This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Those seducers [4x]
Bombed out lovers, gallant red flocks of mellow seducers, fine [find?] eager seekers, deep deef down
Beautiful lines from above and we're all a-glow
Raise her head and things get warm, hold on to its leg, before it flies away
Sun lit walks, I feel no harm, my primitive words match my primitive heart [hide?]
it's not as easy as it may seem, remember that yourself is steam
[chorus] and of course it don't mind, chasing a bee inside a jar [x2]
Then like sheep led to sacrifial slaughter, they don't mind, but they oughta, all the time (they oughta)
Their pretty shells are so inviting, well protected
Their eyes are rivers, they give me shivers
[chorus]
it's not time for the real life [live?] sign, it's not time for these fears of mine [x2]
I'm feeling troubled, I'm feeling trapped, can't shake that bubble off my back
it's not as easy as it may seem, remember that yourself is steam [x2]
it's not time for the real life sign, it's not time for these fears of mine
I'm feeling troubled, I'm feeling trapped, can't shake that bubble off my back
I feel no harm, I feel no harm, ...feel no harm
[chorus]
its not as easy as it may seem, remember that yourself is steam
what once was lost will never be found, keep spinning in circles until you break new ground
Bombed out lovers, gallant red flocks of mellow seducers, fine [find?] eager seekers, deep deef down
Beautiful lines from above and we're all a-glow
Raise her head and things get warm, hold on to its leg, before it flies away
Sun lit walks, I feel no harm, my primitive words match my primitive heart [hide?]
it's not as easy as it may seem, remember that yourself is steam
[chorus] and of course it don't mind, chasing a bee inside a jar [x2]
Then like sheep led to sacrifial slaughter, they don't mind, but they oughta, all the time (they oughta)
Their pretty shells are so inviting, well protected
Their eyes are rivers, they give me shivers
[chorus]
it's not time for the real life [live?] sign, it's not time for these fears of mine [x2]
I'm feeling troubled, I'm feeling trapped, can't shake that bubble off my back
it's not as easy as it may seem, remember that yourself is steam [x2]
it's not time for the real life sign, it's not time for these fears of mine
I'm feeling troubled, I'm feeling trapped, can't shake that bubble off my back
I feel no harm, I feel no harm, ...feel no harm
[chorus]
its not as easy as it may seem, remember that yourself is steam
what once was lost will never be found, keep spinning in circles until you break new ground
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The Night We Met
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
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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,
Magical
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Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
"Yerself is steam" (say it slow) refers to how your self-esteem is very fragile and can be lost forever.
"Chasing a bee inside a jar" is probably the perfect way to describe insanity. Throughout the whole song, he includes phrases about being lost, trapped or the need to find something. The song is also clearly about mind-altering drugs, like how our consciousness is but steam in distance as we chase bees in a jar.
The song has many meanings and it's nearly incomprehensible. There are so many details like yerself is steam meaning your self-esteem I can't fully break down this song.
Hey Charrbin; That was a Nice Description about the Song. In a few words this is my fav song of the 90s.
at 3:05 the guitar sounds like it is exploding out of Grasshopper's hands. Intense. like a bomb going off.
I interpret this song as his way of coming to spiritual acceptance of his mortality. The lyrics, particularly the last half, show how he has come to grips with his fears about mortality, the purpose of his existence and his place in the universe by remembering that "yerself is steam," aka we are more than just our biological, carbon-decaying bodies. He is at peace now. His feelings of fear, doubt, being trapped, etc are gone, and he is accepts that death is not an ending.
He realizes that to worry and fret over these issues is pointless, that "what's lost will never be found;" and he is ok with that. He ends the song with" keep spinning in circles until you break new ground," aka since there is no point in worrying about these things, you might as well live your life fully while on Earth, always trying to break new ground or elevate one's consciousness, thus preparing one for the amazing journey as "steam" that is to come after death.
I hadn't thought about the meaning of this song much until charbin said that yourself is steam means your self esteem. I could be wrong in this, but this is the way I interpret it:
"Bombed out lovers, gallant red flocks of mellow seducers, fine [find?] eager seekers" here he is talking about well adjusted people in relationships
"it's not as easy as it may seem, remember that yourself is steam" it doesn't come naturally
"Their pretty shells are so inviting, well protected Their eyes are rivers, they give me shivers" it is easy to hide inside yourself like a turtle. close yourself off
"it's not time for the real life [live?] sign, it's not time for these fears of mine" while closed off from everyone you convince yourself that this isn't your real life yet. That eventually you will come out of your shell and have experiences and live your life.
"I'm feeling troubled, I'm feeling trapped, can't shake that bubble off my back" once you get used to being closed off it becomes very hard to leave the comfort of your shell and live like a normal person.
"I feel no harm, I feel no harm, ...feel no harm" closed off you are safe from rejection, ridicule, etc.
"what once was lost will never be found, keep spinning in circles until you break new ground" now you are stuck in this situation doomed to come to a bunch of epiphanies about why your life isn't that great, but never really change anything major.