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.
Oh, some evil spirit, oh, some evil this way comes
They told me how they fear it
Now they're placing it on their tongues
For to see it with my own eyes
For to see it with my own eyes
No food or water for the better part of ten months
Quietly he sat between the folds of a tree trunk
For to see it with my own eyes
For to see it with my own eyes
All the men of faith and men of science had their questions
Could it ever be on earth as it is in heaven?
For to see it with my own eyes For to see it with my own eyes
They told me how they fear it
Now they're placing it on their tongues
For to see it with my own eyes
For to see it with my own eyes
No food or water for the better part of ten months
Quietly he sat between the folds of a tree trunk
For to see it with my own eyes
For to see it with my own eyes
All the men of faith and men of science had their questions
Could it ever be on earth as it is in heaven?
For to see it with my own eyes For to see it with my own eyes
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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 one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
This song is definitely talking about the infamous "Buddha Boy" from Nepal. PBS did a documentary about him. He supposedly sat in the folds of a tree trunk for over ten months with no food or water, not moving or spending any energy on even talking, and getting all his energy from the tree and the vitamin E of the sun. He mysteriously vanished 2 months after PBS shot the documentary, and even though people were guarding the spot day in and day out, no one saw him leave, and there is no trace of him, and no has seen him since. during the filming, the guys in PBS just barely miss this moment where the kid supposedly almost wen on fire, apparently from internal combustion, but this wasn't proved. Still, it begs the question: If there's no trace of him leaving and no one has seen him since, is it possible he could've just went into another dimension, or he ascended. Either way, the boy was amazing. It's a true story. You can look it up on youtube or google. I suggest everyone do it. It's very very enlightening, and may change the way you live. Also, since I have your attention, I've been asking anyone with a digital camera with a flash to take pictures in dark areas and try and summon "orbs". Ask them to come out, and glow for you. If you see one, say "good job" and encourage it burn brighter. Keep doing it more and more. I was so shocked what I found. I am a firm believer in these spirits now. Just do it people! It's gonna change our lives once we spread this knowledge!
youtube.com/watch
Exactly. Only the kid was found a few weeks after. He supposedly said that the spot wasn't peaceful anymore.
siddhartha.
holy shit its so beautiful live.
The 7th line needs correcting: "Quietly he sat between the folds of a tree trunk"
For me, the first five tracks of the album just flow and never let up. This opener gave me chills.
It's about trying to find enlightenment... reminds me of Be Here Now by Ram Dass, who first found enlightenment by taking acid with Timothy Leary, felt like he gained a deeper understand of life but the acid experience was only temporary, so he went to India and studied under a guru to try to reach a more permanent enlightenment... I don't think this song is about him but just about the quest for enlightenment in general.."oh to see it with my own eyes," he knows its possible to see things how they really are but he can't figure it out... the last line is how everyone is trying to figure it out, and will he ever be able to? and will society? i think you guys are right on about Christ and about Siddhartha... there's an evil spirit coming (evil in the world, evil in himself) and he wants to transcend it... there are those who try acid (they're placing it on their tongue) and other hallucinogens... there are those who try the ascetic life ( all kinds of religious traditions), which makes sense in the context of starving himself for 10 months... sitting in a tree trunk brings to mind meditation... just all different ways of trying to understand the world and be free from your ego and from material things... woohoo, read Be Here Now!
this song grips me at such an intense time in my life... for the last two months I've been studying more and more about Buddhism and stumbled upon Ram Dass. I actually watched a documentary on his struggle with a stroke, and then just read Be Here Now. What a crazy string of events that led me to this unbelievable track from local natives. I was actually out running TODAY and put the lyrics together as well... I had to stop and think to myself "are they really talking about this" (finding enlightenment, Siddhartha, Christ). I could not believe it. I had to come here right when I got home to see if anyone shared the same thoughts. <br /> <br /> Thank you.
the first 4 lines i interpret as aspects of the catholic religion. catholics are taught that good=following god's word and evil=giving into sin/satan. as one who as been exposed to catholicism, we are taught to fear God, that the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge. it is ironic though because the one thing we are taught to fear, we are also expected to love, respect, and accept, "they told me how they fear it now they're placing it on their tounges", as in communion where we eat the body of christ. it is hard and confusing for one to blindly accept these intangible beliefs, unless one sees god, or the benefits of believing in a god, with their "own eye"s. faith has to be obtained by one's own accord, and should not be forced upon someone. i agree with jacklit on the quest for enlightenment/the meaning of life, we are all trying to find something higher to believe in and everyone goes about it in a different way, whether its fasting ("no food or water....) or meditation ("quietly he sat beneath the folds of a tree trunk...") but there is no definitive way to achieve spiritual serenity. its an individual journey, hence the repetition of "oh to see it with my own eyes". everyone's path to spirituality and to a divine being of their understanding is different. the last two lines seem to be saying, there is no point trying to establish a manual for spirituality, no use in trying to figure out if the after-life is real, if any particular religion is right or wrong, it is a matter of opinion and a matter of whatever works for each specific person. just thoughts, there's probably much more to this song, this is just what i gather.
i like this interpretation. very gnostic.
I may be under or over thinking it depending on perspective but to me, very simply put, this song is about experiencing LSD for the first time.
This song is about acid
This song is definitely describing taking psychedelics.
The first few lines reflect how I feel before I trip.
We're told how drugs are evil, how they can kill you, etc. when we're younger in an attempt to thwart us from using them. I feel guilty every time I do drugs simply due to being programmed to think that way when I was a child from parents, anti-drug programs, teachers, etc.
During a trip (luckily I haven't had any bad ones) it feels like heaven.
Just my thoughts.
Maybe it’s about mushrooms, or rather, magic mushrooms. No food or water, between the roots of a tree trunk, and placing it on their tongues. The bringing together of men of faith and science to see heaven on earth. The general mysticality of it, not to mention the wide eyes theme and amazement. These sound like reference to the way mushrooms grow and give an ethereal experience to its users. Just a thought.