited" The pneumonia is, as is typical of pneumonia, invading his body, acting like something else. And I don't think anyone has ever invited pneumonia anywhere, so.

"It's not my birthday / It's not today" delusional ramblings (Otherwise, he's going to die today, so indeed, he is not being born, quite the contrary.) "It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me?" lunge out at me with medicine, etc. He's going to die anyway, so by his logic, why bother? "When the word comes down 'Never more will be around'" He's going to die. "Though I wish we were there / I was less than we could bear" He doesn't want to die, but the world can no longer sustain his presence. "And I'm not the only dust my mother raised" He is not alone in having pneumonia, "dust" referring to his relative uselessness, unable to move, work, etc, the mother is disease. In essence, the pneumonia has caused him to grow into something useless.

"So I'm rattlin' the bars around this drink tank" He's trapped in his hospital bed. "Discreetly I should pour through the keyhole / Or evaporate completely" He doesn't want to be there. "But there'd be no percentage and there'd be no proof" No one will remember him after his death. "And the sound upon the roof is only water" From his bed he hears the rain, a cruel reminder of his disease. -Apollo (colloquia!) 21:05, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

Okay so when I listen to this song I keep thinking about homemade liquor. He's evaporating off the water from his cider or something to make like 140 proof apple jack. That's why is says 'there'll be no proof'. Note that this is incorrect. --Mc Frown 16:35, 8 October 2011 (EDT)

My interpretation about this is that the singer is addressing his fear of death. It's typical, on one's birthday, to feel "Oh my god, I'm getting older". Since it's not his birthday, he asks this demon, "why do you lunge out at me?" Why now?

Someone could write a book unpacking all the references in every line. Referring to himself as "not the only dust my mother raised" is a reminder of the "dust to dust" funeral line. "Rattling the bars around this drink tank" conjures an image of a prisoner rattling the bars in a jail cell ("i should pour through the keyhole" -- "I know I should probably go out or something"), but obviously "bars" are also places where one drinks. "Drink tank" is a play on "think tank", a reference to the hard work the narrator is doing processing his morbid thoughts.

The train of thought keeps going off the tracks, trying to act like something else, trying to go where it's been uninvited. These morbid thoughts are unwelcome. This is not a birthday party, and if it were, they would not be invited anyway.

"The rain falls down without my help" is a reference to the futility of one's own existence. The lawn will get wet whether I agree or not. I am powerless, I barely exist, and eventually, as time marches on, I won't. Like crumbling cake melting in the rain, the grey world will never see my recipe again.

But since it's not my birthday, it seems unfair to have to think about that. So I drink.

--Isaac Z. Schlueter 2016-05-28

Determinism.

JAILBAKE ESCAPES AND PROHIBITION: A very concrete interpretation

This song is CLEARLY (jk!) about a bootlegger during prohibition who gets caught and is currently serving out their sentence. This person wasn't just a bootlegger but the main bootlegger for this town. While they're serving out their sentence alcohol is still being provided to the city and our protagonist is just wallowing in jail and thinks they are left there to rot. As they realize no escape is imminent, they begin to regret their actions as they believe they could have been so much more. However, in a Shyamalan type twist, someone is actively trying to help them escape, it just isn't dawning on our protagonist, who might also not be the brightest bulb on the day this song happens. With this in mind let's break down these lyrics

Well, the rain falls down without my help, I'm afraid And my lawn gets wet though I've withheld my consent

  • I am not in control of my world but also alcohol is being supplied to the city with this person being locked up, and everyone is still getting drunk and our bootlegger isn't directing it, the world has moved on and leaving our prisoner forgotten about and no longer in charge

When this gray world crumbles like a cake

  • a cake crumbling is a symbol of hope lost but ALSO, more importantly, it's a classic TV trope to free someone from jail called a jail bake [1]. Basically, you put a file or some sort of escape tool in a birthday cake. So our bootlegger thinks the world has forgotten about them but someone is trying to help them escape as we'll see below. Also this kind of jailbreak fits well with how one might imagine a jailbreak being conducted in the prohibition era. Finally, the cake crumbles because it's actually hollow-- being filled with the tools for escape.

