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.
This is the last song that was ever written
After this, nothing will rhyme
This is the last time that you'll ever see us
After this, you're gonna go blind
This is the last time that there'll be a last time
You'll wake up to the day without it
This is the last time that you're gonna lose someone
After this, it's you and your friends
It's you and your friends
This is the last song that was ever written
Melody is over and done
All of the words we sing erase each other
You only need songs when you're young.
There was a strange goodbye outside the station.
There was a letter three weeks later in the mail
We didn't know we knew you 'til we lost you
You tried to leave us all alone, we wish you had failed
We're gonna sing a song without words
And a tune you haven't heard in a long time
Not since the year you were two
And she sang to you in the wintertime
And it goes la la la la
Door open, hand empty
There's no one behind me
You'll come to me one day
They won't take you away
I'll wake in the morning
You'll stand in the doorway
I'm here now, I'm here now
and I'll stay here somehow
until you can come to
the place where they take you
After this, nothing will rhyme
This is the last time that you'll ever see us
After this, you're gonna go blind
This is the last time that there'll be a last time
You'll wake up to the day without it
This is the last time that you're gonna lose someone
After this, it's you and your friends
It's you and your friends
This is the last song that was ever written
Melody is over and done
All of the words we sing erase each other
You only need songs when you're young.
There was a strange goodbye outside the station.
There was a letter three weeks later in the mail
We didn't know we knew you 'til we lost you
You tried to leave us all alone, we wish you had failed
We're gonna sing a song without words
And a tune you haven't heard in a long time
Not since the year you were two
And she sang to you in the wintertime
And it goes la la la la
Door open, hand empty
There's no one behind me
You'll come to me one day
They won't take you away
I'll wake in the morning
You'll stand in the doorway
I'm here now, I'm here now
and I'll stay here somehow
until you can come to
the place where they take you
Lyrics submitted by ValH1618, edited by LadyAlzers
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
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,
Amy's part is something like this:
Door open, hand (?) empty There's no one behind me You'll come to me one day They won't take you away I'll wake in the morning You'll stand in the doorway I'm here now, I'm here now and I'll stay here somehow until you can come to the place where they take you