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.
When the thunder calls you
From a mountain high
It's time to spread your wings and fly
When the thunder calls you
Under purple sun
To the place where horses run
When I saw your face
I knew you were the one
In a sky that's filled with rain
A ray of sun
I called you on the phone
Said "You're happy on your own"
When I heard your body cry
For my love
Your body's calling me
Your body's calling
I think I'm falling
Whoa
A picture in my mind
A vision in a dream
When the storm destroyed
The bridge I walked across
Have you ever felt alone
When you stood within a crowd
On a path you thought you knew
But feel alone
I'm all confused, like a child with a choice of toy
So much to gain, so much to lose
Like a pain you endure more than enjoy
I guess I'm going crazy, everyone's telling me so
Do you feel the same?
Well that's all I need to know
From a mountain high
It's time to spread your wings and fly
When the thunder calls you
Under purple sun
To the place where horses run
When I saw your face
I knew you were the one
In a sky that's filled with rain
A ray of sun
I called you on the phone
Said "You're happy on your own"
When I heard your body cry
For my love
Your body's calling me
Your body's calling
I think I'm falling
Whoa
A picture in my mind
A vision in a dream
When the storm destroyed
The bridge I walked across
Have you ever felt alone
When you stood within a crowd
On a path you thought you knew
But feel alone
I'm all confused, like a child with a choice of toy
So much to gain, so much to lose
Like a pain you endure more than enjoy
I guess I'm going crazy, everyone's telling me so
Do you feel the same?
Well that's all I need to know
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I think "Thunder", much like Custer's Last Stand, was Tony Mortimer's last stolid cry for help. If one looks at the riddle like lyrics with an eye that is attuned to spotting underlying tonality shifts & allegory, this become most present. Thunder was one of East 17's last great successes as a cohesive 4 part unit. Many know that after their demise, Tony became something of a recluse, refusing to trust anyone but his trusted psychic medium - There are eerie foretellings of this encroaching madness woven intricately throughout this stirring anthem. Most blatant is the "rap" segment, in which Tony FLAT OUT says/raps over thunder claps & an erratic beat "I guess I'm going crazy, everyone's telling me so"... To actually hear the desperation in his voice over the studio warping effect is truly chilling, and I feel as though I have, if only for a brief moment, crawled into the very psyche of a madman! He also alludes to "a pain you endure, more than enjoy". This tells me that hes gone from a playful S&M flirtation to full on self flagellation. Is Tony a cutter? Has he made a martyr of himself as the one who bears the brunt of anti-East 17 backlash after that fateful (and infamous) Brain Harvey interview? I think 'Thunder' in its purest sense, equates chaos, nature's ability to destroy & cause hysteria, and our INABILITY to control this. While he dreams of "purple suns" and "the place where horses run" (his childhood? a meditative state of zen?, East 17s Glory days?), I think this is a visceral account of a man on the brink of virtual insanity. We know in real life, Tony did descend into agoraphobia & struggled with the ravages of an eating disorder (self flagellation?), so I really do feel this song was something of a battle cry for help from the mind of a man that was too great to be understood by his peers and contemporaries...
Excellent post Eggfart! At last East 17 are receiving the serious thought and discussion they so justly deserve. At the height of their popularity in the mid to early 1990s they were seen as little more than a ragbag gang of street urchins by the elitist British music press. Now we're seeing a revaluation of East 17s contribution to music and contemporary British culture. It somewhat angers me it has taken almost 20 years for this to happen alas this has always been the way with such seminal musician's.<br /> <br /> Thunder was indeed East 17's swansong and an expression of the growing unrest within the group, as well as Mortimer's soul. The thunder is essentially that force of nature that for so long carried East 17 and made them the explosive musical force they once were. However the driving force was now turning into a looming storm set to destroy everything in its path. Mortimer's lyrics and composition in Thunder swirl and rumble with the approaching destruction that was on the horizon for East 17. It seems somewhat incredible that Mortimer sensed the imminent implosion of the group and expressed it so harrowingly yet beautiful with Thunder. it's as if he is stepping back and admiring the unforgiving power of nature yet didactically falling into the maelstrom himself. This is the essence of the man and the essence of his genius, if you will. A man full of contradictions, yet without such contradictions would we have such genius or such tunage?