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.
like a sermon on the mountain
says the dumber got dumb
hellfire and brimstone
swapped for oil and guns
when we're pushing up daisies
we all look the same
in the name of the father maybe
but not in my name
on this Jacob's ladder
the only way up is down
one step from disaster
two to make the higher ground
Jacob's ladder
a million lifetimes
left dying in the sun
in the streets down in Whitehall
dogs picking at the bones
nine eleven got branded
nine eleven got sold
there will be no one left to water
all the seeds you've sown
on this Jacob's ladder
the only way up is down
one step from disaster
two to make the higher ground
Jacob's ladder
and they sent him to the wars
to be slain to be slain
and they sent him to the wars
to be slain
says the dumber got dumb
hellfire and brimstone
swapped for oil and guns
when we're pushing up daisies
we all look the same
in the name of the father maybe
but not in my name
on this Jacob's ladder
the only way up is down
one step from disaster
two to make the higher ground
Jacob's ladder
a million lifetimes
left dying in the sun
in the streets down in Whitehall
dogs picking at the bones
nine eleven got branded
nine eleven got sold
there will be no one left to water
all the seeds you've sown
on this Jacob's ladder
the only way up is down
one step from disaster
two to make the higher ground
Jacob's ladder
and they sent him to the wars
to be slain to be slain
and they sent him to the wars
to be slain
Lyrics submitted by midnightdreamer
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From the text in "Readymades and then some":
Jacob's Ladder Political expediency verses class; Winston Churchill let 1591 ordinary sailors drown after their ships were sunk off the coast of Norway in WW2 by German battle cruisers. Churchill thought a rescue attempt might have alerted Germans to the evacuation of the Norwegian royal family, so ordered ships in the area to abondon the drowning men. Today's footnote would be the sinking of the Russian Kursk submarine; sailors drowned as President Putin put national pride before the need to call in foreign rescue teams.
Jacob's Ladder (Not In My Name) Recorded in response to the threat of a Bush/Blair war on Iraq - a war about oil, fear, revenge, and capital - and using Harry Cox's powerful sampled 'and they sent him to the war to be slain' in a context in which it surely belongs.
The lyrics on this page are for the latter song.