Brothers on a Hotel Bed

Album: Plans (2005)
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Songfacts®:

  • This song is talking about someone who believes that with time the one that he loves will fail to remember him for who he is because as he grows older, they grow more distant and out of love: "You may tire of me as our December sun is setting, 'cause I'm not who I used to be. No longer easy on the eyes, these wrinkles masterfully disguise the youthful boy below." He is stating that he is who he used to be on the inside, but that his "beauty" has faded and can no longer be seen as the boy he once was. Thus, it's like two brothers on a hotel bed; they lay on opposite sides not facing each other and with space between them. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    Tiffany - Dayton, OH
  • Paramore's lead guitarist Josh Farro told Kerrang! magazine February 16, 2008 that this would be the last song he'd like to hear before he died. He said: "I would advise anyone who hasn't heard this song to check it out. It's a very moving song, very elegant, not like a rock song or anything. It's one of those pieces of music that you can drive along to and just forget about everything and allow you to just fall into the music."

Comments: 19

  • Josh from NyI can tell most of the comments here are from younger folks as they understood it the same way I did when I was their age. I'm now 40, and still deeply in love with my wife, as she is with me. Still, love changes. Love becomes more familial and less romantic. It is different, but that doesn't mean less. To me, this song is about approaching the end of life together.
  • Jason from NevadaThe song is about a couple drifting apart, to the point where sleeping in bed together is as platonic as 2 brothers sharing a hotel beds. They say good night out of habit and to simply acknowledge each other.

    I’ve been there myself, and all too often “I legit cannot remember the last time we kissed each other”.
  • Jack from Weymouth, Ma10/10 album.. however this song will make me depressed instantly, no matter my current mood. Oh god this albums so beautiful. So depressing but so so beautiful.
  • Matthew from Los Angeles, CaI love this song, even if it doesn't have an upbeat mood. Such great lyrics.
    Great descriptions and imagery:
    "our December sun is setting"
    "No longer easy on the eyes but these wrinkles masterfully disguise"
    "But even at our swiftest speed we couldn't break from the concrete in the city where we still reside."
    "And I have learned that even landlocked lovers yearn for the sea like navy men"
    "Like brothers on a hotel bed"

    That line has been stuck in my head for quite a while now.
  • Holden from Salt Lake City, UtWhat Sarah Said, Marching Bands of Manhattan, Summer Skin, and this are all so depressing, but they make me feel really happy at the same time. I will gladly agree, and fervently believe this song is strung with emotion. It's a song that I listen to when I get depressed, and it means so much. I listened to this song over and over, and it still sounds as new and sorrowful as the first time I heard the song.
  • Avery from Monroe, NcThis song speaks so deep because it's something we all think about and know. People change everyday we all are not who we used to be, we grow, change, and find new ways of viewing life.
  • Sofia from Bangkok, Thailandthe lyrics; 'like brothers on a hotel bed' explains how foreign they are to the place/situation they have been in together for years. It can also be him split - one side of the bed is him as a youthful boy and the other side is him now, old.
    'Brothers on a hotel bed' also can depicts two siblings charing a bedroom and the awkwardness that comes along with the siblings growing up into adults, yet still having to shar their privacy.
  • Sarah from Karachi, PakistanIt reminds me of the book- Love in the time of Cholera. The whole theme of love changing with time and dissillusionment of passion.
  • Grace from Seattle, WaTRULY beautiful song. I'm going to have this song requested at my funeral. :)
  • Max from Santiago, ChileThis is a love song but from the point of view of a couple getting old and gradually drifting away from each other. There's no passion anymore so they lie on their bed but do nothing to each other... like brothers on a hotel bed. That's why it's sad: cause it's freakin sad!
  • Emily from Auburn, AlI LOVE LOVE LOVE this song. It has to be my favorite DCFC song ever recorded.
  • Taylor from New Orleans, LaWhen I first heard this, I was evacuating over Hurricane Katrina and their album "Plans" had just come out. I was sitting on a hotel bed with my brother and this song came over (we'd never heard it before) and when he say's the line "like brother's on a hotel bed" we both stared at eachother, knowing the exact meaning of that phrase. Strange story.
  • Alex from H-burg, Ohgreat song i love it, i love most of there songs.
  • Robert from Scranton, PaA funeral you really missed the meaning of the song man.
  • Ted from Glenview, IlI wanted to also say that I do abssolutely know where you guys are coming from. I listen to this song when I'm feeling down-ironic/stupid I guess considering it isn't upbeat or happy...but sometimes when I'm down, I feel that a saddish song can make you feel better by simply giving you some emotion to identify yourself with
  • Ted from Glenview, IlI don't find this song to have AS somber a tone as you three do. Alot of Gibbard's lyrics may feel "sad", but I think that's just inflection and emotion, two things common in all good songwriting and composition. With that said, brilliant song
  • Cassandra from Portland, CtWhen I first heard this song I was going through a very depressed stage. This song was there for me. It is sad, and the lyrics "Something he wasn't looking for, both a beginning and an end" really made me think.
  • Violet from Baltimore, MdThis is such an amazing song. Currently this is one of my favorite songs. I agree with Joey that it's really sad, but there's so much emotion in it that you feel like no matter who you are you can relate or at least understand what the person in the song is going through.
  • Joey from Nowhere Land, CaThis song sounds so depressing, like it should be played at a funeral or something
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