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.
You can lie to your Mama, you can lie to your race
But you can't lie to nobody with that cold steel in your face.
And the same God that you're so afraid is gonna send you to hell
Is the same one you're gonna answer to when the pin hits the shell.
Your sister's been blaming everybody.
I don't blame her, man, I guess I'd do the same
If you was my brother, man, I'd probably stand by you.
But you ain't, man, so I got to go my way.
And I ain't gonna crawl upon no high horse
Cause I got thrown off of one
When I was young and I ain't no cowboy
So I ain't going where I don't belong.
It wouldn't do you no good to let you know that it damned near killed me too
So I ain't gonna mourn for you, man, now that you're gone.
Me and you, we liked our pills and our whiskey.
But you don't want your head full of either one when
The house gets quiet and dark.
Having fun used to be so damned easy,
Racing trains from Second Street to Avalon.
Take a trip down memory lane,
You don't see no friendly faces
All the houses have been painted and
Nobody knows your name.
It's enough to make a man not want
To be nobody's Daddy,
When all he thinks he's got left to hand down is guilt and shame.
And I ain't gonna crawl upon no high horse...
You can lie to your Mama, you can lie to your race
But you can't lie to nobody with that cold steel in your face.
And the same God that you're so afraid is gonna send you to hell
Is the same one you're gonna answer to when the pin hits the shell.
But you can't lie to nobody with that cold steel in your face.
And the same God that you're so afraid is gonna send you to hell
Is the same one you're gonna answer to when the pin hits the shell.
Your sister's been blaming everybody.
I don't blame her, man, I guess I'd do the same
If you was my brother, man, I'd probably stand by you.
But you ain't, man, so I got to go my way.
And I ain't gonna crawl upon no high horse
Cause I got thrown off of one
When I was young and I ain't no cowboy
So I ain't going where I don't belong.
It wouldn't do you no good to let you know that it damned near killed me too
So I ain't gonna mourn for you, man, now that you're gone.
Me and you, we liked our pills and our whiskey.
But you don't want your head full of either one when
The house gets quiet and dark.
Having fun used to be so damned easy,
Racing trains from Second Street to Avalon.
Take a trip down memory lane,
You don't see no friendly faces
All the houses have been painted and
Nobody knows your name.
It's enough to make a man not want
To be nobody's Daddy,
When all he thinks he's got left to hand down is guilt and shame.
And I ain't gonna crawl upon no high horse...
You can lie to your Mama, you can lie to your race
But you can't lie to nobody with that cold steel in your face.
And the same God that you're so afraid is gonna send you to hell
Is the same one you're gonna answer to when the pin hits the shell.
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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,
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Jose Garcia got it right, but I figured I'd provide a little more detail. The lyrics are straightforward, but there are a few interesting twists thrown in by Cooley that are worth checking out.
-The most interesting aspect is the distance the narrator puts between himself and the decedent. Indeed, despite the fact that they were obviously good friends who shared good times in the past, he shows no sympathy, no frustration, indeed no discernable emotion at all. He talks about the good times they shared drinking, drugging, and driving fast ("racing trains from Second Street to Avalon"). The times were inevitably replaced by serious trouble for both of them ("...damn near killed me too."). The decedent kills himself, and the narrator is surprisingly unmoved as he matter-of-factly tells his dead friend that he's going to hell for committing suicide. But this heavy moral judgment isn't brought about by the narrator's anger, desperation, or confusion at the event. The narrator admits he's in no position to pass judgment ("I gonna get up on no high horse") and even more amazingly, doesn't even feel the need to defend the friend against criticism ("If you were my brother man I'd probably stand by you/But you ain't man so I gotta go my way"). Most strikingly, he doesn't even seem moved by the death, as he states that he's not going to mourn his friend. This is all complicated by the fact that no explanation is given as to why one guy killed himself and the other didn't.
There's enough of a tease from Cooley about the characters' past to make the audience's mind bristle with questions. What made the good times turn bad? Most importantly, why did the two characters go in two different directions? Why does he not care at all that his friend kill himself? The lack of answers is haunting.