This week's discussion is on the fourth track off I Built You a Tower, "I Built You a Tower (a)."

Lyrics

>I built you a tower
A tower in my mind
A place that no one else
No one else would ever find
'Cause I needed you
I needed you contained
You'd run circles 'round
Circles 'round my brain

>Until I couldn't think
Until I couldn't think of anyone else

>At first the silence felt
Felt like an old friend
From whom I was estranged
But finally made amends
But into this void
Into this empty space
All my sleeping fears
They began to race

>Until I couldn't think
Until I couldn't think of anything else
Until I couldn't think
Until I couldn't think of anything else

>I thought that I could keep
Could keep you locked away
That in this soundless spire
Was where you'd always stay
But there was no shape
That you could not escape
What a fool I was
To think that I was safe

>And now I cannot think
And now I cannot think of anyone else

>Oh, how this penchant is a curse
All the way from the cradle to the hearse
And there are days when I wish you'd just become
An acquaintance or a time-to-time someone

>I built you a tower
A tower in my mind
A place that no one else
No one else would ever find
'Cause I needed you
I needed you contained
You'd run circles 'round
Circles 'round my brain

>And now I cannot think
And now I cannot think of anything else
And now I cannot think
And now I cannot think of anyone else

Discussion Prompts

• What is your interpretation of the lyrics of this song? What does it mean to you?
• How do you think this song fits into the rest of the album?
• What are your favorite parts of this song? Lyrically? Musically?
• Have you read any interesting interviews, analyses, or interpretations of this song?
• Do you relate to the themes of this song? Why or why not?
• ...and anything else you want to discuss!

This week's discussion is on the third track off I Built You a Tower, "Pep Talk."

Lyrics

>I'll love an incurable mess 'cause I like to tidy up
No blames and explain-it-aways, they are
Pouring from my cup

>Rebounds always running me down like a lion on the plains
But this fate is its own escape, so I
I just stand in place

>And now I find I'm waking up at sunrise
And just lying in bed
Giving myself a pep talk
To survive the day lying ahead

>My past is a whiskey glass
Tipping down a drunkard's throat
I can't claim I was ever ashamed
When I drank the antidote

>And now I find I'm waking up at sunrise
And just lying in bed
Giving myself a pep talk
To survive the day lying ahead

>But they make, they make no difference
When all of the colors blend into black
And if I raise the stakes and step out
Out on the ledge, you gotta pull me back

>'Cause they make, they make no difference
Feeling the levee starting to crack
And if I raise the stakes and step out
Out on the ledge, I'm never coming back

>And they make, they make no difference
When all of the colors blend into black
And if I raise the stakes and step out
Out on the ledge, you gotta pull me back
You gotta pull me back

Discussion Prompts

• What is your interpretation of the lyrics of this song? What does it mean to you?
• How do you think this song fits into the rest of the album?
• What are your favorite parts of this song? Lyrically? Musically?
• Have you read any interesting interviews, analyses, or interpretations of this song?
• Do you relate to the themes of this song? Why or why not?
• ...and anything else you want to discuss!

Apologies for the delay in getting this post out! I will be scheduling further IBYAT discussion posts so these can come out in a more timely manner :)

This week's discussion is on the second track off I Built You a Tower, "Punching the Flowers."

Lyrics

>In his search
For the end of the circle
He kept arriving back at the start
Having fell every hurdle
And she tried to make him feel better
But he didn’t wanna feel better
‘Cause he was living for the wandering
His heart like a dead letter

>It always seemed he was punching the flowers
Ruminating like a fatalist for hours
With a voice like the sound of slamming doors
In a voice like the sound of slamming doors

>And it seemed
He had mildew on his soul
From standing at the coastline
Wishing it would swallow him whole
And she tried to console him
But he wanted to go it alone
Because he’d never been alone
Or felt the myth of control

>It always seemed he was punching the flowers
Ruminating like a fatalist for hours
With a voice like the sound of slamming doors
In a voice like the sound of slamming doors
It always seemed he was punching the flowers
Taking for granted the sweetness til it soured
And when he spoke it was the sound of slamming doors
All she heard was the sound of slamming doors

>Words were sharpened like axes
And he swung them blindly around
With no regard for the dangers
And slashed her to the ground
And I’m not sure which is worse;
If God laughs or he doesn’t
And I’m not sure which is worse;
If it was love or it wasn’t
If it was love or it wasn’t

>It always seemed he was punching the flowers
Taking for granted the sweetness til it soured
And when he spoke it was the sound of slamming doors
All she heard was the sound of slamming doors
All she heard was the sound of slamming doors
All she heard was the sound of slamming doors

Discussion Prompts

• What is your interpretation of the lyrics of this song? What does it mean to you?
• How do you think this song fits into the rest of the album?
• What are your favorite parts of this song? Lyrically? Musically?
• Have you read any interesting interviews, analyses, or interpretations of this song?
• Do you relate to the themes of this song? Why or why not?
• ...and anything else you want to discuss!

In celebration of the new Death Cab album, we are bringing back our weekly song discussions! For the next eleven weeks, we will be spotlighting one song a week until we have covered the entirety of I Built You a Tower. Let's get started!

This week's discussion is on the first track off I Built You a Tower, "Full of Stars."

Lyrics

>Please forgive me
These nights, my head is full of stars
Of constellations retreating
Away from where we are
And I fear I'll soon be wishing on an empty sky

>I’ve got this anguish I know
Will never be satisfied
It's always hungry, so I feed it
And have the nerve to wonder why
It keeps growing and throwing tantrums
Just like a child

>And all I need
Is for you to be kind
But it seems
It's rarely worth your time

>I tried to mend these broken fences
You claimed I’d built a wall
That I'd obstructed all your exits
As if my aim all along
Was to keep you somewhere
You no longer wished to be

>And all I need
Is for you to be kind
But it seems
It's rarely worth your time

>All I need
Is for you to be kind
But it seems
It's rarely worth your time

>It's rarely worth your time

>It's rarely worth your time

Discussion Prompts

• What is your interpretation of the lyrics of this song? What does it mean to you?
• How do you think this song fits into the rest of the album?
• What are your favorite parts of this song? Lyrically? Musically?
• Have you read any interesting interviews, analyses, or interpretations of this song?
• Do you relate to the themes of this song? Why or why not?
• ...and anything else you want to discuss!