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.
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Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
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Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
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Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
I had originally thought this song to be about a soldier dealing with his side losing the civil war, but upon further reading it seems to be from the perspective of a confederate soldier who is struggling to cope with being wounded, but not too badly wounded, and having to go back out and fight again after seeing the carnage at both the field hospital and on the battlefield.
"Shaking hands and fingers that do tremble Soldier's Joy has been a bitter pill Though in battle, a brave man I resemble Alone I am a coward without will"
When he was with his fellow troops he was fighting for what he believed in on an adrenaline high he felt unstoppable. However, now that he has been hurt, and seen how the wounded are treated he knows that he is a man and can be maimed of killed.
"Pierce McGee from the great State of Missouri To the Show-Me-State militia I belong And to judge from the pride on the Confederate side I'd say five hundred thousand rebels can't be wrong"
The soldier introduces himself as being from the Missouri Militia and from a formidable force of some 500,000 men.
"A rebel stand is no place for a traitor A loveless Union cannot bend us to her will Cannot command the soldiers who now hate her Nor demand the fealty of her generals"
The rebels, confederates, view the Union as 'loveless'. They are fighting for what some president wants as opposed to fighting for their homeland and way of life.
"I took a rifle ball in my shoulder But my entire body filled with pain I pleaded with them all at the field hospital "Oh, God, another shot of morphine!" "
The narrator is wounded in the shoulder and is brought to a field hospital. He is not so badly wounded that immediate medical attention is needed and he is left to wait. Here he becomes addicted to morphine.
"Soldier's Joy, oh what's the point in pleasure When it's only meant to kill the pain Lay down my armsand take the coffin's measure Or take up arms and send me out to fight again Shaking hands ..was I a coward, was I brave? With shaking hands, I took the bitter pill Now tell the story on my grave, my soul they could not save What the bullet would not kill, the needle will "
The soldier has become addicted to morphine and while the high it gives him takes away his bodily pain, it won't erase the painful memories or events he has seen and experienced. He wants to know if he was a coward for being wounded when many of his companions died for their cause. Perhaps he has entered a state of depression. He 'took the bitter pill' ('drugs') with hands trembling from his painful wound and once again makes note that he is addicted to morphine to get him through the horrors of battle.