This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
I made you a present, you'll never expect it
And when you unravel the secret will travel
It's hard to take risks with a pessimist
I hope that this shaking will help us awaken
Separated by skin 'til we let ourselves in
It's hard to take risks with a pessimist
It's hard to take risks
I hope one will burn me, I know you'll desert me
(This is the closest I'll come to touching you the way I want)
The hope can be painful, I'll try to be faithful
(It's hard to take risks)
And when you unravel the secret will travel
It's hard to take risks with a pessimist
I hope that this shaking will help us awaken
Separated by skin 'til we let ourselves in
It's hard to take risks with a pessimist
It's hard to take risks
I hope one will burn me, I know you'll desert me
(This is the closest I'll come to touching you the way I want)
The hope can be painful, I'll try to be faithful
(It's hard to take risks)
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More Featured Meanings
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
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.
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.
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.
"Separated by skin ‘til we let ourselves in" I hear this song saying that humans remain foreign and distant from one another unless they choose to be intimate. However, that choice involves making oneself vulnerable. It requires having faith in the people you are letting in; trusting that they won't judge, hurt or scar you. When the lead singer comments, "it's hard to take risks with a pessimist," he is explaining that it is hard to achieve intimacy with his partner because she/(he, if gay) is too cynical to have complete faith in him. He may also be commenting on the fear he feels when trying to let her in. Knowing that she is a pessimist, he knows that she/he is quick to judge things negatively, including whatever parts of himself that he shows her/(him).