In August 2017, several people came forward with accusations of sexual assault towards the lead singer, Chris Clavin, leading to a short hiatus until late 2019. Bands he had collaborated with condemned his actions, renouncing their work on Plan-It-X Records, and vowed to remove Clavin's work from future printings of split albums.
France
Ghost Mice Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you don't have any money
Those cafés aren't so cute to walk by
When you're hungry
Our campground on the outskirts of town
Was all we could afford to do
We were so sick of bein' in the big cities
We mailed home all our huge rolls of film
And all the change that we couldn't use
We bumped into some girls that we knew from Texas
Saw the Mona Lisa, her smile seemed so cruel
And we used our last ticket to take the train
To a boat on the coast that would take us away
To a place that we hoped
Would be the end of our sorrows
When we got there we were way too late
There was no way we could leave that day
We'd have to find a place to stay
And try again tomorrow
We found a secret place to crash
In a bush by the docks
That was filled with trash
We cleared a spot and we called it a day
And I wished that I brought my guitar
As I looked through the bush
Up at the stars
Fell asleep and got woke up by the rain
We waited on the porch for the doors to open
And we asked the guy if there was any reason hopin'
He said, "Don't give up,
Cross your fingers, wish for luck"
So I cast my spells and I made my curses
Wishin' that a truck would get stuck
And then we could take their place,
Leave France that day
"France" by Ghost Mice is a poignant and introspective reflection on the struggles of travelling on a tight budget, particularly in the context of the romanticized city of Paris. The singer laments that the city loses its charm when you are hungry and lacking in money, and that the café culture is not so cute to walk by. The song captures the disillusionment of tourists who have high expectations that are dampened by the harsh reality of travelling.
The second verse of the song shifts to describe the singer's experiences in a campground on the outskirts of Paris. The city is portrayed as rude, and the song highlights the trade-off between wanting to experience big cities while travelling but also wanting to escape their harshness. The singer and his companions mail home their rolls of film and unused change, wanting to rid themselves of reminders of the struggles of travelling.
The song's bridge describes the singer's journey to the coast of France, where they hope to find respite from their struggles. However, their efforts are foiled by forces beyond their control, and they are left to find a place to stay for the night. The song ends with the singer casting spells and wishing for luck in the hope that they can leave France and their struggles behind.
Overall, "France" is a powerful reflection on the complexities of travelling, and the harsh realities that can undermine romanticized visions of certain cities and destinations. It is a reminder that while travelling can offer freedom and adventure, it can also be difficult and challenging, especially for those on a tight budget.
Line by Line Meaning
Paris isn't that romantic
Paris is not as romantic as it's made out to be
If you don't have any money
Unless you have money, you won't enjoy the romantic aspects of the city
Those cafés aren't so cute to walk by
If you're hungry, the cafes won't look as charming as they appear to be
When you're hungry
Being hungry can ruin your experience in a city like Paris
Our campground on the outskirts of town
We were forced to stay on the outskirts of Paris due to affordability issues
Was all we could afford to do
Our financial situation didn't allow us to indulge in expensive activities in Paris
We were so sick of bein' in the big cities
We were tired of the hustle-bustle in major cities
This one seemed so rude, rude, rude
Paris didn't live up to our expectations and we found it to be unfriendly
We mailed home all our huge rolls of film
We sent our films back home since we couldn't afford to develop them in Paris
And all the change that we couldn't use
The currency differences made it tough for us to use the local money effectively
We bumped into some girls that we knew from Texas
We met some acquaintances from Texas during our Paris trip
Saw the Mona Lisa, her smile seemed so cruel
The famous painting, Mona Lisa, didn't impress us much and we found it eerie
And we used our last ticket to take the train
We spent our final train ticket trying to get to a boat on the coast to leave Paris
To a place that we hoped
We were headed to a place where we hoped our misfortunes would end
Would be the end of our sorrows
We were hoping for a lucky break to end our string of bad luck
When we got there we were way too late
By the time we reached, it was already too late to catch the boat
There was no way we could leave that day
We missed the boat and were stranded at that place for the day
We'd have to find a place to stay
We had to look for a place to stay overnight
And try again tomorrow
We decided to give it another shot the next day
We found a secret place to crash
We stumbled upon a spot to sleep in the bushes by the docks
In a bush by the docks
We slept inside a bush near the docks
That was filled with trash
The place where we slept was cluttered with garbage
We cleared a spot and we called it a day
We cleared a small portion of space to sleep and called it a day
And I wished that I brought my guitar
One of us regretted not bringing their guitar to kill time
As I looked through the bush
One of us gazed through the leaves of the bush and above at the stars
Up at the stars
We spent some time admiring the stars
Fell asleep and got woke up by the rain
We slept off and woke up to the sound of rainfall
We waited on the porch for the doors to open
We waited for the doors to open while standing on the porch
And we asked the guy if there was any reason hopin'
We asked the manager if there was any way to leave that place
He said, "Don't give up,
The manager advised us to not lose hope
Cross your fingers, wish for luck"
He suggested that we should hope for luck and stay optimistic
So I cast my spells and I made my curses
One of us resorted to superstitious beliefs and rituals to bring us good luck
Wishin' that a truck would get stuck
We secretly hoped that a truck would get stuck so we could take their place
And then we could take their place,
We hoped to catch a ride via the stranded truck
Leave France that day
We wanted to leave France on an earlier date regardless of the situation
Contributed by Sydney O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.