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 a breather mail receiver
And I don't know where I stand
Not since someone informed me
That my house was built on sand
And it's not the earth beneath me
It's just the concept of the land
And I'm standing on the corner
When the buildings they all fell
If you blink once you're a goner
Everything just goes pell-mell
It's a real hard sell
My conceptual hell
Not even good for kindling
When the buildings they all fell
I'm a breather mail receiver
Bottomfeeder just getting by
And you know it's all just par for the course
But you blame it on some non-existent force
Oh yeah, of course
You know you can't ride the concept of the horse
But still I try
In a cartoon desert landscape
With a pair of ACME jet skates
Focused on my destination
I seem to have forgot my station
Now it's time to face the nation
And I'm riding to meet you
On a brown gray speckled mare
But there's something that unnerves me
Like I'm riding on thin air
These few doubts desserve me
Thinking no one really cares
And I'm jumping over fences
On this obstacle course
But it seems I'm getting nowhere
On the concept of the horse
It's a real hard sell
My conceptual hell
Not even good for kindling
When the buildings they all fell
I'm a breather
Bottomfeeder
How many liters
Must I imbibe
And you know it's all just par for the course
But you blame it on some non-existent force
Oh yeah, of course
You know you can't ride the concept of the horse
But still I try
And I don't know where I stand
Not since someone informed me
That my house was built on sand
And it's not the earth beneath me
It's just the concept of the land
And I'm standing on the corner
When the buildings they all fell
If you blink once you're a goner
Everything just goes pell-mell
It's a real hard sell
My conceptual hell
Not even good for kindling
When the buildings they all fell
I'm a breather mail receiver
Bottomfeeder just getting by
And you know it's all just par for the course
But you blame it on some non-existent force
Oh yeah, of course
You know you can't ride the concept of the horse
But still I try
In a cartoon desert landscape
With a pair of ACME jet skates
Focused on my destination
I seem to have forgot my station
Now it's time to face the nation
And I'm riding to meet you
On a brown gray speckled mare
But there's something that unnerves me
Like I'm riding on thin air
These few doubts desserve me
Thinking no one really cares
And I'm jumping over fences
On this obstacle course
But it seems I'm getting nowhere
On the concept of the horse
It's a real hard sell
My conceptual hell
Not even good for kindling
When the buildings they all fell
I'm a breather
Bottomfeeder
How many liters
Must I imbibe
And you know it's all just par for the course
But you blame it on some non-existent force
Oh yeah, of course
You know you can't ride the concept of the horse
But still I try
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Standing On The Edge Of Summer
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
No Surprises
Radiohead
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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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
i would definitely agree with the religious assessment. it makes perfect sense with the lines mentioned by kenimator and other phrases like "you know its all just part of the course, but you blame it on some non-existent force."