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.
A lonely yellow light gets swallowed by the morning in New Hampshire
And casts a shadow on the pavement where we used to walk together
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
But in a small town made of hills and trees and streams
All you've got to believe is what you dream
I know she will make it somehow
'Cause she is from New Hampshire
Yeah
She said she wants to see it all
Putting on her make-up
She's making her last telephone call
She says she's leaving me now
My eyes are following the lines that lead away from old New Hampshire
Yeah
But she's gone out of view and taken with her clarity and laughter
But in a big town made of hard and scary things
All you've got to believe in is what you dream
I know she will make it somehow
She is from New Hampshire
Yeah
She said she wants to see it all
Putting on her make-up
She's making her last telephone call
She says she's leaving
Why is growing up so bad for love
It only takes us further from what means the most
She means the most and now she's gone away
But she is from New Hampshire
Yeah
She said she wants to see it all
Putting on her make-up
She's making her last telephone call
She says she's leaving me now
She says she's leaving me now
She says she's leaving me now
New Hampshire
New Hampshire
Ooh
Ooh
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
That's you
That's you
That's you
You
That's you
That's you
That's you
That's you
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
And casts a shadow on the pavement where we used to walk together
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
But in a small town made of hills and trees and streams
All you've got to believe is what you dream
I know she will make it somehow
'Cause she is from New Hampshire
Yeah
She said she wants to see it all
Putting on her make-up
She's making her last telephone call
She says she's leaving me now
My eyes are following the lines that lead away from old New Hampshire
Yeah
But she's gone out of view and taken with her clarity and laughter
But in a big town made of hard and scary things
All you've got to believe in is what you dream
I know she will make it somehow
She is from New Hampshire
Yeah
She said she wants to see it all
Putting on her make-up
She's making her last telephone call
She says she's leaving
Why is growing up so bad for love
It only takes us further from what means the most
She means the most and now she's gone away
But she is from New Hampshire
Yeah
She said she wants to see it all
Putting on her make-up
She's making her last telephone call
She says she's leaving me now
She says she's leaving me now
She says she's leaving me now
New Hampshire
New Hampshire
Ooh
Ooh
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Yeah
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
That's you
That's you
That's you
You
That's you
That's you
That's you
That's you
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
Ooh
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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Page
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Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
I think this song is about a boy who had a friendship or even relationship with that one girl who meant a lot to him. She leaves New Hampshire to go onto bigger and better things, perhaps college or for her career. He is singing about how he misses her and he wishes that they never had to part. He just wants his moment with her to stay forever, but he acknowledges the sad fact that people have to grow up eventually. As he watches her put on her make up and call people to say goodbye, she tells him she's leaving him. Throughout the song he is reminiscing about the times he had with her and he is sad that she is leaving. In the end of the song, he is still sad but he knows that she'll go on to become someone great. Basically, she left to go follow her dreams and he's left just gazing at the emptiness of his life without her.
I like this song because we all reach a point in our life where we have to grow up. Some people leave us and others we leave behind, whether we want to or not.
Simply beautiful
:]