# The Shins: "New Slang" -- lyrics meaning **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 25, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shins-new-slang-lyrics-meaning/231013 "2004-02-25T01:31:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shins-new-slang-lyrics-meaning/231013/1 "2004-02-25T01:31:56Z")
I love the song “New Slang” ([lyrics here](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/theshins/newslang.html)) by The Shins, but I can’t for the life of me understand the chorus: > [@](#): > > New slang when you notice the stripes, the dirt in your fries. > Hope it’s right when you die, old and bony. I don’t know where to start. What new slang? The only sense in which I can understand the word slang here is as a metaphor for not keeping up with a changing language or, figuratively, society, or perhaps a changing form of communication in the context of a relationship. Beyond that, I’m drawing blank. And what about the stripes? I suspect it’s from the idiom “to earn one’s stripes”, ie. gain experience. I interpret “dirt in your fries” as a metaphor for disappointment with life, the feeling of discovering that one is stuck with soiled or damaged goods. The song itself I interpret as being about cynicism, the loss of innocence resulting from disappointment and struggling with life, and the resulting gain in experience. Am I getting close? Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shins-new-slang-lyrics-meaning/231013/2 "2004-02-25T04:44:34Z")
I think its saying basicly… boy I used to be happy when I was dumb and innocent back when we met… but now I hate everything… you shoulda liked me! then we would have been happy forever and I’d dance around like a weirdo because I’d be so happy. so I guess you lost your chance… hope your happy when you die a bony old person who realizes what you missed! ---
**Author:** ![Lisa-go-Blind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Lisa-go-Blind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lisa-go-Blind)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shins-new-slang-lyrics-meaning/231013/3 "2004-02-25T04:47:14Z")
Have you listened to other Shins songs? James Mercer isn’t exactly famous for his lucid lyrics. That said, I think **owlofcreamcheese** is right on. ---
**Author:** ![owlofcreamcheese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@owlofcreamcheese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlofcreamcheese)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shins-new-slang-lyrics-meaning/231013/4 "2004-02-25T05:08:17Z")
lisa is right too… at least 2/3rds of every shins song is just words that sound cool or rhyme well. if one line makes sense, assume thats what the whole song is about and you’ll be right mostly. ---
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shins-new-slang-lyrics-meaning/231013/5 "2004-02-25T05:09:15Z")
> [@owlofcreamcheese](#): > > I think its saying basicly… > > boy I used to be happy when I was dumb and innocent back when we met… but now I hate everything… you shoulda liked me! then we would have been happy forever and I’d dance around like a weirdo because I’d be so happy. so I guess you lost your chance… hope your happy when you die a bony old person who realizes what you missed! Silly me, I always thought of the “you” in the chorus to mean the more usual, more generalizing “one” – as in “when one notices the stripes” – not the character to which the song is addressed. That puts everything in a slightly different light. Thanks. That doesn’t quite explain the bit about the bakers at dawn, although that could be read as merely a cynical, randomly directed outburst, and what’s more, just a nice-sounding passage. And **Lisa-go-Blind** , I think you’re confusing lack of lucidity with surrealism. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/eb8c5e/32.png) [@gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gentle)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-shins-new-slang-lyrics-meaning/231013/6 "2004-02-25T05:12:18Z")
> [@owlofcreamcheese](#): > > lisa is right too… at least 2/3rds of every shins song is just words that sound cool or rhyme well. if one line makes sense, assume thats what the whole song is about and you’ll be right mostly. I beg to differ. But if you can give me an example, I would be happy to discuss it.