I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
One more failed suicide attempt and
I don't think you're trying anywhere hard enough
Its not as if we're stood here wishing you were dead
I just want you to succeed at something you wanted to succeed at
And though you're tearing me
Close forth wise
Come firefight
I heard steps
Its come to care less
And everybodys there
I checked your underwear
Who wants check
Another dress to get
Discarded in a corner store
Gotta poke your privates (?)
Put some candles out
Put them candles out
Ex delta (??)
She's tight with dancers
She's says she's got it back
Put some candles out
Put them candles out
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
I softening
I softening
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
You've got nothing to cruise
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
A pairs appening
A pairs afternoon
I got nothing to lose
So I can't have singing now
I got nothing to lose
Wife went shouted
Let me in at once and I was
Shouting, screaming
Police at the taxi rank
Its not as if we're stood here waiting for your blood
I just want you to succeed at something you wanted to succeed at
And though you're tearing me
Close forth wise
Cool, volatile
Like roadkill
Its got red cos the gold wear our hearts outright
Who wear the racists down
No protest
Your phones charged
Cos you passed out in the taxi rank
We barely started so
Put some candles out
Put them candles out
I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed,
of the treaties like a raise
Cos you're only gonna lose
Put some candles out
Put them candles out
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
I softening
I softening
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
You've got nothing to cruise
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
A pairs appening
A pairs afternoon
I got nothing to lose
So I can't have singing now
I got nothing to lose
Well it all comes back
We've all crept back
To the suicide pact
A heart attacks my attempt at trying
I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying
Make the best of what we have.
I don't think you're trying anywhere hard enough
Its not as if we're stood here wishing you were dead
I just want you to succeed at something you wanted to succeed at
And though you're tearing me
Close forth wise
Come firefight
I heard steps
Its come to care less
And everybodys there
I checked your underwear
Who wants check
Another dress to get
Discarded in a corner store
Gotta poke your privates (?)
Put some candles out
Put them candles out
Ex delta (??)
She's tight with dancers
She's says she's got it back
Put some candles out
Put them candles out
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
I softening
I softening
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
You've got nothing to cruise
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
A pairs appening
A pairs afternoon
I got nothing to lose
So I can't have singing now
I got nothing to lose
Wife went shouted
Let me in at once and I was
Shouting, screaming
Police at the taxi rank
Its not as if we're stood here waiting for your blood
I just want you to succeed at something you wanted to succeed at
And though you're tearing me
Close forth wise
Cool, volatile
Like roadkill
Its got red cos the gold wear our hearts outright
Who wear the racists down
No protest
Your phones charged
Cos you passed out in the taxi rank
We barely started so
Put some candles out
Put them candles out
I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed,
of the treaties like a raise
Cos you're only gonna lose
Put some candles out
Put them candles out
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
I softening
I softening
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
You've got nothing to cruise
I got nothing to lose
I got nothing to lose
A pairs appening
A pairs afternoon
I got nothing to lose
So I can't have singing now
I got nothing to lose
Well it all comes back
We've all crept back
To the suicide pact
A heart attacks my attempt at trying
I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm trying
Make the best of what we have.
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Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
one more failed suicide attempt and i don't think yr trying anywhere hard enough. it's not like were stood here wishing you were dead, i just want you to succeed at something you want to succeed at.
And now yr tearing down the christmas lights come valentines.
out hostess, she skims the careless, i know the money's there, i checked her underwear. hey bodycheck! another dress to get discarded in dark corners thrown by drunken lovers, put some candles out (put some candles out).
ex dancer, shes tight with bouncers, she says they got her back, until they get her back so put some candles out (put some candles out).
ive got nothing to lose (ive got nothing to lose) ive got nothing to lose (for paris afternoons) for paris afternoons ive got nothing to lose (ive got nothing to lose) if you've got nothing to prove (ive got nothing to lose) ive got nothing to lose (for paris afternoons) for paris afternoons were fake and summer can't come soon enough (ive got nothing to lose).
one more shattered limb for yr bulletin there was shouting, then screaming, then poilice in the taxi rank. it's not like were stood here waiting for the blood, i just want you to succeed at something you want to succeed at.
now yr tearing down the christmas lights come valentines.
like roadkill, we took bad pills, forgot where our hearts were at (and where the rest was stashed) the night broke us, yr friends choked us, passed out on the taxi ride, we barely got inside, put some candles out (put some candles out).
and i'm ashamed, i'm ashamed, i'm ashamed if you treat this like a race then yr only going to lose, put some candles back (put some candles out).
ive got nothing to lose (ive got nothing to lose) ive got nothing to lose (for paris afternoons) for paris afternoons ive got nothing to lose (ive got nothing to lose) if you've got nothing to prove (ive got nothing to lose) ive got nothing to lose (for paris afternoons) for paris afternoons were fake and summer can't come soon enough (ive got nothing to lose).
and how it always comes back to a row of cheap flats, a suicide pact and a heart attck stance that says "I tried, I tried, I tried, I tried, I made the best with what we had."