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.
my watch says eleven-twenty-seven AM
sittin' in a subway station
heartbeat racin'
i'm waitin' on the day to begin
she's half an hour late now
i'm about to have a breakdown
i've stopped tryin' to make any of it make sense
i've relived the conversations (say it all in code)
lost my patience
and i sleep in the basement
i read her sentence in mine all in the same line (a bitter mystery)
when you wake up
i would be gone (that only you could know)
when you wake up
i would be gone (that only i could see)
the letter she left was one line long (save me)
goodbye forever i'm gone (i can't say)
it was sitting in a table in a room in a red brick box (you loved me)
that we used to call a home (i swore i loved you)
the letter she left was one line long (every day)
goodbye forever i'm gone (??)
it was sitting in a table in a room in a red brick box (this will end)
we used to call a home (soon when i go)
and on the plains of antarctica
we built a tiny house to keep ourselves out of the cold
from the start when your eyes were bright
it is the only place that i could ever call a home
you froze to death on december tenth
was a couple of days before the rescue planes would come
i buried you on our wedding day
with the shards of my heart and said goodbye forever i'm gone
the letter she left was one line long (save me)
goodbye forever i'm gone (i can't say)
it was sitting in a table in a room in a red brick box (you loved me)
that we used to call a home (i swore i loved you)
the letter she left was one line long (every day)
goodbye forever i'm gone (??)
it was sitting in a table in a room in a red brick box (this will end)
we used to call a home (soon when i go)
make the truth the lie
i'll keep your secret safe
hidden in my smile
lonely in my grave
sittin' in a subway station
heartbeat racin'
i'm waitin' on the day to begin
she's half an hour late now
i'm about to have a breakdown
i've stopped tryin' to make any of it make sense
i've relived the conversations (say it all in code)
lost my patience
and i sleep in the basement
i read her sentence in mine all in the same line (a bitter mystery)
when you wake up
i would be gone (that only you could know)
when you wake up
i would be gone (that only i could see)
the letter she left was one line long (save me)
goodbye forever i'm gone (i can't say)
it was sitting in a table in a room in a red brick box (you loved me)
that we used to call a home (i swore i loved you)
the letter she left was one line long (every day)
goodbye forever i'm gone (??)
it was sitting in a table in a room in a red brick box (this will end)
we used to call a home (soon when i go)
and on the plains of antarctica
we built a tiny house to keep ourselves out of the cold
from the start when your eyes were bright
it is the only place that i could ever call a home
you froze to death on december tenth
was a couple of days before the rescue planes would come
i buried you on our wedding day
with the shards of my heart and said goodbye forever i'm gone
the letter she left was one line long (save me)
goodbye forever i'm gone (i can't say)
it was sitting in a table in a room in a red brick box (you loved me)
that we used to call a home (i swore i loved you)
the letter she left was one line long (every day)
goodbye forever i'm gone (??)
it was sitting in a table in a room in a red brick box (this will end)
we used to call a home (soon when i go)
make the truth the lie
i'll keep your secret safe
hidden in my smile
lonely in my grave
Lyrics submitted by MaritheGreat
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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,
Blue
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American Town
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Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Plastic Bag
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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.
This is my hands down favorite song of theirs -- also the first one I heard. The way he uses the metaphor that she "froze to death" and then "buried her on our wedding day" is such a fantastic symbol of the abandonment and lost love.
Definitely one of the best trip-hop songs out there.