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.
Sometimes all I really want to feel is love
Sometimes I'm angry that I feel so angry
Sometimes my feelings get in the way
Of what I really feel I needed to say
If you stand in a circle
Then you'll all have a back to bite
Backlogged books on the seven wonders
We're all so funny but he's lost his joke now
Our communication found in one-line jokes
from stand up comics and rock musicians
Making so much noise you don't know when to listen...
Why are you judging people so damn hard?
You're taking your point of views a bit too far
I made my shoes shine with black coal
But the polish didn't shine the hole
If you stand in a circle
Then you'll all have a back to bite
Backlogged books on the seven wonders
We're all so funny but he's lost his joke now
Our communication found in one-line jokes
From stand up comics and rock musicians
Making so much noise you don't know when to listen...
Think it over
There's an air of height in the high-rollers;
They never get shit
Sometimes I'm angry that I feel so angry
Sometimes my feelings get in the way
Of what I really feel I needed to say
If you stand in a circle
Then you'll all have a back to bite
Backlogged books on the seven wonders
We're all so funny but he's lost his joke now
Our communication found in one-line jokes
from stand up comics and rock musicians
Making so much noise you don't know when to listen...
Why are you judging people so damn hard?
You're taking your point of views a bit too far
I made my shoes shine with black coal
But the polish didn't shine the hole
If you stand in a circle
Then you'll all have a back to bite
Backlogged books on the seven wonders
We're all so funny but he's lost his joke now
Our communication found in one-line jokes
From stand up comics and rock musicians
Making so much noise you don't know when to listen...
Think it over
There's an air of height in the high-rollers;
They never get shit
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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,
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“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.
It is by far the biggest understatement to call Issac Brock the greatest lyricist ever. He says everything we wish we could and embodies the lonliness and isolation that we feel in everyday lives and puts it into his own metaphors and turns things we normally see as dark into masterpieces. This is by far his best work for the first lines alone. We have all felt like that but never have been able to say it.
I know this is probably going to seem a bit out there for anyone looking for concrete meaning, but in my opinion the final lines "Think it over.... She's in the air at the high of the highrollers" (I hear SHE) Is about (to me) a man who neglected his wife/girlfriend to the point of her becoming suicidal, with her standing at the top of a bridge (like the cover of Interstate 8) threatening to throw herself off. And it's a question of him thinking over everything he's done and how to fix it all. I wish I'd learned that a little sooner, you know? Rest in Peace Rachel.
@ChuckPerry Chuck I had come to this lyric page over and over for almost a year because of you, I heard the same, "She's in the air at the high of the highrollers".
I just got back from Phoenix, and the other night I was walking through the mall at like 9:45, right before they closed. All the wannabe teenage pimps were gone, as were most people, the mall was pretty empty. I just looked around and saw happy couples, like ages 23-26 or whatever, and I'm thinking "damn I sure miss that" as me and my girlfriend had just broken up a few days before.
I walk into Industrial (skateshop, for those of you who don't know) and no ones in there, and I'm walking around and all of the sudden I hear:
"Sometimes all I really want to feel is love Sometimes I'm angry that I feel so angry Sometimes my feelings get in the way Of what I really feel I needed to say"
How ironic is that...
that is ironic. my favorite lyric is "i made my shoes shine with my coal. but the polish didn't shine the hole."<br /> <br /> you know- you can make everything look fine on the outside. but that doesn't change the inside. mostly
It isn't, it's coincidental. Ironic would be if you were walking around feeling all sad and then a very happy song came on. Or if suddenly someone threw you on the ground and anally raped you. l2english
Also, dude who replied also isn't ironic. That's a metaphor. Hurr durr evreethingz ironic becuz itz clevurr
Also you have to put the commas around skateshop not in parenthsis. For ex. I was walking around industrial,a skateshop, and then I heard what ever. That is an appositive.
this song is amazing, even without words this song would be incredible. Modest mouse has an unparalled authenticity than expresses every kind of musical talent that could be performed. I have never heard a song so great with so much meaning and passion.
I know several other people have already said this but I must agree that those first four lines of this song are like the story of my life. The kinda ironic thing about that is that the person who turned me on to Modest Mouse is the person that I feel that way about. Anyway, great song.
I can't tell if this song makes me feel sad, depressed, frustrated, optimistic, or what. But it makes me feel, and that's the damn truth. There aren't many other songs out there that can make me feel as much as Edit the sad parts does.
@gkawula ;)
I really like this song a lot.
i think this song is just about wanting to "edit" or get rid of all the sad parts of your life.
@Modest_ Mouse ON POINT
monkey house is probably right. now the silence does make sense.
this is definitely one of their, if not the, best.
And by the way, I love modest mouse, but I'd have to disagree, EditTheSadParts, and say Connor Oberst is the lyrical master of all time. Numerous songs will make people cry. "No lies, just love" always brings a few tears to my eye. Isaac brock would by second though (Ohio, Blame it on the Tetons, Lives)
true fan. you can't even spell his name. CONOR*
Bright Eyes fucking sucks.
Why compare artists? They all have their different talents. Personally, I love both Conor and Isaac. They're insane lyricists.