Contributors:

Jonathan Chaffer

Frepanshek

Barry Cohen

Colin "xl3r2"

Dave (The Grabby One)

Andy Friedman

Matt Keeley

Ian McIntire

Cooper Melton

Matt Shapiro

The "official" interpretation of this song is that it is supposed to sound like a TV ad for a Greatest Hits record of some sort (specifically, K-Tel Records), where only the chorus of each song is played. Most people subscribe to this theory, though there are a handful that think there is actually some meaning to the lyrics. Of course, the song was designed with CD players in shuffle mode in mind (there is a note about this in the liner of the CD).

Some think that parts of the song are specific jabs at other musical artists, although this is complete speculation:

Everything's Catching on Fire

Fingertips

Bill Monroe

I Hear the Wind Blow

Elvis Presley

Hey Now Everybody

(fill the trendy band of your choice in here)

Who's That Standing Out My Window?

Nine Inch Nails

I Found a New Friend

(fill in the 50's doo-wop band of your choice in here)

Come On and Wreck My Car

Aren't You the Guy?

Please Pass the Milk

Leave Me Alone

Who's Knocking on the Wall?

All Alone

What's That Blue Thing Doing Here?

Frank Zappa

Something Grabbed a Hold of My Hand

Cyndi Lauper

I Don't Understand You

I Heard a Sound

Prince

Mysterious Whisper

The Day That Love Came to Play

I'm Having a Heart Attack

Genesis

Fingertips

I Walk Along Darkened Corridors

Morrissey

Gregorian chants

An off-the-wall interp by an English major:

In a brief summary..."Fingertips" is a song about life...from conception to that which follows death...

"everything is catching on fire"

the moment of conception...when random cells undergo a mysterious transformation...and almost magically become life

"fingertips"

the baby is born, his first sensation, the tips of the doctor's fingers

"I hear the wind blow...it seems to say hello, I'm the one who loves you so"

the baby hears his first sounds...so confusing as they blow past his ears, his mother and fathers voice whisking by in a way that he can't really make sense of

"hey now everybody..."

The general confusion surrounding a new arrival...a frenzy of relatives and announcements and such...which leads us to...

"who's that standing...out my window"

everybody staring at the new baby and confusing him with the many strangers in his life...

"I've found a new friend, underneath my pillow"

perhaps this one is about the kid discovering an imaginary friend...or perhaps he sucks his thumb and hides it underneath his pillow or something...not sure...

"Come on and wreck my car"

The basic rambunctiousness of youth...running around and acting tough...smashing his matchbox cars into walls or something...

"Aren't you the guy who hit me in the eye?"

Apparently, his tough guy attitude isn't accepted very well by his playmates...who won't just sit around and let him be a pain in the butt...

"Please pass the milk please"

The naughty kid is taught to learn his manners...nothing unless he says please and thank you...

"Leave me alone...."

Having a bad day...don't mess with me...

"Who's knocking on the wall?"

perhaps there are monsters in the closet...or some other such childhood anxiety...

"All alone...all by myself..."

That teenage feeling of isolation...we've all felt it...no friends...the future looks bleak...

"What's that blue thing...doing here?"

This one is a bit of a mystery...the only thing that I can think of is that the kid has either made someone pregnant or become pregnant (depending on if it's a he or she) and the "blue thing" a positive pregnancy test...is a bit of a surprise...it's stretching it, I know...but it makes sense when taken in context with...

"Something grabbed ahold of my hand...but that's when all my troubles began"

The person is now getting married...to someone he or she barely knows...but the pregnancy has made it necessary...and this is the beginning of the really screwed up portion of his or her life...in an unhappy marriage...

"I cannot understand you"

there isn't all that much communication in this marriage...everything is repeated over and over, but is never really understood...

"I heard a sound"

The person is getting a bit paranoid in his old age...and even the slightest sound makes him very jumpy...

"Mysterious whisper"

Maybe he's starting to completely lose it in his old age...hearing voices with the onset of senility...or perhaps there are rumors flying around him...both make sense considering...

"The day that love came to play"

A brief affair late in life...cheating on the spouse...leading to rumors...or paranoia...either way...it leaves the person in a sorry state...leading to...

"I'm having a heart attack"

self explanatory...a fatal heart attack...

"Fingertips"

his last sensation...the fingers of the doctor trying to save him...or perhaps those of the mortician...either way...it's the end...

"I walk along, darkened corridors"

The afterlife...it is unclear...hard to see well enough to describe...but nonetheless...a new journey...one which he starts on foot...over and over again...for who knows how long