Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Running through this maze - cry at what i see
A civilisation with values alien to me
All the role models, lost souls, false gods that i am shown
Ordeals that i pass through for purposes unknown?
In the cul-de-sac turn back on my trade from the cul-de-sac
Help try getting me out
In a transient phase
At the end of an age
Running through this maze
Some born again idiot tracks me down and i couldn't escape
Trying to notch up points for his entrance fee to new jerusalem
"Do you love the lord your god with all your dogma?"
He said "you'll get it all back in the next life"
Get it all back, get it all back
Get it all back
Mystery schools for the fools, great seats of learning
Business, lawsuits, market forces - no philosophy courses
A bachelors degree in loopholes and a masters in self-interest
Studies for automatons and syllabus two
A city and guilds in extortion and a ph.d. in fuck you
A civilisation with values alien to me
All the role models, lost souls, false gods that i am shown
Ordeals that i pass through for purposes unknown?
In the cul-de-sac turn back on my trade from the cul-de-sac
Help try getting me out
In a transient phase
At the end of an age
Running through this maze
Some born again idiot tracks me down and i couldn't escape
Trying to notch up points for his entrance fee to new jerusalem
"Do you love the lord your god with all your dogma?"
He said "you'll get it all back in the next life"
Get it all back, get it all back
Get it all back
Mystery schools for the fools, great seats of learning
Business, lawsuits, market forces - no philosophy courses
A bachelors degree in loopholes and a masters in self-interest
Studies for automatons and syllabus two
A city and guilds in extortion and a ph.d. in fuck you
Lyrics submitted by nonemoreblack
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"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."
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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.
Plastic Bag
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Probably my favourite KJ track, 'Labyrinth' opens with what sounds like a musical hammer blow and gets heavier from there on in. Lyrically, it's a perfect summation of alienation. It's one for those of us who have walked down the street, turned on the TV news or opened a newspaper, and thought; 'I'm on the wrong planet. This isn't my civilisation. These aren't my values.'
The chorus sees Jaz screaming for a way out of the nightmare of everyday existence.
Verse two is a straightforward castigation of organised religion, an encounter with a 'born again idiot' spouting dogma. The line 'get it all back' is repeated sneeringly towards the end of the track, shortly before the sound of someone throwing a chest of drawers off a cliff.
Verse three attacks higher education, a theme Jaz has visited at recent live gigs. He rails against the futility of the courses of Capitalism, the 'greed' degrees, the last line; 'a PHD in fuck you' always brings a smile to my face. Truly this man is a genius, and the band are the perfect foil for such undiluted, intelligent anger.
Its also a summation of what I think has happened in this decade. Culture, religion and education have gone through change but its not the sort of change you want to celebrate, more like a bitter after-taste or the process of digesting a shit sandwich.
This is my interpretation of Labyrinth:
Verse 1
Running through this maze cry at what i see A civilisation with values alien to me All the role models, lost souls, false gods that i am shown Ordeals that i pass through for purposes unknown? In the cul-de-sac turn back on my trade from the cul-de-sac
Its like being trapped inside a maze where human values have become so alien that all there is so called role models, lost souls, false gods, and finding out where are my values and where do I come from.
Chorus
Help try getting me out In a transient phase At the end of an age Running through this maze
A scream to get out the nightmare called the everyday world. Almost saying I want to get off this ride because its too much and I am going to vomit.
Verse 2
Some born again idiot tracks me down and i couldn't escape Trying to notch up points for his entrance fee to new jerusalem "Do you love the lord your god with all your dogma?" He said "you'll get it all back in the next life" Get it all back, get it all back
A middle finger to religion, mainly aimed at born again sycophants who go onto the streets spouting about Jesus and God and all that nonsense when a person wants to live their life. This part of verse 2 is really hilarious "Do you love the lord your god with all your dogma?", I think its saying to the born again sycophants even though you want your ticket to heaven, do you really love your god since your religion is based on lies.
Bridge
Mystery schools for the fools, great seats of learning Business, lawsuits, market forces no philosophy courses A bachelors degree in loopholes and a masters in self-interest Studies for automatons and syllabus two A city and guilds in extortion and a ph.d. in fuck you
A middle finger aimed at education, mainly higher education. In a ironic way, its mainly the rich children and heirs of corporations that get the best education while the small-town kids get to go to state funded schools for their education. There is a rally against the greed degrees and Capitalism and the fight for philosophy courses.