I'm getting a few things here:

* how we all just shrug aside terrible environmental destruction

* teen/young adult suicide

* how despite horrible things going on around us, we just keep doing the same old routine

I think that at the heart of the song, it is a simple sci-fi narrative, and I didn't feel as though it had any particular 'big issues' so to speak.

From what I gather though, it seems as though the 'Genius Next Door' commits suicide by drowning, probably unintentionally whilst trying to discover 'the answer' that you could find by swimming in the lake.

I do think it does touch on the areas of:
- How towns/people handle myths, e.g. disapproval, mocking, curiousness, ignorance.
- How life moves on after a death or big event.
- And also how the 'genius next door' seemed to be a loner, and how death his can be treated in such an apathetic manner to those who didn't know him, e.g. 'with doughnuts, coffee, and reports'

http://www.songmeanings.net/so...3530822107858590066/

i like this explanation:
""dreaming that the antidote is orgasm" - many believe that when a person drowns, they experience a euphoric sensation at the moment of death, comparable to an intense orgasm.

I believe maybe the lake had a reputation- the teenagers would go there to party, and dare eachother to hold their breath a long time underwater, hoping to achieve the fabled orgasm while still surviving to tell about it. Instead, many drowned- but this did not keep the kids from going back. They were foolish. Perhaps they joked that those young men who died had ejaculated in those waters... inspiring the humor in the consistency of the lake itself. The townspeople obviously did not find it appropriate to talk about what went down at the lake."

Wow...
That kind of ruined the song for me just now.
I mean I still love it. But listening to those first few lines. "But I swear that I could hear the laughter.
So they joke, and they nicknamed it "the porridge."
Cause over night that lake had turned as thick as butter"

Kind of gross...

(I'm sorry for pointing this out people.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BIG TUNA,

I always thought of "thick as butter" as an appearence thing. Like foam from beer or when kids get drunk and pee in the lake...

but yea. I've never quite understood the "meaning" of this song. I did go look at others comments on songmeanings.com and I read that one too haha. A little far fetched for me to believe but it does make sense if you look at the lyrics. A very interesting take on the song. I've never heard of the whole "orgasm intensity" thing if you die from drowning so thats why it's tough for me to believe

All I know is that I think the genius kills himself in the water that night, whether it be accidental or intentional idk. I see evidence for both

This guy on song meaning say's he/she met Regina and she explained it to them.
" met regina not too long ago and she explained to me this song...


basically..
lad or "genius" was called the genius cause he was the lad who figure out about that orgasm before death,
so loads of people tried it, ejaculating and whatnot making it as thick as porridge, and he planned to comit suicide, so he "wade midway into that poridge
Just him and the secret he was keeping"

and then yeah when its says " til you thought it through you foolish child" he actaully realised it wasnt worth it, he was a foolish child.



"In the morning the film crews start arriving
With donuts, coffee and reporters
The kids were waking up hung over
The neighbours are starting up their cars
The garbageman were emptying the dumpsters
Atheists were praying full of sarcasm"
Obvious they wer goin on like a normal day and stuf blah blahh...
"And the genius next door was sleeping"(dead)
you know when they say that death is like being asleep? she was playing on that... saying that hes
Dreaming that the antidote is orgasm
when it says dreaming that the antidote is orgasm, it actaully means dreaming that the answer to his problems is death,


so there you have it kids, spoken from the true regina skeptor herself, she has an amazing vioce live i definatly recomend anyone the see her (: "
He also said this
"You konw regina actaully wanted the lyrics to be " and wade midway into that poridge, swimming in the secret he was keeing" because it sounded more poetic but she changed it incase people didnt get it.


how humble of her (:"
Reg doesn't usually like to talk about meanings of lyrics. Is this person lying or telling the truth? I still like this theory.

quote:

Originally posted by baby jesus:
This guy on song meaning say's he/she met Regina and she explained it to them. " met regina not too long ago and she explained to me this song...

I'm very very hesitant to believe that Regina actualy explained the song to this person because as we all know from many interviews she hates explaining what her songs mean...

but for me, figuring out the meaning of this song is quite interesting. It's one of the firsts I fell in love with and I still can't grasp whatever I believe it to be. And when I read about the orgasm theory it complicated things more haha

I know Reg is loathe to discuss the meaning of her songs. So it's up to us to do it!

Wow. These explanations do make sense. I have never thought about this song in great detail.

But yes, I agree with BIG TUNA... the song is just a little ruined for me now. Just a little, though.

ruined
It will never be the same listening to the song.
That been said, the explanation makes perfect sense.
I was always wondering about the song but I'm rubbish when it comes to symbolism so I'm always surprised after I read lyrics explanation threads...

Meh, this song got as ruined as it gets for me when my mother decided to say "Oh yes it is" at the line "dreaming that the antidote is orgasm", so... Although it's not all the ruined for me even still.

ehh, Regina is one artist for whose songs I'm wary to accept ANY concrete, explicit meaning. Too many times have there been songs by her that mean so much to different people, by "meaning" many different things. I think Laughing With is the most recent, ableit it blatant, example.

For me it's just one of her story songs. And I like to think that the "thick as butter/porridge" parts are just part of the small town legends that someone else mentioned. It's not uncommon in folklore to say something like, "on dark and stormy nights, when the stars line up just right, [the lake will turn to butter/the trees will sing camp fire songs/undead kittens will rise from the pet cemetary/etc]".
So this song just feels like one of those things, with the context of a depressed, lonely man.

I dont know what everyone is talking about. Whatever meaning I take it to be, others take it to be, even if regina came out and stated that it is in fact this "ejaculation, orgasm, thick as butter" meaning...

Nothing of the sort could ever ruin this incredible song.

quote:

Originally posted by RJLupin2:
Meh, this song got as ruined as it gets for me when my mother decided to say "Oh yes it is" at the line "dreaming that the antidote is orgasm", so... Although it's not all the ruined for me even still.

hahahaha. i'm glad that wasn't my mom. but i agree with reginaoverdose that nothing like that could ruin the song for me. while i never thought of those interpretations myself and they do certainly change your perception of the song, i found it to be more interesting than ruining.

Huh?

quote:

Originally posted by RJLupin2:
Meh, this song got as ruined as it gets for me

and then:

quote:

Originally posted by RJLupin2:
Although it's not all the ruined for me even still.

Is it or isn't it???