I'll be hangin' from the hope That I'll never see that recipe again

  • The recipe is a recipe for moonshine-- and all alone in this cell without anyone, our bootlegger is beginning to regret their ways and wished they'd never gone into the business in the first place

As I walk, I think about a new way to walk As I think, I'm using up the time left to think

  • Our bootlegger is in jail, there's a lot of time to think-- about life after jail (a new way to walk)-- and slowly finishing out the sentence (using up the time left to think)


And this train keeps rolling off the track Tryin' to act like something else Tryin' to go where it's been uninvited

  • Our bootlegger isn't asking for trouble, but trouble is finding our protagonist, even in jail

It's not my birthday It's not today It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me?

  • So here's the punchline to the whole story-- this bootlegger gets a cake in jail, kind of slow on the uptake reacts like this is weird, this isn't my birthday, and the cops realize oh this person's just getting a cake cause it's a classic Jail Bake and they lunge out at our bootlegger. Our bootlegger doesn't understand that someone outside was trying to provide the tools for the escape they so wanted-- so our protagonist just thinks Man, trouble seems to find me, why did I get a cake on my not birthday (fun fact, we all have 364 not birthdays...sometimes 365), and then why the heck did these cops jump out at me?!

When the word comes down "Never more will be around"

  • Raven reference and everything is ephemeral and eventually all will be nothing

Though I wish we were there

  • I wish I was at the end already-- our bootlegger is talking about mom here who apparently is passed away-- and apologizing to her

I was less than we could bear

  • This is a play-- the mom bore our bootlegger of course and I was less means I didn't reach my full potential. Basically, I disappointed you and myself, my mother who bore me

And I'm not the only dust my mother raised

  • Mom raising dust means she raised her share of chaos back in the day, his life is just a continuation of that

So I'm rattlin' the bars around this drink tank discreetly I should pour through the keyhole or evaporate completely

  • Our bootlegger is in jail (drink tank) and wants to escape much like the volatile alcoholin the spirits they created

But there'd be no percentage and there'd be no proof

  • But upon escaping our bootlegger vows to go on the straight and narrow-- no more bootlegging; also bit of a double meaning our bootlegger would make sure there was no proof of the escape

And the sound upon the roof is only water

  • Our bootlegger is hoping for an escape in vain but the sound upon the roof is only water, it seems like no one is coming to help. But of course someone is-- our bootlegger doesn't get this so is like I never want to see that recipe again, I woe is me, I'm going to be on the straight and narrow from here on out because crime doesn't pay. Also what the hell this isn't my birthday, and this cake crumbled as if it was hollow and all these cops lunged at me...

And the rain falls down without my help, I'm afraid And my lawn gets wet, though I've withheld my consent When this gray world crumbles like a cake I'll be hangin' from the hope That I'll never see that recipe again

It's not my birthday It's not today It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me? When the word comes down "Never more will be around" Though I wish we were there I was less than we could bear And I'm not the only dust my mother raised I am not the only dust my mother raised 67.245.73.33 18:08, 13 July 2022 (EDT)Ashtrash

The inevitable march of time, the looming spectre of old age and death

Yep, we're going to take this line-by-line. Here we go: 

   Well, the rain falls down without my help, I'm afraid
   And my lawn gets wet though I've withheld my consent

Similar to Older, this song is about time moving on no matter what you do. The narrator isn't happy about it. The rain comes down, the lawn gets wet. He didn't ask for any of this and still it all continues. 


   When this gray world crumbles like a cake
   I'll be hangin' from the hope
   That I'll never see that recipe again

As someone else mentioned, this is a MacArthur Park reference. Our narrator here really hopes that when this depressing, gloomy, bleak ("gray") world finally comes to an end, that nobody ever can remake it. It's a flip on the line from McArthur Park where the narrator is lamenting no longer having the recipe. "Hangin from the hope" implies hanging on, but it could also mean hanging as in being hanged, the hangman's noose, death, etc. The thing he is being hanged by is hope. The hope for anything is just a noose to him. And his only hopes left are for death. 


