Boys Latin

Album: Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (2014)
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Songfacts®:

  • Noah "Panda Bear" Lennox explained the meaning of this psychedelic dance tune to Fader magazine. "The song sets up an animal vs. person comparison," he said. "The way animals deal with things instinctually and don't really get lost in their minds was very attractive to me; there's a nobility to that."

    "The song talks about the dark places that people get into, and all the emotional and mental clutter that we have - but it's also about sex," he continued.

    "There's companies that make sound packs for producers, and some of them are cheesy and lame," Lennox added. "There's a couple sounds that I used from a reggae pack for this song. I got into using stuff that felt really common and devoid of any unique character, and tried to use stuff in a way that felt like nobody else could have made it except for me. Bringing my own personality and character to those things was something I got pretty excited about. On their own, though, the sounds are pretty cheesy. If I isolated them you'd be like, 'I don't know about this.'"
  • Boys' Latin is a private school in Baltimore, the city where Noah Lennox grew up. Lennox wasn't educated there, he attended the local Waldorf school. Its unclear why he titled the song after the Boys' Latin educational establishment.

Comments: 1

  • Anon from MarylandI can offer some insight into Boys' Latin that may or may not be pertinent to the meaning of the song, as I don't really know what Panda Bear intended. I do however know the stereotypes of Boys' Latin and that they may be related to this song.
    Boys' Latin is regarded as one of the easier private schools to get in to, and on that focuses on sports over academics. Specifically lacrosse, in which they are consistently the best or one of the best in the country. You can read their urban dictionary for some funny info about this. I can see how sex would tie into the school being one full of jocks but I can only provide this info for you to make your own conclusion as to the meaning of the song.
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