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,
Another weekend comes, I got nowhere to go
So I get real high and head to your window
Watch perfect faces living perfect lives
Until something snaps inside
Now everything looks just like a horror cartoon
And I'm thinking of something that I know I shouldn't do
But nobody knows me and nobody cares
And damn, I feel alive
You think you know who we are
Well, you don't know us at all
We are criminals
The arsonists, the thieves, the rapists
Save yourself
You put us in cages, but you made us criminals
Lost inside your American Dreams
we'll carry this for the quarantine
Now I'm running away
Just like a clumsy machine
And a memory follows like a horrible dream
But I prove to myself I can do anything
And damn, I feel alive
We are criminals
The arsonists, the thieves, the rapists
Save yourself
You put us in cages, but you made us criminals
Lost inside your American Dreams
we'll carry this for the quarantine
For every town that I've been lied to
Been cheated, beaten down
Revenge is such a glamorous feeling
I've been craving for so long
And when you sleep at night
Believe me, I'll be there in the dark
Because we've got nothing to lose
And we don't care who you are
The rich, the beautiful
You don't mean a thing to a scorched earth
Parasites in paradise,
Our time has come to change your life
We are criminals
The arsonists, the thieves, the rapists
Save yourself
You put us in cages, but you made us
The rich, the beautiful
You don't mean a thing to a scorched earth
Parasites in paradise
Our time has come to change your life
The disenchanted, make revolutions to change your life
We're now at war with our future
So I get real high and head to your window
Watch perfect faces living perfect lives
Until something snaps inside
Now everything looks just like a horror cartoon
And I'm thinking of something that I know I shouldn't do
But nobody knows me and nobody cares
And damn, I feel alive
You think you know who we are
Well, you don't know us at all
We are criminals
The arsonists, the thieves, the rapists
Save yourself
You put us in cages, but you made us criminals
Lost inside your American Dreams
we'll carry this for the quarantine
Now I'm running away
Just like a clumsy machine
And a memory follows like a horrible dream
But I prove to myself I can do anything
And damn, I feel alive
We are criminals
The arsonists, the thieves, the rapists
Save yourself
You put us in cages, but you made us criminals
Lost inside your American Dreams
we'll carry this for the quarantine
For every town that I've been lied to
Been cheated, beaten down
Revenge is such a glamorous feeling
I've been craving for so long
And when you sleep at night
Believe me, I'll be there in the dark
Because we've got nothing to lose
And we don't care who you are
The rich, the beautiful
You don't mean a thing to a scorched earth
Parasites in paradise,
Our time has come to change your life
We are criminals
The arsonists, the thieves, the rapists
Save yourself
You put us in cages, but you made us
The rich, the beautiful
You don't mean a thing to a scorched earth
Parasites in paradise
Our time has come to change your life
The disenchanted, make revolutions to change your life
We're now at war with our future
Lyrics submitted by MayaMoo
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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.
I have a lot of thoughts about this one. This song has such deep meaning to it... lyrically, it reminds me of a lot of 10 Years music. Let's start with the 1st verse:
"Another weekend comes, I got nowhere to go So I get real high and head to YOUR window Watch perfect faces living perfect lives Until something snaps inside"
-A few things to think about here: He has nothing to do, so he decides to get high. I'm gonna assume he's getting high off of cannabis, since it has been known to spur very deep thought. Gettin' high, watching TV, seeing all the bullshit that's involved in general society. Lies told that the majority of people believe, since their views are distorted... the mass media being one tool used to help spread the lies. "YOUR window" ... YOUR signifies that this media is controlled and they choose what propaganda to feed us.
"You think you know who we are Well, you don't know us at all"
-This fits in well with my two interpretations of the Chorus, it makes sense if you keep reading below... as in... society and mass media think they know us.. they really don't, we wanna be world changers to benefit everyone. One present day example of this is President Obama's cop-out on cannabis decriminalization. Responding to his Internet site where Americans could vote for the topics they cared about most, paraphrased... the #1 issue was cannabis decriminalization. Obama laughed about it and said, "I don't know what that says about internet users"... It's a cop-out because internet users ARE America. We are the nation. As tech savvy as Obama is, he stumbles here on the reality of the Internet to please the public societal group (his audience at the time).
The 2nd verse seems to shed just a little light of mental progress where he says, "But I prove to myself I can do anything And damn, I feel alive"
The meaning of the Chorus itself...
"We are criminals The arsonists, the thieves, the rapists Save yourself You put us in cages, but you made us criminals Lost inside your American Dreams"
to me, this can have two meanings and go two directions... I just happen to see these two, there can be more:
-1. Cannabis users are treated as criminals. Some of the greatest minds use it to think... this could be speaking out against the criminalization of marijuana. Many of these users are not abusers, and see cannabis as simply a special plant that's a part of the natural earth. Put these users in cages (jail), and make them criminals. This meaning supports decriminalization. Societal propaganda also makes sense with this, too. Generally people see cannabis as bad because of what people say about it, its reputation, or lack of knowledge about the plant. "Arsonists, thieves, and rapists"... this shows stark contrast to explain that marijuana is as bad as these 3 crimes.
-2. This chorus can also be talking about revolutionists. Those who are out there trying to find the real truth about everything and want to change society. They could be stereotyped as arsonists or thieves... revolutionaries are usually thought of as people stirring trouble. Some actually want to stop mass government corruption and change society so everyone can benefit, not just "The rich, the beautiful". Society protects these people in its current state, even though that's fundamentally wrong and doesn't encompass true freedom and democracy.
3rd verse:
"For every town that I've been lied to Been cheated, beaten down Revenge is such a glamorous feeling I've been craving for so long And when you sleep at night Believe me, I'll be there in the dark Because we've got nothing to lose And we don't care who you are"
"The rich, the beautiful You don't mean a thing to a scorched earth"
-I think it points out that destructive tactics trump anything they try to do to stop the revolutionaries. Perhaps someone else can find other meaning here.
Last phrases:
"The disenchanted, make revolutions to change your life We're now at war with our future"
-Fairly obvious when following my interpretations. A rally cry to get people to stand up for universal, absolute truth. Make revolutions... learn things for yourself, don't eat the propaganda. Don't buy the lies. Be skeptical about common societal views. The future is at stake, because the future is being built before our very eyes today. Take up your cross daily. Our future depends on this war going on right now between truth and lies.
LONG... but this song is deep.