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.
Dear friend as you know
Your flowers are withering
Your mother's gone missing
Your leaves have drifted away
But the clouds are clearing up
And I've come reveling
Burning incandescently
Like a bastard on the burning sea
You're just like your father
Buried deep under the water
Your resting on your laurels
Is stepping on my toes
Whose side are you on?
What side is this anyway?
Put down your sword and crown
Come lay with me on the ground
You come beating like moth's wings
Spastic and violently
Whipping me into a storm
Shaking me down to the core
But you run away from me
And you left me shimmering
Like diamond wedding rings
Spinning dizzily down on the floor
You're drifting like a fire
Buried deep under the water
You're pressing on your laurel
Is stepping on my toes
Whose side are you on?
What side is this anyway?
Put down your sword and crown
Come lay with me on the ground.
Come lay with me on the ground.
Your flowers are withering
Your mother's gone missing
Your leaves have drifted away
But the clouds are clearing up
And I've come reveling
Burning incandescently
Like a bastard on the burning sea
You're just like your father
Buried deep under the water
Your resting on your laurels
Is stepping on my toes
Whose side are you on?
What side is this anyway?
Put down your sword and crown
Come lay with me on the ground
You come beating like moth's wings
Spastic and violently
Whipping me into a storm
Shaking me down to the core
But you run away from me
And you left me shimmering
Like diamond wedding rings
Spinning dizzily down on the floor
You're drifting like a fire
Buried deep under the water
You're pressing on your laurel
Is stepping on my toes
Whose side are you on?
What side is this anyway?
Put down your sword and crown
Come lay with me on the ground.
Come lay with me on the ground.
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
No Surprises
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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
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Yep... I definitely agree with you capturedanthems. Also this part seems correct in the words, but this I think makes a little more sense:
"You're drifting like a fire, Buried deep beneath the water. You're pressing on, you're low, low, You're stepping on my toes. Whose side are you on? What side is this anyway? Put down your sword and bow, Come lay with me on the ground."
As to the meaning, my guess (and this is purely a guess) is that the narrator is speaking to someone (perhaps even himself) who has lost their way (spiritually, I think)("dear friend as you know, your flowers are withering, your mother's gone insane, your leaves have drifted away") and built up their defenses against everyone else. You know, the kind of person who upsets everyone with their constant dismay and argumentative nature ("you come beating like moth's wings, spastic and violently, whipping me into a storm, shaking me down to the core").
And the message seems to be that it's okay to just be still and quiet (both in body and mind)("put down your sword and bow, come lay with me on the ground") and enjoy the beauty of both physical and psychological/spiritual silence.
This is just what I read into it, and I can see other possibilities as well. For instance, I wouldn't be shocked if it really had political undertones ("whose side are you on? what side is this anyway? put down your sword and bow, come lay with me on the ground.") or if it were a love song ("...whipping me into a storm, shaking me down to the core. but you run away from me, and you left me shimmering, like diamond wedding rings spinning dizzily down on the floor.")
i totally agree with you. i think "come lay with me on the ground" also means to stop acting like theyre better than others and just to coexist as equals.
im pretty sure there are no religious undertones in this song. its more about his personal relationship to his parents and how he turned out in respect to his experiences. almost every single lyric interpretation i read on this site has people claiming it has something to do with religion. people see whatever meanings they want to
I totally agree with you about it being about someone who has lost their way. What if the "Your mother's gone insane" and "you're just like your father, buried deep underwater." meant that a friend (the "dear friend") had problems in their home life, and it ahs turned them into a spastic and violent person? And "Whipping me into a storm" meant that the narrator was hurt by their friend's actions, but then they ran away from the narrator, and left him shimmering (better off)
Nah, I have the actual lyrics from the CD and the correct ones are listed in the lyrics