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 don't know the real from what I know I saw
I can't remember where I went
Where I was
I'm gonna move towards a point in time
Where where you are is a state of mind
And anytime I can read your thoughts
Some of them yours and some I thought up
There's no good reason for heartbreak
Nothing's repeating every Monday
It's no good saying you'll always be mine
These jokes life's playing they make me so tired
It's already too much to always see you off
The sense that hours go back is enough
I like to fade when I write this line
There's every reason to paint a decline
And every mile I walk is five
I'll get where I'm going in the next life
And all the while there's a false face
This every killing is left untraced
This kind of falling saved my son
This constant longing for what's gone
I can't remember where I went
Where I was
I'm gonna move towards a point in time
Where where you are is a state of mind
And anytime I can read your thoughts
Some of them yours and some I thought up
There's no good reason for heartbreak
Nothing's repeating every Monday
It's no good saying you'll always be mine
These jokes life's playing they make me so tired
It's already too much to always see you off
The sense that hours go back is enough
I like to fade when I write this line
There's every reason to paint a decline
And every mile I walk is five
I'll get where I'm going in the next life
And all the while there's a false face
This every killing is left untraced
This kind of falling saved my son
This constant longing for what's gone
Lyrics submitted by WanderWeird
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Guys, I'm almost certain that this song was written after Frusciante either read, studied, or investigated Lacanian psychoanalytical theory.
"The Real", a category established by Jacques Lacan, can only be understood in connection with the categories of the symbolic and the imaginary. Defined as what escapes the symbolic, the real can be neither spoken nor written. Thus it is related to the impossible, defined as "that which never ceases to write itself." And because it cannot be reduced to meaning, the real does not lend itself any more readily to univocal imaginary representation than it does to symbolization. The real situates the symbolic and the imaginary in their respective positions.
Go read "the mirror stage" and other essays by Lacan and you will see what I mean. I believe this to be Frusciante's interpretation and musical expression of these Lacanian ideas. In fact, the whole album "Curtains" may revolve around the similar subject. This whole business of disassociation, and not knowing who you are, and blending and bending in and out of "reality" I think contribute to this notion.
"These jokes life's playing..." may be indeed a "re-presentation" of John's struggle with these ideas. All of life is a joke because we can never attain "The Real."
Really wish I could get some clarification from John himself, but I'm almost certain I'm correct.