Good to Know That If I Ever Need Attention All I Have to Do Is Die
Producer
Good to Know That If I Ever Need Attention All I Have to Do Is Die Lyrics
Am I correct to defend the fist that holds this pen?
It's ink that lies
The pen, the prose, the paper
I live, I learn
You will always take what I have earned
And so aid my end while I believe I'm winning
Our friends speak out in our defense
Pay ten deaf ears for two months rent
We burn the gallows they erect
And cut the nooses they tie for our necks
[Chorus]
You constantly make it impossible to make conversation
We're comatose but audible
And I liked it the farther I get out
We passed it off but it's all on us
Only common conversation, it took everything I got
And I liked it the farther I get out
[Verse 2]
Once said, always said
I will hold the past over your head
I'll speak my mind whenever I feel slighted
I am hellbent on extracting all of my revenge
Take heart, sweetheart, or I will take it from you
I slip concealed back to the keep
Concede to do the work for free
We prey as wolves among the sheep
And slit the necks of soldiers while they sleep
You constantly make it impossible to make conversation
We're comatose but audible
And I liked it the farther I get out
We passed it off but it's all on us
Only common conversation, it took everything I got
And I liked it the farther I get out
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
You constantly make it impossible to make conversation
We're comatose but audible
And I liked it the farther I get out
We passed it off but it's all on us
Only common conversation, it took everything I got
And I liked it the farther I get out
You constantly make it impossible to make conversation
We're comatose but audible
And I liked it the farther I get out
We passed it off but it's all on us
Only common conversation, it took everything I got
And I liked it the farther I get out
About
The title is wry commentary on the music business. The quintessential example of course is Kurt Cobain of Nirvana. After he died, record sales when through the roof and he has been worshipped and mourned to this day.
Tom Delonge of Blink-182 once joked about this:
I grew up skateboarding, but I don’t even do that anymore. I’ll get hurt and die. But if I die, I’ll sell more records. We’re thinking of doing that. Actually dying."
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
In a January 2004 interview with Rock Sound, Jesse Lacey explained the song’s title and subject.
I titled that after my best friend Tim. Someone started a silly rumour that he’d died of alcohol poisoning. A few people took it seriously and made calls to his family – people that he has never heard of or hadn’t heard from in years. All these people came out because they thought he was dead. He was like, ‘it’s good to know that if I ever need attention all I have to do is die!’. That song was written about the way that as a band grows everyone wants to take a piece of us and that’s very scary because we can only be a band as long as we can support ourselves and live.
Tim, AKA ‘Oklahoma Tim’, was a childhood friend of Lacey and John Nolan from Taking Back Sunday. He is mentioned in the Play Crack The Sky Story.