Ironic Dysphemism
Invalids Lyrics
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Washed to fade
Watched and walked away
With some forgettable charm
Regrettably long overstay
Tried to trace back to find ourselves again
Used to the silence
And it still takes
We hoped to release our whole memories for each other to see
But as much as we'd like to concede, we couldn't share everything
For the times we thought something we couldn't speak
Or the will to keep something we couldn't keep
Spent all morning long planning how our simple dialog would go
And where it'd go
And surely it deviates
So what does that say?
If my success rate of guessing what you're gonna say
Can't get it straight
And I wouldn't rely, even though my voice is sore,
On either one of us to leave it alone anymore
And at the end of it, I said everything's alright
It was all I had to leave it said for the last time
All the stitches tight, and all the knots were tied
Waited long enough to make sure all the glue was dry
And we took it out
But just like every time, it drifted too high,
And got stuck in a tree the first time it left the ground
And there it stayed
"So let's just pretend that everything said, everything we did,
Everything between you and me was never meant."
Spent all afternoon going over and over again how it went
Got too close to tell if it's that hard a sell
Can you hear yourself?
The lyrics of Invalids' song Ironic Dysphemism appears to describe a failed relationship that the singer is trying to hold together despite its obvious flaws. The first verse talks about a stain that was set in a day but washed to fade, indicating that something went terribly wrong and could not be fixed. The singer then describes how they tried to retrace their steps in an attempt to find themselves again, but were unsuccessful. They seemed too comfortable with silence and were struggling to communicate. Even though the singer hoped they could release all their memories for each other to see, they were unable to share everything, as there were some things that they couldn't speak about and others that they couldn't keep.
In the second verse, the singer talks about spending all morning planning the conversation they were going to have and where it would go, but in reality, it deviated from the plan. This was a reflection of how the relationship wasn't going according to plan and was drifting aimlessly. The singer reveals that they couldn't rely on themselves or their partner to fix the relationship and had to let it go. They try to tie up all the loose ends, but just like every time, it drifted too high and got stuck in a tree on the first attempt to fix it. The song ends with the singer suggesting that they pretend that their failed relationship never happened.
Line by Line Meaning
Stain set in a day
A mistake or bad decision was made quickly
Washed to fade
We tried to fix it, but it's still there and we're accepting it
Watched and walked away
We saw the outcome of our mistake but didn't want to face it
With some forgettable charm
That mistake had some positive aspects we can't deny
Regrettably long overstay
We prolonged the time we should've fixed our mistake
Tried to trace back to find ourselves again
We attempted to find who we were before the mistake
Used to the silence
We got used to not talking about the mistake
And it took us more than we'd like to admit
It took us longer than we care to acknowledge
And it still takes
It's still hard for us to confront our mistake
We hoped to release our whole memories for each other to see
We wanted to share everything about ourselves with each other
But as much as we'd like to concede, we couldn't share everything
But there are still some things we're hesitant to share
For the times we thought something we couldn't speak
There were moments where we kept our thoughts to ourselves
Or the will to keep something we couldn't keep
Or we wanted to keep something we couldn't have
Spent all morning long planning how our simple dialog would go
We rehearsed what we wanted to say to each other for a long time
And where it'd go
And where we wanted the conversation to lead
And surely it deviates
But the conversation didn't go as planned
So what does that say?
What does that mean for us?
If my success rate of guessing what you're gonna say
If I can't even predict how you'll react
Can't get it straight
We can't get our relationship back on track
And I wouldn't rely, even though my voice is sore,
I can't depend on you, even if it's hard for me to speak anymore
On either one of us to leave it alone anymore
We can't continue to ignore the problem
And at the end of it, I said everything's alright
I pretended like our mistake didn't exist anymore
It was all I had to leave it said for the last time
I said that to end the conversation for good
All the stitches tight, and all the knots were tied
We did everything in our power to fix things
Waited long enough to make sure all the glue was dry
We waited a long time for things to go back to normal
And we took it out
And we tried to move on
But just like every time, it drifted too high,
But like every time before, things got out of hand
And got stuck in a tree the first time it left the ground
And things got stuck in one place before they could truly move forward
And there it stayed
And we were stuck in our old ways
"So let's just pretend that everything said, everything we did,
Everything between you and me was never meant."
