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.
Shave our heads, strip our clothes
Burn them books but the mind still grows
We people, we're dangerous things
Sheltered mind, a fear of rings
Fear of time and missing links
We all once were, oh, we all once were
And I'll walk 'til my legs are broken
I was up walking and you were the shoes
Bored with the thoughts that you thought I could use
Islands were made of brick, stone and shade
Where deaths only rest of laughable tunes
(It never, ever rains if you never cry)
(Never have to mourn if you never die)
Feel your toes, buried sand
Wide eyes roll and the legs, they stand
We people, we're dangerous things
A sheltered mind, a fear of rings
Fear of time and missing links
We all once were, oh, we all once were
I was asleep until my eyes opened
We are made to be sewn
Bodies, lips, eyes, earth and regrown
We people, we're dangerous things
A sheltered mind, a fear of rings
Fear of time and missing links
We all once were, oh, we all once were
And I'll walk 'til my legs are broken
Bills sit about talking of people they've used
Born of new worlds that have fallen past due
Trusting in funding and finding a place
In wheel-wells and homes and people like you
Films finding fair faces and lies
While ships bearing backs house glass teeth and eyes
Like the apartment of capable tunes
That bored with the thoughts that we thought it could use
It never, ever rains if you never cry
Never have to mourn if you never die
Burn them books but the mind still grows
We people, we're dangerous things
Sheltered mind, a fear of rings
Fear of time and missing links
We all once were, oh, we all once were
And I'll walk 'til my legs are broken
I was up walking and you were the shoes
Bored with the thoughts that you thought I could use
Islands were made of brick, stone and shade
Where deaths only rest of laughable tunes
(It never, ever rains if you never cry)
(Never have to mourn if you never die)
Feel your toes, buried sand
Wide eyes roll and the legs, they stand
We people, we're dangerous things
A sheltered mind, a fear of rings
Fear of time and missing links
We all once were, oh, we all once were
I was asleep until my eyes opened
We are made to be sewn
Bodies, lips, eyes, earth and regrown
We people, we're dangerous things
A sheltered mind, a fear of rings
Fear of time and missing links
We all once were, oh, we all once were
And I'll walk 'til my legs are broken
Bills sit about talking of people they've used
Born of new worlds that have fallen past due
Trusting in funding and finding a place
In wheel-wells and homes and people like you
Films finding fair faces and lies
While ships bearing backs house glass teeth and eyes
Like the apartment of capable tunes
That bored with the thoughts that we thought it could use
It never, ever rains if you never cry
Never have to mourn if you never die
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I'm gonna take a stab at analyzing this great song.
This song, I think, is about rejecting civilization. When he talks about shaving our heads, stripping our clothes, and burning our books, he's talking about the total destruction of what is established in human lives.
The central line of the song is "we people are dangerous things." He talks about the fears and doubts we have, our "sheltered minds." And he reminds us, cryptically, that "we all once were" something different.
The "missing link" in particular refers to evolution, the development of modern man. It can also be seen as a religious reference, as creationists (who disbelieve evolution) would fear a "missing link" that would lend more evidence to the theory of evolution.
The song points out that we are part of nature. "We are made to be sown (instead of sewn), body's lips and eyes earthed and regrown." The song talks about man's affect on the planet ("islands were made of brick stone and shade"). That line could also point out how people isolate themselves from each other, with people using their houses to turn themselves into islands.
The song then talks about ills of society, particularly money. Bills talking about people they've used, "trusting in funding." We distract ourselves with superficial entertainment and comforts ("films finding fair faces and lies", the "apartment with capable tunes"), but ultimately we're bored, because that life lacks meaning.
This isn't the meaning I get when I listen to the song, and really I think that all their songs are more about the feeling than the explicit meaning of the words. But that's what I got. Cheers