Life Is Simple in the Moonlight
The Strokes Lyrics

Animals on TV singing
The meaningless songs on TV represent a pain or confusion that we can never truly understand.

About some pain that they once felt
The songs on TV are about past experiences that the animals singing them have gone through.

There's no one I disapprove of more or root for more than myself
The singer has mixed feelings about their own actions; they criticize themselves while also wanting to see themselves succeed.

I wanted to pretend that it was better, better, better on the phone
The artist didn't want to share their negative feelings with someone else, so they pretended everything was okay on the phone.

I didn't wanna tell you I was jealous, jealous, jealous and alone
The artist felt envious and lonely but was hesitant to confess those feelings to someone else.

So we talk about ourselves and how
The singer and their companion discuss their personal struggles.

To forget the love we never felt
They try to forget about the love they never had, which can be painful to dwell on.

All the old jokes that work so well
The group laughs at the same old jokes, which is comforting and familiar.

You never were so sure, was the moment
The artist is unsure if the current moment is meaningful or not.

Don't try to stop us
The artist and their companion are determined to move forward with their lives and don't want anyone to impede them.

Get out of the way
The singer is bluntly telling anyone to move if they are in their path.

Got to get to climb your tree in the light of the living ghost I see
The artist wants to explore the unknown and take risks despite the possibility of encountering something daunting.

She sees her father in that old man's eyes while secretly he stares at her thighs
There is a complex dynamic between a young woman and an older man who may remind her of her father.

As I watched the velvet drapes appear
The singer is observing how opulence and fanciness can often hide unsavory secrets.

And the door was closed for forty years
Someone has been keeping something locked away for a long time.

As we hide what we don't want to hear
People tend to bury uncomfortable truths to avoid confronting them.

As we hide our dream, near here
People also keep their aspirations concealed to avoid judgment or disappointment.

He is coming from a part of hell
This person is going through a difficult or unpleasant experience.

Where, like Nanbu, I don't go down well
The singer feels out of place in an environment where others belong comfortably.

He can tell that we're oblivious
Someone else can see how ignorant we are to a particular situation.

It's addiction and routine as well
We may be knowingly stuck in a cycle of craving and habit.

Making fools out of the best of us
Our own negative behaviors can make us appear foolish or unwise.

Making robots of the rest of us
Additionally, our patterns of behavior can make us seem unfeeling or robotic.

In that sense, I tell, in America today
The artist believes that people in America are acting in this manner right now.

There's a crime, just like going out westward, says
There is a severity to their situation that is akin to a harsh journey.