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.
On the hottest night of the year
Lying in a patch of rhododendrons
A bottle of whisky under my arm
Trying to count a sky full of stars
I dream of order, I dream of fleets
Of Napoleon in aquamarine
He said "Linus put that blanket down
You've slammed your door too many times"
He said "Linus put that blanket down
The world won't wait"
Boy, what you gonna do with your life?
When I was your age, I was commanding fleets
When I was your age, I was soaked in victory
And now you can't keep a job and you can't keep a wife
What a horrible mess you're gonna make of your life
Watched way too many American films
To be John Wayne, Brando or James Dean
Waiting so long for your wrists to get thick
Waiting so long for the next great party
So many questions, so little to say
You don't need these weights
Boy, what you gonna do with your life?
So you want to be an artist, want to be a singer
Want to be remembered for what you could create
So you want to be a cowboy, riding to the distance
Never have to listen or answer to anyone
So you want to be a boxer, surviving on your instincts
Relying on your fists and the quickness of your wit
Are you bigger than these buildings and the grey around you?
Is your pain more worthy than everybody else?
Drunk again in the rhododendrons
Lying in a patch of rhododendrons
A bottle of whisky under my arm
Trying to count a sky full of stars
I dream of order, I dream of fleets
Of Napoleon in aquamarine
He said "Linus put that blanket down
You've slammed your door too many times"
He said "Linus put that blanket down
The world won't wait"
Boy, what you gonna do with your life?
When I was your age, I was commanding fleets
When I was your age, I was soaked in victory
And now you can't keep a job and you can't keep a wife
What a horrible mess you're gonna make of your life
Watched way too many American films
To be John Wayne, Brando or James Dean
Waiting so long for your wrists to get thick
Waiting so long for the next great party
So many questions, so little to say
You don't need these weights
Boy, what you gonna do with your life?
So you want to be an artist, want to be a singer
Want to be remembered for what you could create
So you want to be a cowboy, riding to the distance
Never have to listen or answer to anyone
So you want to be a boxer, surviving on your instincts
Relying on your fists and the quickness of your wit
Are you bigger than these buildings and the grey around you?
Is your pain more worthy than everybody else?
Drunk again in the rhododendrons
Lyrics submitted by Razorlight16
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Looks to fit in with the whole theme of the album being about the disillusionment of a person who has realised that they are facing a dreary world and that they are nothing special. A rhetorical conversation with someone who has achieved something (in this case Napoleon) where the singer berates himself for having achived nothing and so feels worthless in comparison.
The fact that he is lying in patch of flowers drunk reinforces the fact that his life feels like it is going no where.
Correction:
It's "Linus put that blanket down"
As in Linus from the Peanuts comic strip, the dreamy kid genius who never goes anywhere without his blue blanket.
This song is great... anyone know where to get this song on mp3?
MP3 can b found here: esnips.com/doc/34c18668-ed81-43fa-aac7-203f643e306a/Rhododendron-bloc-party
I like what Posten said. I think it's someone in college that has no idea what they want to be when they grow up so they are wandering around aimlessly.
i luv this song its just amazing
how do u actually download it though? cuz i went n i don't c nething that says download
Try harder Blocpartylover16!!!!!
u used to b able to download it by becoming a membner of the site, but now it doesn't allow that so ignore the link...sorry
He's tried to make his dreams reality, but he's failed so many times. He escapes his weights with a bottle of whiskey and finds himself in a patch of rhododendrons. As he looks up at the stars, he hears the words of all the people who've asked him what his plans are, told him what a failure he is, scorned those dreams of his. When he finally silences those voices, all he can do is think about his current state - drunk again in the rhododendrons, he laughs sardonically to himself, over and over until he drinks himself into oblivion.