Chips Ahoy! is the second track from Boys and Girls in America. It is 3:09. A live acoustic version of the song appears as the second track on the Live At Fingerprints EP and the third track on the bonus disc of the Boys and Girls in America: Special Edition. This version of the song is 4:54.
Lyrics[]
she put 900 dollars
on the fifth horse
in the sixth race
i think his name was chips ahoy.
came in six lengths ahead
we spent the whole next week getting high
at first i thought that she hit it
on some tip that she got from some other boy.
we were overjoyed.
i got a girl and she don't have to work
she can tell which horse is gonna finish in first
some nights the painkillers make the pain even worse
came in six lengths ahead
we spent the whole next week getting high
i love this girl but i cant tell when she's having a good time.
How am I supposed to know that you're high
if you wont let me touch you?
How am i supposed to know that you're high
if you wont even dance?
shes hard on the heart
shes soft to the touch
she gets migrane headaches
when she does it too much.
she always does it too much.
How am I supposed to know that you're high
if you wont let me touch you?
How am I supposed to know that you're high
if you won't even dance?
and you won't even dance.
Live Version[]
Preamble[]
CF: So this song is off our new record, Boys and Girls in America, which came out, out of Vagrant, on October 3rd, it's available here, we're gonna be signing, ah, records after the show too. Uhm, this is kinda, the, the single I guess. We just made a video for it, um, in the video, among other things, Bobby plays a pizza man and Galen plays a pool, a pool cleaner and I think cin-, cinematic history will show you that those are the two most "getting laid" professions that there are. Uh, (laughs) uh, (laughs) anyways.
Someone: Earmuffs!
CF: Uh, (laughs) so.
Someone: Earmuffs, here.
CF: This song is about, i-it's about a horse. Uh, it's called Chips Ahoy! but its not about the cookie, which we do believe are delicious, however, it's about a horse which is named Chips Ahoy!, and he's in a horse race. But it's not really about the horse its actually about this girl, and the thing about this girl that makes her interesting, is if she close her eyes and thinks really hard, she can tell which is going to win at any horse race, which is cool. But its not even really about her it's about this guy, and he's dating her or trying to date her and, uh, the thing is if you like, had a girlfriend or a pseudo-girlfriend that is, y'know, could predict horse races with 100% accuracy, you'd think that all your problems would be over, 'cause you'd have all the money you want, but it turns out, they still got some problems. This song's called Chips Ahoy!
Midsong[]
CF: (mumbles something)
Someone: Yeah, sorry.
Postamble[]
Someone: That was weird.
CF: We were playing this song last night, at Costa Mesa and um:
Someone: Yeah, I was saying (laughs).
CF: And I, I was sit- we were playing the song and somethings I think about this stuff while we're playing this song and it occured to me that "How'm I supposed to know that you're high if you won't let me touch you" and "how'm I supposed to know that you're high when you won't let me dance" are two things I've said in real life and it was to two different people. So, (giggle) just combi- well its not real life it's coo- you combine stories to make these things. Uhm.
Analysis[]
Chips Ahoy is the first song which introduces the character Sapphire and her visions. Chips Ahoy is referenced in "The Weekenders" as 'that whole weird thing with the horses'.
Other Info[]
"This song is about a guy, a girl and a horse" - Craig Finn at Cardiff Point, 25th August 2007.
"It's been trivialised a little bit, since it's the chorus of the song, but I still maintain that is a reasonable question" - Craig Finn at Shepherd's Bush Empire, July 2007.