Their sound encompassed a style which was more influenced by bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai than any of the older emo bands, and was very bipolar in its approach. Very long, slow and beautiful build-ups would give way to chaotic screaming and passionate singing. Their Japanese tourmates, Envy, also rivaled them for this approach; when Envy toured the US in January 2005, they were originally intended to have come earlier with City of Caterpillar supporting them.
The band broke up in late 2003 as a result of personal differences..
Kevin and Jeff played together in Malady, Ryan is still in Darkest Hour, original bassist Adam formed Stop It!! and Brandon and Pat are both living in NYC collaborating in Ghastly City Sleep.
City of Caterpillar reunited in 2016 and has been touring ever since. In the same year the band also issued an old, previously unreleased recording from the sessions from their self-titled album, "As the Curtains Dim; (Little White Lie)"; the next year, they released another song, "Driving Spain Up a Wall", that had been performed live but not recorded in the studio.
And You're Wondering How a Top Floor Could Replace Heaven
City of Caterpillar Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And century-old arctic kisses
And not a finger lifts till it all turns to shit
And you all act like you're impressed
You slouch now, even further down
As you're wondering how a top floor could replace heaven
We've built it all, we've made our gods
Locked in ourselves
Laugh yourself red
Laugh yourself red
Laugh yourself red (I know you'd choke)
Laugh yourself red
Laugh yourself red (I know you'd choke)
Waving your goodbyes with your plastic hands
And century-old arctic kisses
And not a finger lifts till it all turns to shit
And you all act like you're impressed
You slouch now, even further down
As you're wondering how a top floor could replace
The heaven you once saw so well
We've built it all, we've made our gods
Now we're locked in ourselves
It's their time, it's still time
You know I'm, I'm tired
It's their time, it's still time
You know I'm, I'm tired
Yeah, an airbag could save my life
When my lungs collapse from methane gas of melting ice caps
Yeah, an airbag could save my life (It's their time, it's still time, you know I'm, I'm tired)
When my lungs collapse from methane gas of melting ice caps (It's their time, it's still time, you know I'm, I'm tired)
If it was airtight and not uptight (It's their time, it's still time, you know I'm, I'm tired)
So laugh yourself 'cause in the end I know you'd choke (It's their time, it's still time, you know I'm, I'm tired)
I know you'd choke
I know you'd choke
I know you'd choke
I know you'd choke
Choke, choke
Choke, choke
If it was airtight
If it was airtight
If it was airtight
If it was airtight
If it was airtight (I know you'd choke)
If it was airtight (I know you'd choke)
If it was airtight (I know you'd choke)
If it was airtight (I know you'd choke)
Airtight (I know you'd choke)
If it was airtight (I know you'd choke)
If it was airtight (I know you'd choke)
If it was airtight (I know you'd choke)
The lyrics to City of Caterpillar's song And You're Wondering How a Top Floor Could Replace Heaven are a commentary on the relationship between human beings and the environment. The first verse talks about people saying goodbye with plastic hands and century-old arctic kisses, which suggests a disregard for the natural world. The second part of the verse talks about how people only act when things start to go wrong, indicating that we only seem to care when it's too late. The chorus is about people realizing that they have built their own "heaven" but it turns out to be just a top floor, or a symbol of artificial progress. The last verse talks about how we have created our own gods, but in doing so, we have become trapped within ourselves. The final lines are about how an airbag could save our lives, but only if it was airtight and not uptight.
Overall, the song is a critique of our culture's shortsightedness regarding the environment and our tendency to prioritize short-term gains over long-term sustainability. The plastic hands and arctic kisses represent our careless behavior and disregard for the natural world, and the idea that a top floor could replace heaven suggests that our focus on material progress has blinded us to what is truly important.
Line by Line Meaning
Waving your goodbyes with your plastic hands
You're saying farewell with artificial gestures
And century-old arctic kisses
Your parting kisses are as cold as a hundred years of ice
And not a finger lifts till it all turns to shit
Nobody takes action until things go terribly wrong
And you all act like you're impressed
You're all pretending to be impressed with things that don't matter
You slouch now, even further down
You're becoming more complacent and less motivated
As you're wondering how a top floor could replace heaven
You're questioning how wealth and power have become your new idols
We've built it all, we've made our gods
We've created our own gods of status and achievement
Locked in ourselves
We're trapped in our own self-constructed world
Laugh yourself red
Laugh until you become embarrassed
I know you'd choke
I know you would struggle or fail under pressure
Yeah, an airbag could save my life
A safety net could protect me from danger
When my lungs collapse from methane gas of melting ice caps
As the ice caps continue to melt and release harmful gases into the atmosphere
If it was airtight and not uptight
If we could create a world free of pressure and tension
So laugh yourself 'cause in the end I know you'd choke
Laugh now because eventually you'll face a difficult situation you can't handle
It's their time, it's still time
It's their turn to have power and control, but there's still time for change
You know I'm, I'm tired
I'm exhausted by the current state of things
Choke, choke
Struggle, struggle
If it was airtight
If we could eliminate all sources of stress and anxiety
Airtight
Completely sealed from outside influence
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Jeff Kane, Brandon Evans, Kevin Longendyke, Ryan Parrish
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind