"Obstacle 2" was written before "Obstacle 1" for Interpol's debut album, Turn on the Bright Lights. The only correlation between the two songs is that they both ended a phase of writer's block the band had been experiencing for a few months. The song itself finds lead singer Paul Banks expressing his appreciation for a girl and letting her know that he's willing to change for her.
Interpol isn't all that concerned with titles, and they often have little to do with the actual song. The word "Obstacle" doesn't appear in this song; it was a working title lead singer Paul Banks came up with when guitarist Daniel Kessler was working on the song. The band thought it was a great title, so they used it.
The line: "I feel like love is in the kitchen with a culinary eye, I think he's making something special and I'm smart enough to try" Could be a reference to the beginning line of Twelfth Night by Shakespeare, which goes: "If music be the food of love, play on."
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