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.
Mr. Merry cries in his coffin
For days he says he can remember
And through the town the pallbearers sing old songs
Of a beautiful purple mountain
From every walk of life we've come to see the last great American
May I now present you the speaker,
"Friends he was a man of men, a man of gold:
He had a how do you say, ethical like sense"
That's when the President started to giggle
And the children gave the blessing
Though the service weren't half done
Each of them sued the other one
For the last great American
Merry reaches up, we bow our heads
He pulls the lid on down and his stone is read
Here lies our Merry
The man with the heart so spent
That in this day and age
Is sick of living
And judges argue letters
Fabric comes undone
For every daughter every son
Of the last great American
For every daughter every son
Of the last great American
For days he says he can remember
And through the town the pallbearers sing old songs
Of a beautiful purple mountain
From every walk of life we've come to see the last great American
May I now present you the speaker,
"Friends he was a man of men, a man of gold:
He had a how do you say, ethical like sense"
That's when the President started to giggle
And the children gave the blessing
Though the service weren't half done
Each of them sued the other one
For the last great American
Merry reaches up, we bow our heads
He pulls the lid on down and his stone is read
Here lies our Merry
The man with the heart so spent
That in this day and age
Is sick of living
And judges argue letters
Fabric comes undone
For every daughter every son
Of the last great American
For every daughter every son
Of the last great American
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
The Last Great American Lyrics as written by John Ondrasik
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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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.
Great song, this is the original version of it. The song is pretty self explanatory I think. If the Founder Fathers saw what we were putting up with today, they'd be rolling over in their graves.
this song always gets me choked up. it's just so beautiful, and so sad. i mean, he's choosing death, cuz he's just sick of living. it's just a message that this world isn't good enough for some people.
What a meaningful song, and so beautifully crafted. I just love it. Especially right now, I've been thinking so much lately because of recent events about how horrible humanity can be and how it's so sad what kind of a place the world is sometimes. I think this song is, simply put, an eloquent call to everyone to realize what's happening in the world and realize that it's up to us to make it better.
Does this song remind anyone else of "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington"? It sounds like a man with good intentions who ran up into a corrupt system and ran himself to death trying to work around it. His death revealed to those others just how wicked they actually were.