What does Of All the Gin Joints in the World mean?

Fall Out Boy: Of All the Gin Joints in the World Meaning

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Album cover for Of All the Gin Joints in the World album cover

Of All the Gin Joints in the World Lyrics

You only hold me up like this
Cause you don't know who I really am
Sometimes I just want to know what it's like to be you
We're making out inside crashed cars
We're sleeping through all our memories
I used to waste my time dreaming of being...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jul 5th 2007 !⃝

    The guy feels like he's a total loser, and going out with a girl who's in a higher class than him but only because she doesn't really know him and/or his past. "And oh, the way your makeup stains my pillowcase/Like I'll never be the same"- he's a different person now because of the relationship he has with her. Or more like, the KIND of relationship he has with her.

    I think, just like with "XO" and "I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy and All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me," this title and that of "Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner" might have been switched. It's almost like in Dirty Dancing when Johnny Castle thinks he's no good for Baby because she was brought up well and all that. And in "Nobody Puts Baby in the Corner" it could easily be called "Of All the Gin Joints in All the World" since maybe he doesn't like the prospect of seeing his cheating girlfriend anymore? It seems almost like this song is the "before" and that one is the "after." Maybe in the other song it says "The hand behind this pen relives a failure every day" because he used to be a failure before he was with her, and he was returning to that life.

  2. anonymous
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    Jan 9th 2023 !⃝

    This is one of the most iconic of Pete's lyrics. Yes it's about a romance. But it's about the first homosexual affair the author has. It is with a feminine boy, maybe even a cross dresser. "you don't even know who I am" "stains of makeup on my pillowcase" refers to the new fashion of guys wearing eye liner. The romance is hot and heavy but must be hidden. "MAKING n out in crashed cars" Sex is in the dark. It's the first time he has sex with another guy. That's why he's shy and the "do it in the dark." (Think about what was happening when this song was wrote. Pete was having a bromance with Mikey. All above the waist of course.;)

  3. anonymous
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    Jan 16th 2014 !⃝

    So, the part about "the way your makeup stains my pillow case" Is actually about the girl crying. I know the person this song was written about :)

  4. anonymous
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    Feb 9th 2011 !⃝

    I think it means that there's a couple who aren't that much in love but ' all of our moves make up for the silence' ..... The silence of them not really being in love but not caring because they have sex and they're "better" around rather when they ' turn off the lights and turn off the shyness'

  5. anonymous
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    Jan 8th 2011 !⃝

    this song is about parking. Parking for those that don't know is when you hook up in a car. The couple in the song have just met "Turn off the lights an turn off the shyness because all our moves make up for the silence." Also there is another line,"We're making out inside crashed cars and sleeping through all the memories." This line indicates the relationship isn't important, it's just a hook up because you don't sleep through memories, you are awake and nostalgic for the memories. The line "You only hold me up like this because you don't know who i really am." indicates the couple have just met and don't know each other. The line "I've got headaches and bad luck but they couldn't touch and know. I'm not trying you only hold me up like this." could indicate that the couple was drunk and hadn't not intended to hook up that night and no one has to touch or know about what happened. The line, "And oh, the way your make-up stains my pillow case like I'll never be the same." indicates that the singer will never forget the hook up and his reputation will be changed. Finally, the oh oh's at the start of the song indicate the couple having sex.

  6. anonymous
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    Aug 6th 2010 !⃝

    This song is about a couple who met, and began an exciting relationship. At first was amazing, with sex, romantic evenings etc. But as the relationsip became more serious he's realised that they've got nothing in common and that she doesn't know him very well (probably a result of arguments). He's realised that now the relationship is about sex and they're stil together out of routine and convienience rather than love.

  7. anonymous
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    May 26th 2009 !⃝

    This song is about a relationship that is only sexual. 'Turn off the lights and turn off the shyness' is a metaphor referring to the fact that if all you care about in a relationship is sex, then it won't matter what you think of the other person.

    'All of our moves make up for the silence' is saying that all the sex makes up for the lack of an actual relationship.

  8. anonymous
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    Jun 29th 2008 !⃝

    This song is about when a couple has sex and the lights are off, they aren't shy around each other.

    The stains on the pillow case, and the fact that it says turn off the lights and turn off the shyness is proof of that.

  9. nich123
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    Jun 28th 2008 !⃝

    Yeah a couple who seem to only express themselves fully when they are making out. outside the bedroom they seem shy and not the most compatible couple but when the lights go out so does the shyness as pete writes. I also think because of the shyness the couple don't really do much, "sleeping through our memories" but the couple do not mind that much because £ all of their moves make up for the silence"

  10. anonymous
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    May 24th 2008 !⃝

    I think the first couple lines mean that the girl doesn't really know him as well as she thinks she does and that sometimes he wonders what it's like to live in her shoes. as for the "making out inside crashed cars" part, this might mean that through bad situations they still have each other. "Turn off the lights and turn off the shyness/ Cause all of our moves make up for the silence" I think means that she is pretty shy arond him and even though they might not know each other that well, they still like each other a lot. "And oh, the way your makeup stains my pillowcase/Like I'll never be the same" this means he thinks she is pretty and that she has effected him in a way that will change his life forever.

  11. luckybacon7272
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    Jan 27th 2008 !⃝

    The first lines of the song : you only hold me up like this cause you don't know who I really am. Sometimes I just want to know what its like to be you..

    i think what he is saying here is that girls love him because he is some famous amazingly attractive guy in a kickass band.. and he wishes that someone would actually like him for knowing who he is. and sometimes he just wants to know what its like to be you.. like he wants to know what its like to be loved you who a person really is and not have to be famous all the time.

  12. randomperson
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    Oct 28th 2007 !⃝

    FOB's in love! This is such a cute love song!

    I can just imagine this new couple who are really in love, but also kind of shy with each other. Each person thinks so highly of the other and are obiously really happy together. Being together makes them feel alive. It expresses just the feeling of falling in love! :)

  13. anonymous
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    Aug 5th 2007 !⃝

    Hey! the last guy did it perfectly!! and I totally agree with the name switch and the "before/after" thing. GOOD JOB!

  14. itsjustme
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    Apr 15th 2007 !⃝

    I think this song is talking about a couple, who aren't really sure that they want to be together. they feel kind of awkward around each other, and don't have much to say or do with each other except sex, even though they do care about each other.

  15. drea
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    Apr 14th 2007 !⃝

    This is a cute relationship song
    how Pete expresses his love :(
    What they did together and happy.

    "I use to waste my time dreaming of being alive, now I only waste of dreaming of you"

    Yeah so that girl doesn't realize how lucky she is.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  16. anonymous
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    Apr 3rd 2007 !⃝

    I think this song is about a guy and a girl who started going out recently. He has a lot of secrets and he's scared of sharing them with her because he really loves her, so he's not sure how to open up to her. They're really shy with each other in public, but when the lights go out they share everything with each other. He knows its a relationship that will change him and his life forever.

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