   As I walk, I think about a new way to walk
   As I think, I'm using up the time left to think"

As the narrator moves through life he thinks about how the world could be different and better, but ultimately just realized the time he spent doing so is just wasting the time he has left before he dies. 


   And this train keeps rolling off the track
   Tryin' to act like something else
   Tryin' to go where it's been uninvited"

His train of thought keeps rolling off track and also time keeps getting away from him "like a runaway train." A train that goes off of it's track is trying to act like it's a different vehicle, one that doesn't need rails. The rails are where the train has been "invited" to go and it's going somewhere else, where it's been uninvited. This is interesting because uninvited doesn't just mean somewhere it hasn't been invited, but rather in all the possibility in the world, its invitation to these other paths been specifically revoked. Its freedom is has been taken. His plans for life were set on a certain path but it has gone off the rails and he no longer has any control of it. His lawn gets wet though he's witheld his consent. He tried to exert some control over his life, tried to gain some measure of autonomy by "going off the track" and instead he has lost all ability to navigate entirely just like a train off a track. He went from being stuck in a particular life path (on the track) to being on a chaotic spiral where he can't steer (off the track). In both instances he no longer has any say over where he goes. The use of "uninvited" also is playing with the idea of birthdays and invitations. 


   It's not my birthday
   It's not today
   It's not my birthday so why do you lunge out at me?

Usually we think about our increasing old age and our increasing proximity to death on our birthdays, but today these thoughts are lunging out at him, unbidden into his mind despite the fact that it is not even his birthday. The "you" here is his thoughts, the world, his life, the feelings of depression, helplessness in the face of the steady march to the grave and wanting it all to just be over already. 


   When the word comes down "Never more will be around"

This is a bit of wordplay. The line is very close to as "when the world comes down, never more we'll be around", implying that when the world ends we will all cease to exist. But also, when the "the word" comes down, i.e. we get news of our death/the end of life, there will never be anything at all more. All existence will cease. Also the wording is a bit odd because the line has been twisted to include Edgar Allen Poe's Raven refrain, "nevermore" and the ominous portent it brings with it. Here's a bit from The Raven that I think is relevant to the hopelessness of It's Not My Birthday: 

   “Prophet!” said I, “thing of evil!—prophet still, if bird or devil!—
   Whether Tempter sent, or whether tempest tossed thee here ashore,
   Desolate yet all undaunted, on this desert land enchanted—
   On this home by Horror haunted—tell me truly, I implore—
   Is there—is there balm in Gilead?—tell me—tell me, I implore!”
   Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”

The Raven is telling Poe's narrator that all hope is lost. There is no longer any balm in Gilead. The future is one of bleakness, pain and sorrow.

Ok, back to the song. 


   Though I wish we were there

He wishes his life was over and/or the world was over. 

   I was less than we could bear

If he was more than could be beared (by the world? By life?) Then he would cease to exist. If your life is more than you can bear then you are no longer alive. The word "can" implies the capacity one has to do a thing. If you cannot bear something then you lack the capacity. He--in his view rather unfortunately--is just bearable enough that his life keeps on going. Maybe if he was unbearable it would stop. 


   And I'm not the only dust my mother raised

This is a really clever line with some great wordplay. First off, it's a play on the saying "I'm not the only hell my mother raised." Only in this case he isn't hell, he's dust. This is a reference to God creating Adam from the dust, which is the same reason we say during funerals "ashes to ashes, dust to dust". Man was created from dust and to dust he shall return. The narrator here is saying he isn't the only human to have been created, and he's doing so by invoking some pretty funereal imagery, appropriate to tmbg and the rest of this song. Also, unlike hell, our narrator is nothing so dramatic or exciting. He's dusty and boring and drab. 


