Written by: Dan Carey, Sia Furler
Versions:
- Academia (3:18)
Available on Some People Have Real Problems.
CreditsHarry Deerness: Accordion
Sam Dixon: Bass
Martin Slattery: Clarinet, Flute
Joey Waronker: Drums
Dan Carey: Guitar
Gus Seyffert: Guitar, Vocals (Background)
Jimmy Hogarth: Guitar, Percussion, Producer
Ed Stevens: keyboards
Sia Furler: Vocals
Beck Hansen: Vocals (Background)
Brian Lebarton: Vocals (Background)
Inara George: Vocals (Background)
Lucia Ribisi: Vocals (Background)
Ryan Falkner: Vocals (Background)
Lyrics:
Academia [Version (a)]:
You can be my alphabet and I will be your calculator
And together we'll work out on the escalator
I will time you as you run up the down
And you'll measure my footsteps as I blow through this town
The mean of our heights is divided by the nights
Which is times'd by the daggers and the root of all our fights
The pass of your poem just to swathe me in your knowing
And the beauty of the word is that you don't have to show it
Oh academia, you can pick me up
Soothe me with your words when I need your love
I am a dash and you are a dot
When will you see that I am all that you've got?
I'm a binary code that you cracked long ago
But to you I'm just a novel that you wish you'd never wrote
I'm greater than X and lesser than Y
So why is it that I still can't catch your eye?
You're a cryptic crossword, a song I've never heard
While I sit here drawing circles, I'm afraid of being hurt
Oh academia, you can pick me up
Soothe me with your words when I need your love
You're a difficult equation with a knack for heart evasion
Will you listen to my proof or will you add another page on?
It appears to me the graph has come and stolen all the laughs
It appears to me the pen has overanalyzed again
And if I am a number, I'm infinity plus one
And if you are five words, you are afraid to be the one
And if you are a number, you're infinity plus one
And if I am four words, then I am needing of your love
Oh academia, you can pick me up
Soothe me with your words when I need your love
Academia
You can be my alphabet and I will be your calculator
And together we'll work out on the escalator
I will time you as you run up the down
And you'll measure my footsteps as I blow through this town
The mean of our heights is divided by the nights
Which is times'd by the daggers and the root of all our fights
The pass of your poem just to swathe me in your knowing
And the beauty of the word is that you don't have to show it
Oh academia, you can pick me up
Soothe me with your words when I need your love
I am a dash and you are a dot
When will you see that I am all that you've got?
I'm a binary code that you cracked long ago
But to you I'm just a novel that you wish you'd never wrote
I'm greater than X and lesser than Y
So why is it that I still can't catch your eye?
You're a cryptic crossword, a song I've never heard
While I sit here drawing circles, I'm afraid of being hurt
Oh academia, you can pick me up
Soothe me with your words when I need your love
You're a difficult equation with a knack for heart evasion
Will you listen to my proof or will you add another page on?
It appears to me the graph has come and stolen all the laughs
It appears to me the pen has overanalyzed again
And if I am a number, I'm infinity plus one
And if you are five words, you are afraid to be the one
And if you are a number, you're infinity plus one
And if I am four words, then I am needing of your love
Oh academia, you can pick me up
Soothe me with your words when I need your love
Academia
The Song:
Beck appears on Sia's 2008 album, Some People Have Real Problems, as he did on her last album. This time he appears on a song called "Academia." Beck is part of the chorus, along with a number of other background singers (including his then-bandmates, Brian LeBarton and Ryan Falkner). On the same album, Beck also sang on "Death By Chocolate."
Apparently Sia emailed Beck asking if he would like to come to the studio to sing on "Academia." Sia never heard back, but then on the day, he surprised her by showing up and helping out.
Sia explained the song's meaning, "You know how people who can't really express themselves sometimes bury themselves in knowledge? Well, maybe I might know someone a bit like that."
It's a fun song, I really enjoy the lyrics.
Beck appears on Sia's 2008 album, Some People Have Real Problems, as he did on her last album. This time he appears on a song called "Academia." Beck is part of the chorus, along with a number of other background singers (including his then-bandmates, Brian LeBarton and Ryan Falkner). On the same album, Beck also sang on "Death By Chocolate."
Apparently Sia emailed Beck asking if he would like to come to the studio to sing on "Academia." Sia never heard back, but then on the day, he surprised her by showing up and helping out.
Sia explained the song's meaning, "You know how people who can't really express themselves sometimes bury themselves in knowledge? Well, maybe I might know someone a bit like that."
It's a fun song, I really enjoy the lyrics.
Notes:
- Sia and Beck have collaborated together on "The Bully," "Killing Kindness," "Death By Chocolate," and Silence Them." Also Sia would show up and sing "You're The One That I Want" with Beck at his shows sometimes. She also sang this at an after-show jam with Beck and Wounded Cougar.
- Sia's website is at Siamusic.net.