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.
Anticipation has a habit to set you up
For disappointment in evening entertainment but
Tonight there'll be some love
Tonight there'll be a ruckus, yeah, regardless of what's gone before
I want to see all of the things that we've already seen
The lairy girls hung out the window of the limousine
Of course it's fancy dress
And they're all looking quite forlorn in bunny ears and devil horns and how
Anticipation has a habit to set you up
For disappointment in evening entertainment but
Tonight there'll be some love
Tonight there'll be a ruckus, yeah, regardless of what's gone before
I want to see all of the things that we've already seen
I wanna see you take the jackpot out the fruit machine
And put it all back in
You've got to understand that you can never beat the bandit, no
And she won't be surprised and she won't be shocked
When she's pressed the star after she's pressed unlock
And there's verse and chapter sat in her inbox
And all that is said is that you've drank a lot
And you should bear that in mind tonight
Bear that in mind, yeah
You should bear that in mind tonight
Bear that in mind
And you can pour your heart out
For a reason it would block
Oh, you send her after nine o'clock
Anticipation has a habit to set you up
For disappointment in evening entertainment but
Tonight there'll be some love
Tonight there'll be a ruckus, yeah, regardless of what's gone before
And she won't be surprised and she won't be shocked
When she's pressed the star after she's pressed unlock
And there's verse and chapter sat in her inbox
And all that is said is that you've drank a lot
And you should bear that in mind tonight
Bear that in mind, yeah
You should bear that in mind tonight
Bear that in mind
And you can pour your heart out
Around three o'clock
When the two-for-ones have done the writer's block
For disappointment in evening entertainment but
Tonight there'll be some love
Tonight there'll be a ruckus, yeah, regardless of what's gone before
I want to see all of the things that we've already seen
The lairy girls hung out the window of the limousine
Of course it's fancy dress
And they're all looking quite forlorn in bunny ears and devil horns and how
Anticipation has a habit to set you up
For disappointment in evening entertainment but
Tonight there'll be some love
Tonight there'll be a ruckus, yeah, regardless of what's gone before
I want to see all of the things that we've already seen
I wanna see you take the jackpot out the fruit machine
And put it all back in
You've got to understand that you can never beat the bandit, no
And she won't be surprised and she won't be shocked
When she's pressed the star after she's pressed unlock
And there's verse and chapter sat in her inbox
And all that is said is that you've drank a lot
And you should bear that in mind tonight
Bear that in mind, yeah
You should bear that in mind tonight
Bear that in mind
And you can pour your heart out
For a reason it would block
Oh, you send her after nine o'clock
Anticipation has a habit to set you up
For disappointment in evening entertainment but
Tonight there'll be some love
Tonight there'll be a ruckus, yeah, regardless of what's gone before
And she won't be surprised and she won't be shocked
When she's pressed the star after she's pressed unlock
And there's verse and chapter sat in her inbox
And all that is said is that you've drank a lot
And you should bear that in mind tonight
Bear that in mind, yeah
You should bear that in mind tonight
Bear that in mind
And you can pour your heart out
Around three o'clock
When the two-for-ones have done the writer's block
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Thursday
Thursday
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,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
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.
This is my favourite AM song by far, and it was a great way to start their first album.
As it's already been said, it's simple and there is no hidden meaning. With the exception of "Perhaps Vampires...", all of their first album was very literal; it was only on the second album that Alex starting experimenting broadly with metaphor and simile - "Old Yellow Bricks", "Teddy Picker", "This House is a Circus"...
This song is literally the view from the afternoon, looking forward to the evening. When you're daydreaming about your forthcoming night out - especially when you're you're a teenager as the AMs were when this was written - you have big expectations. Tonight you're gonna pull a girl, you're gonna be generally lucky... But... the truth is it will end up being a night similar to the others you've experienced; you will just get too drunk in the same pubs and clubs you always end up in and eventually do something embarrassing, something that seemed to make sense at the time. One such embarrassing act is sending silly text messages to girls you like. I'm sure most of us have done the drunken text message thing, I have a friend who would text girls love statements whenever he was pissed - as Alex says, all it really communicates to the girl concerned is that you were very drunk when you wrote it, regardless of the words you used.
So yeah... brilliant song, with a direct meaning that is so easy to relate to.