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.
I thought I knew all it took to bother you
Every word I said was true, that you'll see
How could it be I'm the only one who sees
Your rehearsed insanity? Yeah
I still refused all the methods you abuse
It's alright if you're confused, let me be
I've been around all the pawns you've gagged and bound
They'll come back and knock you down and I'll be free
I've taken all and I've endured
One day it all will fade, I'm sure
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I had no hand in your ever-desperate plan
It returns and when it lands, words are due
I should've known we were better off alone
I looked in and I was shown, you were too
I've taken all and I've endured
One day it all will fade, I'm sure
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I'll stick around, I'll stick around
Learn from all that came from it
I'll stick around, I'll stick around
Learn from all that came from it
I'll stick around, I'll stick around
Learn from all that came from it
I'll stick around, I'll stick around
Learn from all that came from it
Yeah
Every word I said was true, that you'll see
How could it be I'm the only one who sees
Your rehearsed insanity? Yeah
I still refused all the methods you abuse
It's alright if you're confused, let me be
I've been around all the pawns you've gagged and bound
They'll come back and knock you down and I'll be free
I've taken all and I've endured
One day it all will fade, I'm sure
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I had no hand in your ever-desperate plan
It returns and when it lands, words are due
I should've known we were better off alone
I looked in and I was shown, you were too
I've taken all and I've endured
One day it all will fade, I'm sure
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I don't owe you anything, I don't owe you anything
I'll stick around, I'll stick around
Learn from all that came from it
I'll stick around, I'll stick around
Learn from all that came from it
I'll stick around, I'll stick around
Learn from all that came from it
I'll stick around, I'll stick around
Learn from all that came from it
Yeah
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Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
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Gentle Hour
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
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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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
I don't know if this is a friend/Kurt/Parents/girlfriend he's talking about. But they've done some awful things and he's ready to get away from them. I used to think it was about a preachy mom, because I mistakenly thought the "and learn from all that came from it" part was "her bible paid my debt" But alas, I was wrong about the lyric. I like it though, and might put it in a sing myself.
@thisboy She thought Dave Owed her partial/Kurt's Rights to Nirvana and the unreleased Music of Nirvana... He told her to FUCK OFF and that He didn't owe her a fukn thing because she had no part in the band or it's success... And they fought over it... and the relationship between Kurt and Courtney and ow Dave felt helpless as he watched is described in *Let It Die...