The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
[Reverse]Behold the finite set of thirteen convex figures
The irrational sine versus tangent 45
Behold the finite set of thirteen convex figures
The irrational sine versus tangent 45
And we genuflect before pure abstraction
1.05946, twelth root of two, amen
To begin again
To whom we revenerate seven pieces,
endlessly manifold, self-contained revealed, replete
With all respect, we beseech the books of figures
Make us your analog, to begin again
The irrational sine versus tangent 45
Behold the finite set of thirteen convex figures
The irrational sine versus tangent 45
And we genuflect before pure abstraction
1.05946, twelth root of two, amen
To begin again
To whom we revenerate seven pieces,
endlessly manifold, self-contained revealed, replete
With all respect, we beseech the books of figures
Make us your analog, to begin again
Lyrics submitted by likewater
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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"
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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,
American Town
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Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Plastic Bag
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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.
also from the site:
"A bit of explanation: The twelfth root of two defines the mathematical relationship between musical notes. That is, to get the next note in the (chromatic) scale, you multiply the frequency of the root note by the twelfth root of two (1.05946….). I started using this number a lot when cutting pvc pipes to the right lengths for the instruments i’ve been building (as in the Drake cover). Anyway, I think this number represents “God” about as well as anything the religions of the world have come up with, so why not write a hymn around it. (in a sense, all hymns are written around it).
The tune and harmonies came directly from a Danish hymn that Paul found, as sung by a chorus of Inuits from Greenland (if i’m not mistaken, Paul). The disco beat came from and exercise record from 70’s (the same source as one of our French elevator tracks), and it sets the tempo and key. The main loop is in sevens, another godly number. And I dare you to count the polyrythm through the ‘to begin again’ loop in the middle. I’m particularly happy with that one.
This track also became a great excuse to delve into Paul’s amazing collection of sampled brass and other orchestral sounds, like sackbuts, viols, crumhorns, foghorns, alpenhorns etc…. Over the years he’s amassed an extraordinary collection of samples of every instrument of the orchestra, from many dozens of sources, and have organized them in a very useful way. Perhaps he’ll tell you more about it…
So, the rising orchestra you hear at the end of song, I composed of dozens of layers of samples of single notes played on different instruments, taken from many many disparate sources. It was a brain-bending challenge in mixing but there’s no other way to do it. Viva la Sackbut!"
just no words at all