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.
Grab the weed, I got a story to tell
A couple years ago, it was Christmas
Night back in my hometown, wells
The snow fall, about an inch an hour
And on the road just our
Pickup truck and snowplows
After familial obligations
Me and my man Phil met up to start blazin'
Around 8 sparked the back woods
On the back road
The wind chill blew the snow like Satchmo
I asked "How was your Christmas?"
He said "it sucked"
I asked "Why?", he said, "Man
My sister's fucked
And if that slut died tonight
It wouldn't be enough"
I asked for an explanation
He just took another puff handed it to me
I told him "Mine wasn't better
I just got a couple corny-ass sweaters
And my family embarrassed me
Because apparently
Getting arrested twice in a month
Is worthy of a parody"
Just then, turned onto Bear's Den
Saw a whip with a woman and a kid in it
In a ditch volkswagen the color of cocaine
With the front end buried inside a snow bank
Temperatures near zero man, it isn't May
No reception out here to call Triple A
It's safe to say if Phil
And I hadn't drove by, this lady and her son
Could've frozen and died
We put the woods in the ashtray
Stopped the truck, put the gloves on
Hopped out of the shit and walked that way
We asked if we could help
She said "Oh, thank God, yes"
She looked blazed herself
Her son shivered in the passenger
Wearing a seat belt
He looked to be about 12
We said "No prob, " The son said
"You're our guardian angels"
We laughed and moved the truck at an angle
We hooked the chains up and put her in drive
We had 'em out faster than
A first pitch pop fly
It was all thank yous, and huggin'
Could've sworn I smelled Rum on
The breath of the woman
Nonetheless, I gave her son a high-five
Said bye hopped up in the truck and
Drove into the night
Never told anybody about the good deed
Of the two dudes in hoodies
I wish the story ended there
I awoke the next morning with the sun
Reflecting off the snow in the yard out front
I felt fine in my flannel sheets
The day after a snowstorm
Tends to bring clarity
And a shitload of shovelin'
I was still living in the
Home that my mother's in
I pulled the covers off, I felt quite alive
As I reached for my phone
That I had on silent
And this was years ago now, but I recall
I saw 16 texts, 31 missed calls
I knew something was awry
I ran downstairs, mom tears in her eyes
And her mouth agape staring at the TV
I said "What happened?"
I knew something was creepy
She just pointed at the screen
I walked down next to her to see
And I saw it
"Two dead in a drunk driving crash in Wells
A woman, 22, and boy, age 12
One survivor was in critical condition"
It was the mother of the boy
They think she had been drinking
The scene on the screen looked grimy
A white Jetta bisected by a pine tree
In the background a green jeep flipped
I put my hand to my mouth and said "Jesus"
As I recognized the Sugarloaf sticker
On the back of the jeep
That belonged to Phil's sister
The whole scene flashed blue and red lights
Illuminating Christmas night
My heart sunk like a plane with no wings
Because I understood the whole thing
My heart sunk like a plane
With no wings broken i mean
What if we had left 'em in that ditch?
What if we never burn-cruised and
We were good kids? What if Phil was a bad
Dude like everybody thought
Because he sold pot? And we had never even
Stopped and helped them?
What if I had questioned that mom?
What if Phil's sister and
The boy weren't gone?
What if that right that we did wasn't wrong?
And what if? And so on and on
Until the break of dawn
Just another Christmas song on and on
Life goes on and on
Just another Christmas song on and on
Life goes on and on life goes on
Just another Christmas song on and on
'Til the break of dawn
This is just another Christmas song
In the news this morning
A car crash on Bear's Den Road
In Wells has left two
People dead it happened shortly before
Midnight lisa Richards of Kittery
Lost control of her Volkswagen
Jetta and slammed
Into another car traveling in the
Opposite direction the driver of the second
Car, Amanda Powell, was killed instantly
As was Lisa Richards' twelve-year-old
Son police say Richards
Was drunk in a terrible twist to this story
Richards had gone off the road earlier
On the snowy evening and
Struck a snowbank two men happened
By in a pickup truck
And helped haul her out and get her back
On the road they had no idea
She had been drinking one of those men
Is the brother of Amanda Powell
The woman police say Richards killed
A couple years ago, it was Christmas
Night back in my hometown, wells
The snow fall, about an inch an hour
And on the road just our
Pickup truck and snowplows
After familial obligations
Me and my man Phil met up to start blazin'
Around 8 sparked the back woods
On the back road
The wind chill blew the snow like Satchmo
I asked "How was your Christmas?"
