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”
Some men collapse at the racetrack
Their wrong and beat up, their eyes black
Others wilt in casinos
Roll dice and piss away speedboats
Some dissolve into bar stools
Scratched off in boxes and playoff pools
I spent myself on a psychic
I lost my way and a friend said she would find it
Man, we were wrong.
Man, we were wrong.
I asked for the future,
She only sang me a song.
Some men they go make their own luck
Grow fat from feeding on lame ducks
The easy mark and the old maid
The invalid and the ingrate
Others wait for that high sign
Some holy hoax in the tree-line
Me, I'm counting my canned food
Bunkered down waiting out our slingshot moods
But what if I'm wrong?
What if I'm wrong?
I'll open my doors up
People, come sweep me along.
Eyes are fixed and my palms are spread
Dissonance floats my shipwrecked head
God sleeps in the Gaza strip
And man alone's left alone to live with it
The coin-flip faith of the optimist
It's beginners luck in a sewing kit
What's to do when there is no fix
On the unflinching ambivalence?
But you say that's wrong
Hopeless and wrong
We re-thread your needle,
You say, "God, play along."
Their wrong and beat up, their eyes black
Others wilt in casinos
Roll dice and piss away speedboats
Some dissolve into bar stools
Scratched off in boxes and playoff pools
I spent myself on a psychic
I lost my way and a friend said she would find it
Man, we were wrong.
Man, we were wrong.
I asked for the future,
She only sang me a song.
Some men they go make their own luck
Grow fat from feeding on lame ducks
The easy mark and the old maid
The invalid and the ingrate
Others wait for that high sign
Some holy hoax in the tree-line
Me, I'm counting my canned food
Bunkered down waiting out our slingshot moods
But what if I'm wrong?
What if I'm wrong?
I'll open my doors up
People, come sweep me along.
Eyes are fixed and my palms are spread
Dissonance floats my shipwrecked head
God sleeps in the Gaza strip
And man alone's left alone to live with it
The coin-flip faith of the optimist
It's beginners luck in a sewing kit
What's to do when there is no fix
On the unflinching ambivalence?
But you say that's wrong
Hopeless and wrong
We re-thread your needle,
You say, "God, play along."
Lyrics submitted by derekgaughan
The Easy Mark & the Old Maid Lyrics as written by Kevin Patrick Devine
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great version of a great song,
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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.
I believe the last two lines are long. It should be "Well, rethread your needle / For your sake, I'll play along."
I believe this is a song mourning the random, chaotic nature of the world. There's the metaphor of "the easy mark & the old maid" discussed throughout; to me it generates an image of an old lady who isn't particularly good at sewing/needling, but the point is easy enough so she can still complete the task. The line "The coin-flip faith of the optimist / It's beginner's luck in a sewing kit" is connecting the main theme to the metaphor I just discussed. Essentially, the message appears to be that life is erratic and indifferent, and that faith in an ordered universe where one achieves everything they want to is basically fooling one's self into naive optimism. The speaker notices this about whoever he's addressing in this song ("I asked for the future, she only sang me a song"), but doesn't wish to burden that person with the realistic but painful knowledge he's discovered. He expresses this heavy skepticism about order (and consequently, God - "Others wait for that high sign / Some holy hoax in the tree-line") but he also admits that as a human being, he is capable of fallacy ("What if I'm wrong?") and also realizes that his realistic point of view is considered "hopeless and wrong" to the person he's addressing, so he decides to "play along" so as to keep him/her happy. Basically, ignorance is bliss and he's going to maintain the current state of affairs.
Man, this song is depressing. But honestly, that's exactly how I feel about the world. I wish I could fool myself into believing in an ordered, structured universe where everything is planned out and someone or something is watching out for all of us... but I truly feel that the universe is completely indifferent to my existence.
After listening and letting it settle before coming back to re-listen, I would agree completely with your interpretation. It really makes you think about things, especially the lines "God sleeps in the Gaza strip/ And man alone's left alone to live with it" are what hit me the hardest. <br /> <br /> I feel like he is questioning why the world thinks that some place is more holy than another when when you pray and/or beg it often feels like it is falling on deaf ears. As if you are the one that is alone. Even though you may talk/pray there is nothing but your own voice, implying you are indeed alone.<br /> <br /> I'm not saying that there isn't a God, I'm just saying that I feel like this song is pointing out that you aren't alone in feeling alone. It is just questioning thoughts that may often go through someones mind.<br /> <br /> I like this song a lot.