   So I'm rattlin' the bars around this drink tank

So he is just biding his time until death. And it sounds like he's doing it with some alcohol. I think Drink is a good thematic pair here. This is a play on "drunk tank" which is where people get locked up by the cops for being publicly intoxicated. He calls it a drink tank and sounds drunk when he does it a la "I'm not as think as you drunk I am." "Bars" is doing double duty as meaning both the bars of the jail cell and the bars he's been drinking at. 


   discreetly
   I should pour through the keyhole or evaporate completely

He's imagining himself poured out of the jail cell or even *poof* disappearing all together (dying). There are so many alcohol images in the last line this and the next. Pouring is of course about alcohol and evaporation is part of the distilling process in making liquor. 


   But there'd be no percentage and there'd be no proof

Percentage and proof are both alcohol words referring to the amount of alcohol in a beverage. Also if he were to evaporate completely there would be no percentage (literally zero percent of him left) and no proof (no evidence left behind). Also there's a zero percent chance of him escaping and there's no proof he has committed any real crime. 


   And the sound upon the roof is only water

I.e. it's not alcohol. And also it is not the sound of anybody coming to break him out. And it sets up the refrain about the rain falling down again for a final run at the chorus, him lamenting his life and the slow march of time all over again.

--Never (talk) 05:52, 23 August 2022 (EDT)

A Couple Interesting Things

Can I just say, after a long time of browsing the wiki for fun sometimes, I have come to the conclusion that y'all are some troubled sons of bitches. Anyways, both of these interpretations that I want to talk about started from me asking "On what occasion would you actually sing this song?". The days surrounding your birthday? No. Those are just days. Your half birthday? Well, that's more your birthday than any other normal day. If your birthday is a leap day, and you don't have it every year? Again, no real special day for that. But then I realized, a day where you'd want to throw attention off of it being your special day is somebody else's birthday. So my first interpretation is that a friend of the singer is having a party at the singer's house, and he doesn't approve. Most of the song is him being mad at his friend, the last verse implying that he confiscates the alcohol so that everyone will leave. My other interpretation, which I actually thought of first, is that if there's not a really special day where you would sing about a distinct lack of birthday, why can't it be that every day that it isn't your birthday is one where this song is appropriate. So, my other interpretation is that it's more of a call to action, wondering out loud why you would celebrate the day that marks a milestone towards your demise, and says that what you should be celebrating is... not that. That every day that's not your birthday is a day that isn't progressing toward your death in a big way, and that's worth celebrating. I'm not enamored with this song the way the rest of the wiki seems to be, but I just love the phrase, "It's not my birthday" as used in the song, and surrounded by TMBG word salad (which is all the song is). It's such a simple phrase, but there are so many things it could refer to, and I love seeing all of the really creative, interesting and clever instances of it not being your birthday that the the wikians have shared. It's those kind of: simple and general, but with a vast amount of avenues for interpretation style lyrics that fascinate me.

ButtonMarkedErase (talk) 15:12, 24 May 2023 (EDT)

“It’s not my birthday, so why do you lunge out at me?”

This and the song title could be related to how you are 14% more likely to die on your birthday than any other day. I agree with the depression interpretation, and in that context “It’s not my birthday, it’s not today” could be referring to…ehem…“self deletion”. So basically “I won’t die today, and so I continue to be miserable”. Do with this information what you must.

A Rainy View of Life

To me, this song is quite simply someone's bitter and sad view of the world. They feel helpless, unable to stop the rain on their lawn or the runaway "train" of their own miserable thoughts. They spend their time worrying about the way they are walking, then feeling bad about "using up" their time to think on such things. Their mortality frightens them and makes them wish they could do more with their life, and yet they cannot escape the cycling, negative nature of their own mind.

There's also an implication of paranoia; the speaker believes everyone is lunging out at them in the way a surprise birthday party's guests may...even positive things like this are warped by their mind. Everything is filtered through the speaker's depression. They try to use alcohol to cope and continuously wish they could "evaporate"/disappear/die. The way this fantasy death is rendered in their mind is as the world simply crumbling away, and perhaps a rebirth/birthday coming from this. In this dreamt-up fresh start, the speaker hopes they will be able to avoid the "recipe" of their own misery and live a new, happy life. -LapinPuff (talk) 14:18, 19 February 2024 (EST)

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