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.
Old man Wrigley lived in that white house
Down the street where I grew up
My mama used to send me over with things
We struck a friendship up
I spent a few long summers
Out on his old porch swing
Said he was in the war, when in the navy
Lost his wife, lost his baby
Broke down and asked him one time
"How you keep from goin' crazy?"
He said, "I'll see my wife and son in just a little while"
Mm, I asked him what he meant, he looked at me and smiled
Said, "I raise my hands
Bow my head
I'm findin' more and more truth
In the words written in red
They tell me that there's more to life
Than just what I can see, I believe"
A few years later I was off at college
Talkin' to mom on the phone one night
Gettin' all caught up on the gossip
The ins and outs of the small town life
She said, "Oh, by the way son
Old man Wrigley's died"
Later on that night
I laid there thinkin' back
Thought about a couple long-lost summers
I didn't know whether to cry or laugh
If there was ever anybody
Deserved a ticket to the other side
It'd be that sweet old man
Who looked me in the eye
Said, "I raise my hands
Bow my head
I'm findin' more and more truth
In the words written in red
They tell me that there's more to life
Than just what I can see"
I can't quote the book
The chapter or the verse
You can't tell me it all ends
In a slow ride in a hearse
You know I'm more and more convinced
The longer that I live
Yeah, this can't be (no, this can't be), no, this can't be (no, this can't be)
No, this can't be all there is
Lord, I raise my hands
Bow my head
Oh, I'm findin' more and more truth
In the words written in red
They tell me that there's more to life
Than just what I can see (just what I can see), I believe
Oh, I (I believe)
I believe
I believe
(I believe)
I believe
(I believe)
I believe
(I believe)
I believe
(I believe)
I believe
Down the street where I grew up
My mama used to send me over with things
We struck a friendship up
I spent a few long summers
Out on his old porch swing
Said he was in the war, when in the navy
Lost his wife, lost his baby
Broke down and asked him one time
"How you keep from goin' crazy?"
He said, "I'll see my wife and son in just a little while"
Mm, I asked him what he meant, he looked at me and smiled
Said, "I raise my hands
Bow my head
I'm findin' more and more truth
In the words written in red
They tell me that there's more to life
Than just what I can see, I believe"
A few years later I was off at college
Talkin' to mom on the phone one night
Gettin' all caught up on the gossip
The ins and outs of the small town life
She said, "Oh, by the way son
Old man Wrigley's died"
Later on that night
I laid there thinkin' back
Thought about a couple long-lost summers
I didn't know whether to cry or laugh
If there was ever anybody
Deserved a ticket to the other side
It'd be that sweet old man
Who looked me in the eye
Said, "I raise my hands
Bow my head
I'm findin' more and more truth
In the words written in red
They tell me that there's more to life
Than just what I can see"
I can't quote the book
The chapter or the verse
You can't tell me it all ends
In a slow ride in a hearse
You know I'm more and more convinced
The longer that I live
Yeah, this can't be (no, this can't be), no, this can't be (no, this can't be)
No, this can't be all there is
Lord, I raise my hands
Bow my head
Oh, I'm findin' more and more truth
In the words written in red
They tell me that there's more to life
Than just what I can see (just what I can see), I believe
Oh, I (I believe)
I believe
I believe
(I believe)
I believe
(I believe)
I believe
(I believe)
I believe
(I believe)
I believe
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"
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
This is a really nice deep song thats comforting to listen to
I to think its about an old man telling him what he knows of life and possibly what he wants to know what happens when you die
"I can't quote the book The chapter or the verse You can't tell me it all ends In a slow ride in a hearse"
sounds like he doesnt believe thats the end and there has to be more