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.
I shake through the wreckage for signs of life
Scrolling through the paragraphs
Clicking through the photographs
I wish I could make sense of what we do
Burning down the capitols
The wisest of the animals
Who are you, what are you living for
Tooth for tooth, maybe we'll go one more
This life, is lived in perfect symmetry
What I do, that will be done to me
Read page after page of analysis
Looking for the final score
We're no closer than we were before
Who are you, what are you fighting for
Holy truth? Brother I choose this mortal life
Lived in perfect symmetry
What I do, that will be done to me
As the needle, slips into the run out groove
Love, maybe you feel it too
And maybe you find, life is unkind
And over so soon
There is no golden gate
There's no heaven waiting for you
Oh boy you ought to leave this town
Get out while you can, the meter's running out
The voices in the streets you love
Everything is better when you hear that sound
Spineless dreamers, hide in churches
Pieces of pieces of rush hour, buses
I dream in emails, worn out phrases
Mile after mile of just empty pages
Wrap yourself around me
Wrap yourself around me
As the needle, slips into the run out groove
Maybe I'll feel it too
Maybe you'll feel it too
Maybe you'll feel it too (Spineless dreamers)
Maybe you'll feel it too (hide in churches)
(Pieces of pieces of rush hour, buses)
I dream in emails, worn out phrases
Mile after mile of just empty pages
Spineless dreamers, hide in churches
Pieces of pieces of rush hour, buses
Scrolling through the paragraphs
Clicking through the photographs
I wish I could make sense of what we do
Burning down the capitols
The wisest of the animals
Who are you, what are you living for
Tooth for tooth, maybe we'll go one more
This life, is lived in perfect symmetry
What I do, that will be done to me
Read page after page of analysis
Looking for the final score
We're no closer than we were before
Who are you, what are you fighting for
Holy truth? Brother I choose this mortal life
Lived in perfect symmetry
What I do, that will be done to me
As the needle, slips into the run out groove
Love, maybe you feel it too
And maybe you find, life is unkind
And over so soon
There is no golden gate
There's no heaven waiting for you
Oh boy you ought to leave this town
Get out while you can, the meter's running out
The voices in the streets you love
Everything is better when you hear that sound
Spineless dreamers, hide in churches
Pieces of pieces of rush hour, buses
I dream in emails, worn out phrases
Mile after mile of just empty pages
Wrap yourself around me
Wrap yourself around me
As the needle, slips into the run out groove
Maybe I'll feel it too
Maybe you'll feel it too
Maybe you'll feel it too (Spineless dreamers)
Maybe you'll feel it too (hide in churches)
(Pieces of pieces of rush hour, buses)
I dream in emails, worn out phrases
Mile after mile of just empty pages
Spineless dreamers, hide in churches
Pieces of pieces of rush hour, buses
Lyrics submitted by MLBfreek35
Perfect Symmetry Lyrics as written by Timothy James Rice-oxley Richard David Hughes
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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As for the meaning, I definitely read an anti religious extremism context... the contradiction of fighting for a religious cause.
"Who are you? What are you fighting for? Holy truth? Brother I choose this mortal life"
... if discovering the “holy truth” involves violence, then the singer clearly opts out for a mortal life.
The only piece that I can't really make much sense of is the internet / email connection. I guess the singer despairs at reading about the countless news stories that are linked to religious cause – 7/7; 9/11 etc ?
The verse:
“Oh boy you ought to leave this town Get out while you can the meter's running down The voices in the streets you love Everything is better when you hear that sound”
… is amazing – sends shivers down my spine.