In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Have you heard the news today
They say a little fourteen-year-old girl had a baby on the way
Too much for her little mind to bare
And that type of news, to her mama, she cannot spare
Toilet Tisha
Damn, we miss ya
Toilet Tisha
Is the issue
Damn we miss ya, Toilet Tisha
Damn we miss ya
Tisha, Tisha
Tisha, girl, what you doin'?
Oh my God, oh, Tisha
Tisha, ah, Tisha, Tisha
Ah, no, not my baby
Ah, I love you, ah, Tisha, ah
Don't go away
Don't you dare go away from me, girl, I can help you
Don't go away, don't you dare leave me
Don't go away (it ain't a thing)
Don't go away
Five thousand, one hundred ten days
Is a short period of time, a mere fourteen years
On this precious mother earth, you see Tisha had issues
And her decision making skills were still in it's early stages
You know what I'm talking about?
Therefore, she could not properly handle a blessing in which
She thought to be an obstacle in her path to adulthood
Pause, just like a brother with a thousand pauses
Should I, shouldn't I, I cant, I have to, mama will never see me the same
Daddy and Big Mama, I know all of them gonna be ashamed of me
Are just a few thoughts racing through her cranium
As she sits on top of the pale, cold porcelain seat
In the rear of the house
The unthinkable
Moments away from becoming reality, sadly, with no clue
And no way of expressing her feelings
To her mama or anybody else in her life
Tisha done came to the crossroads and now she got to choose
Fatality, fatality, fatality, fatality
They say a little fourteen-year-old girl had a baby on the way
Too much for her little mind to bare
And that type of news, to her mama, she cannot spare
Toilet Tisha
Damn, we miss ya
Toilet Tisha
Is the issue
Damn we miss ya, Toilet Tisha
Damn we miss ya
Tisha, Tisha
Tisha, girl, what you doin'?
Oh my God, oh, Tisha
Tisha, ah, Tisha, Tisha
Ah, no, not my baby
Ah, I love you, ah, Tisha, ah
Don't go away
Don't you dare go away from me, girl, I can help you
Don't go away, don't you dare leave me
Don't go away (it ain't a thing)
Don't go away
Five thousand, one hundred ten days
Is a short period of time, a mere fourteen years
On this precious mother earth, you see Tisha had issues
And her decision making skills were still in it's early stages
You know what I'm talking about?
Therefore, she could not properly handle a blessing in which
She thought to be an obstacle in her path to adulthood
Pause, just like a brother with a thousand pauses
Should I, shouldn't I, I cant, I have to, mama will never see me the same
Daddy and Big Mama, I know all of them gonna be ashamed of me
Are just a few thoughts racing through her cranium
As she sits on top of the pale, cold porcelain seat
In the rear of the house
The unthinkable
Moments away from becoming reality, sadly, with no clue
And no way of expressing her feelings
To her mama or anybody else in her life
Tisha done came to the crossroads and now she got to choose
Fatality, fatality, fatality, fatality
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This song is not about suicide in my opinion. Why would that even make sense? I think what it's really about is a girl who chooses to perform her own coathanger abortion on the toilet, but dies in the process. The fatality she chooses is that of her baby, but she ends up dying too. I think the song has a lot more social meaning in this interpretation. There are lots of suicide songs already written,but not many addressing the complex issues of abortion, especially as it relates to the black teenage mothers in america.
Nice interpretation, but for some reason I don't think she died in the process. I think she just performed the abortion despite her family's pro-life values ("Daddy and Big Mama I know all of them gonna be ashamed of me") and her mother walked in on her in the process and began weeping (the interlude where you hear a woman saying "Tisha! What you doin'?"). <br /> <br /> Maybe she did die, I don't know.
Well, he says "Damn we miss ya" which implies she's not around, so I think we should assume she died in the process.