Since I Left You is a plunderphonics opera in Anachronic Order
The main characters are a man named Dexter Fishpaw from Polyester and his unnamed (ex-)girlfriend. The story covers their breakup and its aftermath, ending with them getting back together, plus an aside into Dexter's past. Each song represents a different part:- "Since I Left You" takes place after Dexter and his girlfriend break up because of unexplained relationship troubles. The song begins at a party on a tropical island (possibly Jamaica; see "Flight Tonight") along the ex's journey around the world - (Have a drink, have a good time now, welcome to paradise"). She sings about how exciting life has been for her since breaking up with Dexter ("Since I left you/I found a world so new").
- "Stay Another Season" has a darker, more mysterious sound than the first song, but is directly connected to it. It covers Dexter's side of the story - feeling down about lost love, he realizes that he made mistakes in the relationship and decides to examine his faults and make up for them.
- "Radio" is an overview of the problems that contributed to the broken relationship. The "radio" and the "signals" are metaphors for the couples' inability to communicate with each other. The female voice in the song is the girlfriend speaking. She finds out about infidelity on Dexter's part and calls him out "Two times you do, understand?"), and realizes that their relationship is not "as good" anymore ("Is it as good, understand?"). The final "Can't you hear it?"s represent others, who realized that the relationship was in trouble but saw that Dexter and his girlfriend couldn't.
- "Two Hearts in 3/4 Time" begins with a continuation of the end of "Radio"; the voice muttering "Money" might suggest money was also an issue in the breakup. After this, though, the story goes back to the past to a happier time when Dexter and the girlfriend were still in love, exemplified by the excited "Ooh, yeah!"s and the rest of the song being a simple, happy tune.
- "Avalanche Rock" symbolizes the relationship breaking up and "tumbling down" like an avalanche. The song is quick, sudden, and sinister, just like the painful breakup.
- "Flight Tonight" takes the story back to the present, where Dexter "book[s] a flight tonight" to make up to his ex after facing down his inner demons. The initial vocals can be heard as "She wicked", which could refer to the other woman Dexter was cheating with from "Radio", or the ex-girlfriend herself. However, they also sound like "Jamaica", and given the flight theme that may be where he's going to find her again. The rap breakdown then mentions "being live from Paris", so Paris can be seen as where the ex really is when Dexter thinks she's in Jamaica. Apparently The Avalanches originally conceived of the album as being about a guy following a girl travelling around the world but always being behind her, which fits neatly into this.
- "Close to You" returns to the past, to explain how the couple met; they are both at the disco (implied by both the lyrics and disco-esque sound of the music), only looking for a casual hookup ("Somebody, somewhere, sex with me"), and wind up "next to [each other]". By the end of the night, though, they realize they've really found Love at First Sight and want to stay together.
- The somewhat faint dialogue at the beginning of "Diners Only" suggest Dexter has taken his girlfriend out to a fancy restaurant, where they get "one of [their] finest champagnes" for the occasion. However, there is also the line "Susie, he's looking at you"; perhaps "Susie" is Dexter's lover mentioned in "Radio", who he winds up ogling even as he is dating the girlfriend. And it ends with the same flute riff from the middle of "Close to You", possibly bookending the "happy" scenes for now.
- "A Different Feeling" is about Dexter cheating with the other woman (Susie?). He's looking for "a different feeling" from her, being tired with his original girlfriend. The lyrics say "Tammy's in love", suggesting one of the two women may be named Tammy; as with the "chorus" of "Flight Tonight", it can also be misheard as "Down on me", which in the context of an affair becomes more suggestive.
- "Electricity" could just be a filler instrumental. It could also use the mood of the song to suggest that Dexter, for the time being, is happily maintaining his relationship with the first girlfriend and the affair with someone else.
- "Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life" takes place after Dexter's girlfriend finds out about the affair and breaks up with him. At first (before going on her world tour) she is just as distraught as he is. She does not know what will happen tomorrow, so she hopes that "tonight [will] last [her] all [her] life".
- "Pablo's Cruise" is, in all likelihood, just a filler instrumental, serving as a transition back to the more distant past where "Frontier Psychiatrist" takes place.
- "Frontier Psychiatrist". This is the meatiest song lyrically on the album, even though it really doesn't make it sense. Of course, it begins with Dexter's mother (Mrs. Fishpaw) talking with Mr. Kirk about Dexter's misbehavior as a child. The young Dexter is actually mistaken for having mental problems, and really just has an overactive imagination. The rest of the song is basically his bizarre fantasy where he makes fun of Mr. Kirk the "Frontier Psychiatrist", all influenced by a diet of western films and
- ...and what?
- "Etoh" is a fast-forward from Dexter's youth to the present. After cleaning up his act, Dexter winds up going to college at MIT and becomes a computer programmer, hence the bizarre voice talking about "Massachusetts Institute of Technology, home of complicated computers..." The song is slightly melancholy, suggesting that Dexter had nothing interesting in his life before meeting the girl he ends up breaking up with (adding a new meaning to "Since I Left You" as the original "Since I met you" from Dexter's perspective), and explaining why he wants to get her back.
- "Summer Crane" begins with the end of "Etoh". Again, an instrumental; however, the contrast between the dark sound of "Etoh" and the brighter "Summer Crane" suggests Dexter's life improving after meeting his girlfriend. The French "J'ai froid" means simply "I'm cold", followed by a reprise of the darker riff from the previous song, before returning to the brighter tones, suggesting that the current time is only a "cold spell" in Dexter's relationship with the girlfriend.
- To understand "Little Journey", we assume Dexter wound up talking with his ex-girlfriend again when he didn't find her in Jamaica, convinces her that he has changed his ways, and they fall back in love again. After this, she leaves Paris, saying "Bon voyage" to add local flavor, and "Take[s] a little journey" home to see him again.
- When Dexter and his girlfriend meet again, having reconciled, they are overjoyed, represented by the excited string riff from the beginning of "Live at Dominoes". The rest of the song is just a simple electronic dance song, to which the reunited couple dances. The vibrance of the song and the lyrics about the "summer song record" represent a new beginning for the couple, "summer" coming again after the winter "cold" (see "Summer Crane"). This is really the end of the story proper.
- Finally, "Extra Kings" is essentially a summary of the rectification and healing of the relationship. It begins with more melancholy strings and the repetition of the "J'ai froid", a callback to the troubled times, before turning to a blissful, happy piece. It finally ends with the couple realizing that they have made mistakes. They admit to each other that "I just can't get you/Since the day I left you", and we get a Happily Ever After.
- Pretty good theory, considering how SILY was originally gonna be a Concept Album.
