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.
Apartment in New York, London and Paris
Where will we rest, we're all living on top of it
It's all that we have the USA is our daily bread
And no one is willing to share it
Why can't we see our fortunancy
Living as legends have lived.
Bane and dismannered
We coax all the time
Knowing that nothing is left when we die
Come along Fool
A direct hit of the senses you are disconnected
It's not that it's bad?it's not that it's death
It's just on the tip of your tongue, and you're so silent
Wanting to live and laugh all the time
Sitting alone with you tea and your crime
Children with kids, and people with parents
Any which way there's no past and no presence
When the day comes and all of them bums
Will reveal enchanting persons
Come along...
When it's a rut and baby's no luck
Half of it's misunderstanding love
The war we have won we're winning again
Within ourselves and within our friends
Come along...
Where will we rest, we're all living on top of it
It's all that we have the USA is our daily bread
And no one is willing to share it
Why can't we see our fortunancy
Living as legends have lived.
Bane and dismannered
We coax all the time
Knowing that nothing is left when we die
Come along Fool
A direct hit of the senses you are disconnected
It's not that it's bad?it's not that it's death
It's just on the tip of your tongue, and you're so silent
Wanting to live and laugh all the time
Sitting alone with you tea and your crime
Children with kids, and people with parents
Any which way there's no past and no presence
When the day comes and all of them bums
Will reveal enchanting persons
Come along...
When it's a rut and baby's no luck
Half of it's misunderstanding love
The war we have won we're winning again
Within ourselves and within our friends
Come along...
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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”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
It's all about how Americans don't really understand the world, yet how can it be our fault that we're so powerful. We're just fools. At least that's part of it.
"Why can't we see our fortunacy, living as legends have lived?"
The song is about waking up to the America that many of her listeners live in. There are many things that we take for granted or just flat-out ignore, and this is detrimental to living a more authentic life.
This song is simply incredible..
Great song. Obviously about the events surrounding 9-11, but more generall about bourgeois attitudes.
I love "children with kids and people with parents, anywhich way there's no past and no presence..." Excellent!
I think it's about soem of the atrocities the world has suffered in the name of "Peace".. American politics being the drivings force.
"Come along fool, a direct hit to the senses we're disconnected." Challenges how pacified we are. We're fools for being so blind.
"It's not that it's bad, it's not that it's death, it's just on the tip of your tongue and you're so silent" That's saying we're suspended between speaking out about what we can see as bad, and thinking that the issues is dead.
This is my favorite song off You Are Free.
I think its a slap at materailism. People today associate objects with happyness and power and yet at the end of the day we have an empire of shit built on cimes against humanity.
Dont be fool just do something.
I think part of this song is about keeping quiet about the suffering of others in different parts of the world, while we selfishly sit in our decent and above decent homes and close our eyes to all the pain in world.
Holy shit
well said. holy shit.
This song always gets me. I tend to play it in my more melancholy times and I just love the line "Come along, fool." Almost like the singer is saying "it's time to leave, just forget about it." I don't know, it's just a beautiful song.