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.
Wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair [2x]
drillin' a hole with my soul
In the sand
Diggin' for gold
For the hole [whore?], in the bed
Catchin' a ride from a band
I sat in the back of the van
They tried to make me understand
'cause if I'm not in a band, don't mean I'm square
And if I am, well then I don't care
wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair
number two has got me confused
Hope I'll always be numbers one and three [2x]
wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair [2x]
drillin' a hole with my soul
In the sand
Diggin' for gold
For the ho, in the bed
Catchin' a ride from a band
I sat in the back of the van
They tried to make me understand
That if I'm not in a band, doesn't mean I'm square
And if I am, well then I don't care
wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair [2x]
you said, hell, well I don't care
If you run your hands through my car wash hair
Wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair
You said, hell, well I don't care
If you run your hands through my car wash hair
Wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair
You said, hell, well I don't care
If you run your hands through my car wash hair
Wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair [2x]
drillin' a hole with my soul
In the sand
Diggin' for gold
For the hole [whore?], in the bed
Catchin' a ride from a band
I sat in the back of the van
They tried to make me understand
'cause if I'm not in a band, don't mean I'm square
And if I am, well then I don't care
wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair
number two has got me confused
Hope I'll always be numbers one and three [2x]
wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair [2x]
drillin' a hole with my soul
In the sand
Diggin' for gold
For the ho, in the bed
Catchin' a ride from a band
I sat in the back of the van
They tried to make me understand
That if I'm not in a band, doesn't mean I'm square
And if I am, well then I don't care
wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair [2x]
you said, hell, well I don't care
If you run your hands through my car wash hair
Wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair
You said, hell, well I don't care
If you run your hands through my car wash hair
Wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair
You said, hell, well I don't care
If you run your hands through my car wash hair
Wanna ask but I just stare
Can I run my hands through your car wash hair
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Standing On The Edge Of Summer
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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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
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.
This song reminds me of having sex with Deadheads. If you live out of the back of a VW Microbus the only place you can wash your hair is at one of those self-service car washes with the high-pressure hoses. And, as we all know, Deadhead chicks will pretty much bang any dude/chick so this guy is saying the chick he banged in the back of her VW slept with a chick in between times sleeping with him. Well, that's what I choose to believe anyway.