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.
There's a belt of sun dripping through a porthole
In a set design
Can you read your name?
It's been so long since we blew from the inside
So where have you been since you fell off the flat edge?
Of the world under an ugly sky
You've been lying by
But they meant you dance under the moonlight
Do what you think is the sum
Of the flesh and blood
Above there's small birds gone to trembling
In for thousands of your years
[Voice 1:] You felt like crystal in your thighs
[Voice 2:] You get four red candles
[Voice 2:] On the table with your penis by your eyes
[Voice 1:] You're the one that makes me realize
[Voice 1:] Big water flowing through to tomorrow
[Voice 2:] Through to your addiction
[Voice 1:] Apples and cake must have been your stake
[Voice 2:] I force you to drink a galleon of wine, but the smile you send in my direction
[Both:] Makes me feel like I'm alive
[Voice 1:] You're hidden by your wooden legs
[Voice 2:] You're my kind, you're my kind
[Voice 2:] You always make me feel like a moon in my life
[Voice 1:] Staring down at the world's edge
[Voice 2:] All the time
[Voice 2:] It always makes me feel good to know you're alive, wrapping your ties
[Voice 1:] Down by the whirlpool, I finally realized you must have bitten your snake, your little guy
[Voice 1:] I've been insane well the time is slow
[Voice 2:] I've been to a society where you can't see yourself and you can't feel sunshine
[Voice 2:] And if you see me roaming the hillside won't you come along? It's all gone to. The top of yourself.
[Voice 1:] The Pope don't matter when the pawn is your sea
[Voice 2:] You'll always be alone, I like you in my love
[Voice 1:] Don't you agree? When you're around I'm wound around your thumb.
[Voice 2:] Makes me feel good just to know I can love someone like you.
[Voice 1:] You wanna be numb
[Voice 2:] They'll make it hard for you choose
[Voice 1:] Inside the gun.
[Voice 2:] I can understand but when you see the tears coming you close your eyes.
[Voice 1:] All your different delights are one big fight against the baby inside that you've mistaken for pain.
[Voice 2:] To you I'm sure it's no surprise that I could be one of the dead. Thank god my underwear's full of lead without you.
[Voice 2:] Without you.
In a set design
Can you read your name?
It's been so long since we blew from the inside
So where have you been since you fell off the flat edge?
Of the world under an ugly sky
You've been lying by
But they meant you dance under the moonlight
Do what you think is the sum
Of the flesh and blood
Above there's small birds gone to trembling
In for thousands of your years
[Voice 1:] You felt like crystal in your thighs
[Voice 2:] You get four red candles
[Voice 2:] On the table with your penis by your eyes
[Voice 1:] You're the one that makes me realize
[Voice 1:] Big water flowing through to tomorrow
[Voice 2:] Through to your addiction
[Voice 1:] Apples and cake must have been your stake
[Voice 2:] I force you to drink a galleon of wine, but the smile you send in my direction
[Both:] Makes me feel like I'm alive
[Voice 1:] You're hidden by your wooden legs
[Voice 2:] You're my kind, you're my kind
[Voice 2:] You always make me feel like a moon in my life
[Voice 1:] Staring down at the world's edge
[Voice 2:] All the time
[Voice 2:] It always makes me feel good to know you're alive, wrapping your ties
[Voice 1:] Down by the whirlpool, I finally realized you must have bitten your snake, your little guy
[Voice 1:] I've been insane well the time is slow
[Voice 2:] I've been to a society where you can't see yourself and you can't feel sunshine
[Voice 2:] And if you see me roaming the hillside won't you come along? It's all gone to. The top of yourself.
[Voice 1:] The Pope don't matter when the pawn is your sea
[Voice 2:] You'll always be alone, I like you in my love
[Voice 1:] Don't you agree? When you're around I'm wound around your thumb.
[Voice 2:] Makes me feel good just to know I can love someone like you.
[Voice 1:] You wanna be numb
[Voice 2:] They'll make it hard for you choose
[Voice 1:] Inside the gun.
[Voice 2:] I can understand but when you see the tears coming you close your eyes.
[Voice 1:] All your different delights are one big fight against the baby inside that you've mistaken for pain.
[Voice 2:] To you I'm sure it's no surprise that I could be one of the dead. Thank god my underwear's full of lead without you.
[Voice 2:] Without you.
Lyrics submitted by UseYourIllusion, edited by coccygeal
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
This is such a great song, I haven't even began to think about what it means though.
But I do know that the line "And if you see me roaming the hillside won't you come along?" is also in "Your Pussy's Glued To A Building On Fire"