Oh say/
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you…

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Maps” is a song about a couple that is separating–it seems the woman is leaving town due to work obligations. The couples’ love is new. They are in that in-between stage: where they are not ready to commit to each other long-term, but not ready to just dismiss each-other as a fling. This parting will bring the narrator great pain: She has fallen for him.

She wants him to ask her to stay so that she can answer “yes”, and they can be together. Or perhaps he could come along. But, for whatever reason, these simple solutions do not appear to be options to her—though they seem obvious to us. Could they not have an adult conversation about the future? She already knows she want to be with him.

Perhaps they are young. Perhaps she is afraid of rejection. Perhaps they have had the conversation, and she feels stronger about him than he does about her. We don’t know.

The most interesting lyric is the one featured above, where the narrator explains that she wishes her lover to say, “Wait, they don’t love you like I love you”. This seems to be implying that the professional obligation could be a music tour and the song is autobiographical. This adds a level of intrigue to the song. Songs that are personal and describe experiences unique to that person tend to connect more emotionally with the audience.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have a unique sound because they are not a traditional “three-piece rock band”. In a traditional three-piece band, you have a guitar player, a bass player and a drummer. (Think Green Day, The James Gang, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Police, Cream, Nirvana, etc.)

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs have Karen O on vocals, a guitarist and drummer. So, their sound is a little thinner (the studio version adds a bass in the chorus). They are more of a two-piece band. Also, Karen’s voice is extremely unique and she delivers a memorable, emotional vocal.

Maps Lyrics

Pack up,
I’m straight.
Enough.

Oh say, say, say.
Oh say, say, say.
Oh say, say, say.
Oh say, say, say.
Oh say, say, say.

Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.
Maps,
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.

Made off,
Don’t stray.
Well, my kind’s your kind.
I’ll stay the same.
Pack up,
Don’t stray.

Oh say, say, say.
Oh say, say, say.

Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.
Maps,
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.

Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.
Maps,
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.

Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.
Maps,
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.

Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.
Maps,
Wait, they don’t love you like I love you.

Songwriters: Brian Chase / Karen Lee Orzolek / Nicholas Joseph Zinner