Finger Back

“Finger Back” is about an Orthodox Jewish girl falling in love with an Arab falafel shop employee, as indicated in the bridge.

In this interview with Face Culture, Ezra Koenig discusses his relationship with his mother, a couples therapist. She likes to read his lyrics and interpret them in advance. The following analysis of “Finger Back” (like at left, not in the video) incorporates some rudimentary psychoanalytic commentary.

Rostam Batmanglij, the band’s multi-instrumentalist and producer, has said he liked to trick listeners into depressing songs with major keys. This has a grating rhythm perhaps meant to evoke reggaeton, a la that alluded to on “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa,” with baroque and electronic flourishes. Some listeners compare it to Animal Collective, for the electronic whatever and perhaps for the “owwwww” vocal jumps that sound like Noah Lennox (Panda Bear) trying to imitate a Beach Boy.

The finger back could be getting the broken finger described in the song back, or coquettishly curling back the finger at the attacker to urge the action on, or pulling back the trigger to a gun.