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”
The past inside the present
Yellow ball
Yellow ball
Yellow ball
The past inside the present
Yellow ball
Yellow ball
Yellow ball
Be careful
Yellow ball
Yellow ball
Yellow ball
The past inside the present
Yellow ball
Yellow ball
Yellow ball
Be careful
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
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.
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.
Standard disclaimer: The lads from BoC prefer for listeners to project their own impressions into their music. Of course, curiosity and a desire to see more in their great soundscapes compels many of us to dig a little.
Resources on the 'net attribute "past inside the present" to the socialist playwright Bertolt Brecht. Without researching any further, I pondered if the sound clip could be Brecht himself. (anyone?)
Regardless, learning more about Brecht was inspiring for me, and strengthened my already great love of this track.
It's hard to do traditional interpretation on such a track, but the authors would probably hate that, anyway. :) IMPRESSIONS, yes!
I guessed that there was alot of thought behind this and other tracks on Geogaddi. There's a somber feeling to this one for me. Lots of peril and a little hope, too, maybe. The title set off a firestorm of questions, since such is the nature of the human brain. The music, on first impression, appealed to me right away. The rhythm compelled me first, with that great, insistent thumping, which is constant. The audio bite intrigued me, and led me to the research that educated me on Brecht. It's kind of like an un-naturally heavy rainstorm, with a weird kind of non-stop thunder. You'd be frightened of it, but you're too intrigued or even awed with the surreality of the event. Love it. -Phase
Music, like math, is a universal language, which we use to make sense of things that we wouldn't otherwise be able to understand. "The past inside the present" could be referring to how, even though times change, music and math remain constant. That's how I see it, anyway.
But, "Constants are Changing"..
the 'be careful' can be heard in the background around 3:50
love it.
i had thought "be careful" was "purple" instead. whichever it really is, it is said twice consecutively
Math is describing states, states have their past inherent (like the billion years long past of a stone formed his present appearance) therefore math also describes their past, or could. Considering that BoC is putting very special emotions into their tracks, and Geogaddi alone is an overwhelming experience of an emotional journey (for some, at least for me) btw, the 'past inside the present' could be a description of the music... or everything.
The thing at the end sounds like purple to me, too. uhm, but purple...i heard somewhere it stands for spirituality. maybe it is 'be careful', that would make more sense.
The past inside the present thus the present inside the future, like listening to an old song now
I plugged my iPod in downstairs in my living room and sat there by myself in the dark listening to this song (while eating Nesquick) and it was bliss. This in the dark is so cool.
I'm sure that Nesquick fits this song very well
Oh shut up.
today, just now, I was listening to a joy division song on youtube (ceremony) and the video was made up of all these pictures of ian and the guys and i was overcome by all these feelings, thinking, wow, he's just dead.. he's gone.. and there was this picture of him and morris, and they're just smiling with a guitar on their laps. i thought, well, you know, he IS dead but RIGHT NOW, in the past, he is sitting there with his guitar and he's smiling. it's happening right now, but in the past! i've never thought about the parallel time theory before. i was just researching, reading people's stories and then I remembered this song! "the past inside the present" .. what a nice way to put it.