Let's forget about our mistakes and pretend they never happened
Spent all afternoon going over and over again how it went
We couldn't stop thinking about our mistake and tried to figure out what went wrong
Got too close to tell if it's that hard a sell
We can't determine if our mistake was worth it or not
Can you hear yourself?
Do you realize the mistakes you made and how they affected us?
Contributed by Owen R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@aidenrose9736
Stain set in a day
Washed to fade
Watched and walked away
With some forgettable charm
Regrettably long overstay
Tried to trace back to find ourselves again
Used to the silence
And it took us more than we’d like to admit
And it still takes
We hoped to release our whole memories for each other to see
But as much as we’d like to concede, we couldn’t share everything
For the times we thought something we couldn’t speak
Or the will to keep something we couldn’t keep
Spent all morning long planning how our simple dialog would go
And where it’d go
And surely it deviates
So what does that say?
If my success rate of guessing what you’re gonna say
Can’t get it straight
And I wouldn’t rely, even though my voice is sore,
On either one of us to leave it alone anymore
And at the end of it, I said everything’s alright
It was all I had to leave it said for the last time
All the stitches tight, and all the knots were tied
Waited long enough to make sure all the glue was dry
And we took it out
But just like every time, it drifted too high,
And got stuck in a tree the first time it left the ground
And there it stayed
“So let’s just pretend that everything said, everything we did,
Everything between you and me was never meant.”¹
Spent all afternoon going over and over again how it went
Got too close to tell if it’s that hard a sell
Can you hear yourself?
@danmurray2453
The "Never Meant" reference gets me every time. Brilliant, gorgeous track.
@austinklohn533
my favorite part about Ironic Dysphemism by Invalids is at the end of the song he does a short cover of Never Meant by American Football. This alone truly encompasses the impact that American Football, or better yet, frontman Mike Kinsella of American Football and Cap' N Jazz truly had on the future of emo and mathrock music as a whole. Without Mike Kinsella one might argue that music wouldn't be what it is today, and we would all just be listening to the same old bands like Slint and records like Pet Sounds day in and day out, so for that Mike, I thank you, and I thank you dearly. We love you buddy.
@Bunny0ni0n
this song makes me cry
@invalidsband
Yes.
Yes.
(`:
@HeyItsKora
Yes.
Yes.
Even more yes.
(,:
@perhaps5095
Yes.
Yes.
Even more yes.
A bit more yes.
(`:
@perhaps5095
bro its chill and hype at the same time. What a beast
@fashashbar9631
You guys really deserve to bring joy to more human beings than you already do. I love everything you do... maybe minus losing the beard :)
@aidenrose9736
Stain set in a day
Washed to fade
Watched and walked away
With some forgettable charm
Regrettably long overstay
Tried to trace back to find ourselves again
Used to the silence
And it took us more than we’d like to admit
And it still takes
We hoped to release our whole memories for each other to see
But as much as we’d like to concede, we couldn’t share everything
For the times we thought something we couldn’t speak
Or the will to keep something we couldn’t keep
Spent all morning long planning how our simple dialog would go
And where it’d go
And surely it deviates
So what does that say?
If my success rate of guessing what you’re gonna say
Can’t get it straight
And I wouldn’t rely, even though my voice is sore,
On either one of us to leave it alone anymore
And at the end of it, I said everything’s alright
It was all I had to leave it said for the last time
All the stitches tight, and all the knots were tied
Waited long enough to make sure all the glue was dry
And we took it out
But just like every time, it drifted too high,
And got stuck in a tree the first time it left the ground
And there it stayed
“So let’s just pretend that everything said, everything we did,
Everything between you and me was never meant.”¹
Spent all afternoon going over and over again how it went
Got too close to tell if it’s that hard a sell
Can you hear yourself?
@jameco.58
It would be rad if you did a Slain Vid Session of this. I just want to see those tapping parts at the end in live action.