Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
No puppet, no liar, won't bend my lips to wire, No
Don't pressurize me so
Don't gamble, with my life, or you won't live to do it twice
Oh take some good advice from me
And let the wires rock
All dressed in black so nobody sees you
Smile in the wings, tell me I please you
Call me a king and watch for the wordworm to choke me
And you're like a giraffe, the performance is poor
Watch the audience laugh as my head hits the floor
When I'm broken in half you still reach for the floor
Stop!
I've had enough of this
The pantomime's reversed
I need, you feed
I greed, you bleed
Marionette, I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet, Well you'd better forget it
Marionette, I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet, Go check your stocks and shares
And when the coffin comes make sure there's room for two
You lied, I led
I died, You're dead
Marionette, I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet, You'd better forget it
Marionette, I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet, go check your product
A traitor, deceiver, a groovy disbeliever I thought
A puppet was a thing cheap-taught, No way
Creator, conceiver, romantic love receiver, caught
"Who are you"
"The nerve"
"I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I
Wanna get out,
Ah!
Oh he wanna play chords to the chick on the street
He wanna play words to a world that don't speak
He wanna play people who play hide 'n' seek when they don't talk
He wanna play a riff to the man with the wires
He wanna play lead but his hand's getting tired
He just wanna play but don't know how to say, stop!
OK, the show's been fun
But my wood's begun to warp
They won,I'm done
New one, begun
Marionette, I did my best
Teacher's pet, It just couldn't last
Marionette, Get me out of this mess
Teacher's little pet, It happened so fast
Marionette, Now I need a rest
Teacher's pet, Where's my sanity gone, Mother?
Marionette, I did my best
Teacher's little pet, I'm just like all the others
They gambled, with my life
And now I've lost my will to fight
Oh God these wires are so tight,
I'm just a marionette.
Don't pressurize me so
Don't gamble, with my life, or you won't live to do it twice
Oh take some good advice from me
And let the wires rock
All dressed in black so nobody sees you
Smile in the wings, tell me I please you
Call me a king and watch for the wordworm to choke me
And you're like a giraffe, the performance is poor
Watch the audience laugh as my head hits the floor
When I'm broken in half you still reach for the floor
Stop!
I've had enough of this
The pantomime's reversed
I need, you feed
I greed, you bleed
Marionette, I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet, Well you'd better forget it
Marionette, I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet, Go check your stocks and shares
And when the coffin comes make sure there's room for two
You lied, I led
I died, You're dead
Marionette, I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet, You'd better forget it
Marionette, I ain't one yet
Teacher's pet, go check your product
A traitor, deceiver, a groovy disbeliever I thought
A puppet was a thing cheap-taught, No way
Creator, conceiver, romantic love receiver, caught
"Who are you"
"The nerve"
"I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I wanna get out, I
Wanna get out,
Ah!
Oh he wanna play chords to the chick on the street
He wanna play words to a world that don't speak
He wanna play people who play hide 'n' seek when they don't talk
He wanna play a riff to the man with the wires
He wanna play lead but his hand's getting tired
He just wanna play but don't know how to say, stop!
OK, the show's been fun
But my wood's begun to warp
They won,I'm done
New one, begun
Marionette, I did my best
Teacher's pet, It just couldn't last
Marionette, Get me out of this mess
Teacher's little pet, It happened so fast
Marionette, Now I need a rest
Teacher's pet, Where's my sanity gone, Mother?
Marionette, I did my best
Teacher's little pet, I'm just like all the others
They gambled, with my life
And now I've lost my will to fight
Oh God these wires are so tight,
I'm just a marionette.
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More Featured Meanings
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
This song is great! =) It's about a guy who's a rebel - he probably just got out of high school and wants to do what HE wants to do; no Corporate America crap the rest of the world is doing. But "the man" doesn't like it and wants to turn him into a marionette. When he says 'the nerve' it's because he can't believe anyone would try to deny him like that. In the end, the man becomes a Marionette after 'trying his best' to not be. So in the end, it is inevitable - you WILL become a marrionette and work for Corporate America.