He said "it sucked"
I asked "Why?", he said, "Man
My sister's fucked
And if that slut died tonight
It wouldn't be enough"
I asked for an explanation
He just took another puff handed it to me
I told him "Mine wasn't better
I just got a couple corny-ass sweaters
And my family embarrassed me
Because apparently
Getting arrested twice in a month
Is worthy of a parody"
Just then, turned onto Bear's Den
Saw a whip with a woman and a kid in it
In a ditch volkswagen the color of cocaine
With the front end buried inside a snow bank
Temperatures near zero man, it isn't May
No reception out here to call Triple A
It's safe to say if Phil
And I hadn't drove by, this lady and her son
Could've frozen and died
We put the woods in the ashtray
Stopped the truck, put the gloves on
Hopped out of the shit and walked that way
We asked if we could help
She said "Oh, thank God, yes"
She looked blazed herself
Her son shivered in the passenger
Wearing a seat belt
He looked to be about 12
We said "No prob, " The son said
"You're our guardian angels"
We laughed and moved the truck at an angle
We hooked the chains up and put her in drive
We had 'em out faster than
A first pitch pop fly
It was all thank yous, and huggin'
Could've sworn I smelled Rum on
The breath of the woman
Nonetheless, I gave her son a high-five
Said bye hopped up in the truck and
Drove into the night
Never told anybody about the good deed
Of the two dudes in hoodies
I wish the story ended there
I awoke the next morning with the sun
Reflecting off the snow in the yard out front
I felt fine in my flannel sheets
The day after a snowstorm
Tends to bring clarity
And a shitload of shovelin'
I was still living in the
Home that my mother's in
I pulled the covers off, I felt quite alive
As I reached for my phone
That I had on silent
And this was years ago now, but I recall
I saw 16 texts, 31 missed calls
I knew something was awry
I ran downstairs, mom tears in her eyes
And her mouth agape staring at the TV
I said "What happened?"
I knew something was creepy
She just pointed at the screen
I walked down next to her to see
And I saw it
"Two dead in a drunk driving crash in Wells
A woman, 22, and boy, age 12
One survivor was in critical condition"
It was the mother of the boy
They think she had been drinking
The scene on the screen looked grimy
A white Jetta bisected by a pine tree
In the background a green jeep flipped
I put my hand to my mouth and said "Jesus"
As I recognized the Sugarloaf sticker
On the back of the jeep
That belonged to Phil's sister
The whole scene flashed blue and red lights
Illuminating Christmas night
My heart sunk like a plane with no wings
Because I understood the whole thing
My heart sunk like a plane
With no wings broken i mean
What if we had left 'em in that ditch?
What if we never burn-cruised and
We were good kids? What if Phil was a bad
Dude like everybody thought
Because he sold pot? And we had never even
Stopped and helped them?
What if I had questioned that mom?
What if Phil's sister and
The boy weren't gone?
What if that right that we did wasn't wrong?
And what if? And so on and on
Until the break of dawn
Just another Christmas song on and on
Life goes on and on
Just another Christmas song on and on
Life goes on and on life goes on
Just another Christmas song on and on
'Til the break of dawn
This is just another Christmas song
In the news this morning
A car crash on Bear's Den Road
In Wells has left two
People dead it happened shortly before
Midnight lisa Richards of Kittery
Lost control of her Volkswagen
Jetta and slammed
Into another car traveling in the
Opposite direction the driver of the second
Car, Amanda Powell, was killed instantly
As was Lisa Richards' twelve-year-old
Son police say Richards
Was drunk in a terrible twist to this story
Richards had gone off the road earlier
On the snowy evening and
Struck a snowbank two men happened
By in a pickup truck
And helped haul her out and get her back
On the road they had no idea
She had been drinking one of those men
Is the brother of Amanda Powell
The woman police say Richards killed
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