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.
Spider and i sit watching the sky
On a world without sound
We knit a web to catch one tiny fly
For our world without sound
We sleep in the mornings
We dream of a ship that sails away
A thousand miles away.
On a world without sound
We knit a web to catch one tiny fly
For our world without sound
We sleep in the mornings
We dream of a ship that sails away
A thousand miles away.
Lyrics submitted by scared_of_what?
Spider and I Lyrics as written by Brian Eno
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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No Surprises
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Just A Little Lovin'
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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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.
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American Town
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Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
There is something profound about this song that is as of now completely eluding me. I can't decide if it's a terrible sadness, or...
This was my favorite song for a long time. It has no given meaning, yet it means so much. It's purely beautiful.
I wouldn't have thought of terrible sadness, but I think that describes it perfectly. This song is how I'd feel if I was frozen inside a block of ice or if I turned into a rock, like in Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. People sometimes sleep in the mornings when they're depressed because they don't want to get up. The part about the ship is escapism.
The interpretation of a lyric is only the smallest portion of the meaning in a song... A song's meaning is derived from its feel, its vibe... This song lingers around you and from time to time creeps through you; Calms your ego. Brian eno never meant anything by lyrics... he just created candy for your essence, lush soundscapes. And I really like it, and i really this song. It carries you around on its sad back.
The "spider and I" conflates one person's ultimate value or position as equitable with the other... in a sense deflating the "more valuable" ego of man down to to the level of the spider since both will meet the inevitable end of life.
"Sit watching the sky" is about learning during life ("childhood" or as the initial step in a meta-Sequence). "On our world without sound" is the interior life... sound can only be made outside of the ear and the mind that interprets it. "We knit a web / to catch one tiny fly" is presenting the process we embark upon after the "learning" we did before this sequence of action/reaction... our life in a nutshell ("work a job, make a little money"). That "for our world without sound" is repeated has it's meaning in more of the "meta-Sequence" as it yes, could be that the "fly" is nourishment in the more explicit meaning, the "larger" meaning is that these things gleaned from our activated learning are meant for use within our mind... so it creates a continuous loop between the world back into the mind to venture forward again. "We sleep in the mornings / We dream of a ship that sails away/ A thousand miles away" is referencing the point near death... morning is when one awakes to the day so sleeping during it would be a sign of one's life slipping in the opposite direction of the rising morning. The "ship that sails away" is the whole of life and the world... it carries on without us after our passing. The "dream" could also be Memory... it slides away "a thousand miles away"... so far away at the moment that its movement would be indiscernible and more of an flight of fancy than an actuality... and it wouldn't matter... it would be but fantasy... one whose structure is wholly different from what we, the spider and I, are.
The final song on the album, and the end of our journey through time, from "before" to "after" science (I claim no objectivity in my assessment of the album's structure). A lullaby.
The protagonist is now with "Spider," who appears to be a literal spider. Perhaps reincarnated, perhaps perceiving omnisciently the preciousness of all life, we have passed through death (in the previous song) to a state of absolute peace. The glory of a single knit web, normally hated or ignored by humans, is seen for what it is -- the small, the unseen, the forgotten, the details, the imagination, sleep, dreams, rest, peace, drifting, after science -- I hope we can learn from all of these things when we design our next society. Eno seems hopeful; after all, what are humans except another in a long line of "random," quantum Earth mathematics?
First, there is significant sadness in the music, but a deep profound stillness as well. I always sensed that the lyrics were basically literal. He is laying in the sun possibly by the water, and gazing at a spider weaving or resting in its web. As a musician, he is neither composing or creating music, just enjoying the moment of stllness, feeling one with the spider, so insignificant, so small, yet a microcosm of the greater world. A world without sound can refer to Eno taking a break fromhis music and his career to just exist. The ship that sails away refers to his thoughts relaxing and drifting away as he unwinds from the daily stress of life as a human being. I don’t know... I just love this song. It’s haunting and lovely.
First, there is significant sadness in the music, but a deep profound stillness as well. I always sensed that the lyrics were basically literal. He is laying in the sun possibly by the water, and gazing at a spider weaving or resting in its web. As a musician, he is neither composing or creating music, just enjoying the moment of stllness, feeling one with the spider, so insignificant, so small, yet a microcosm of the greater world. A world without sound can refer to Eno taking a break fromhis music and his career to just exist. The ship that sails away refers to his thoughts relaxing and drifting away as he unwinds from the daily stress of life as a human being. I don’t know... I just love this song. It’s haunting and lovely.