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.
I'm in love with your brother
What's his name
I thought I'd come by
To see him again
When you to dance
Oh what a dance
When you to love
Oh what a love
does he mention my age, love?
Or is he more in to young girls with dyed black hair
I'm in love with your brother
I'd thought I'd come by
I'm in love with your brother
Yes I am
But maybe I
Shouldn't ask for his name
And you dance
Oh what a dance
And you laughed
Oh what a laugh
Does he know what I do and
You'll pass this on, won't you and?
If I asked him once what would he say
Is he willing,
Can he play?
I wasn't really looking for some more than
Some company on the dancefloor and
Does he know what I do and
You'll pass this on, won't you and?
Does he know what I do and,
You'll pass this on, won't you?
And if I ask him once,
What would he say?
Is he willing, can he play?
What's his name
I thought I'd come by
To see him again
When you to dance
Oh what a dance
When you to love
Oh what a love
does he mention my age, love?
Or is he more in to young girls with dyed black hair
I'm in love with your brother
I'd thought I'd come by
I'm in love with your brother
Yes I am
But maybe I
Shouldn't ask for his name
And you dance
Oh what a dance
And you laughed
Oh what a laugh
Does he know what I do and
You'll pass this on, won't you and?
If I asked him once what would he say
Is he willing,
Can he play?
I wasn't really looking for some more than
Some company on the dancefloor and
Does he know what I do and
You'll pass this on, won't you and?
Does he know what I do and,
You'll pass this on, won't you?
And if I ask him once,
What would he say?
Is he willing, can he play?
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
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
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.
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,
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.
I've always loved this song. The cheesy Casio steel drum rhythm combined with a feeling of longing and loneliness that's palpable makes it one of my favorites. I love the drag queen in the video, lip-syncing to Karin's voice, trying to be her, as it were, anything to get closer to the brother, the love object. She perfectly captures the mood of the song, and makes me wonder if it might have even been a drag queen who originally asked Karin to "pass this on," i.e. her feelings of love for the brother, if it was drawn from an experience she had. Everyone dancing at the end is the ultimate fantasy of everyone getting along, all barriers to understanding and acceptance obliterated.
There is no possibility of the singer's character ever being able to pass on the feelings herself, she can only admire the brother from a distance, obsessing over his laughter with his sister, the way they dance together. She is full of questions for someone who knows him better than she ever will. What kind of girls is he into? Would he accept me if he knew what I do? (Drag queen? Prostitute?) "Can he play," is he allowed to 'fool around?" Has he asked about my age?" She's full of doubt and inner conflict. What's his name? Maybe I shouldn't even ask that, it would spoil my fantasy. She is "in love" with someone whose name she doesn't even know. I get the impression Karin is very close to her brother, almost like they are twins or lovers, which makes the probing by this stranger doubly strange. Why would Karin share anything about her brother with this person?
What makes it moving is that we can all relate to having an intense crush on someone, and wanting to find out something, anything about them. Is there any possibility they might share our feelings? Haven't we all been there? Desperate for any scrap of information we can find about the object of our affection, but scared that something we might find out will ruin the fantasy we've built up in our minds. We really don't want to hear anything that would burst the bubble of our obsessive longing for something we secretly know we'll never have.
chellspecker, you read my mind! thanks! i think i speak for many when i say love this song. also i love the scene from Les Amours Imaginaires with this song-- it's where i discovered this song.