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.
It cuts deep
It cuts deep, in human error
Where do I start
We'll be around, we'll be around
Keeping it real
Keeping it real, skeleton in the closet
And if there's a god
If there's a god, and if he is watching
Who else do you kiss
With those lips, with those lips
The animals roam
The animals roam, out of the forest
These are the rules
These are the rules, and they are cruel
The door is ajar
The door is ajar, safe in the knowledge
Under the Chinese sun
Chinese sun, Chinese sun
I hope to see you soon
See you soon, somehow I doubt it
It's just the rest of the time
Of the time
You've come and blew
My mind, my mind
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
It cuts deep
It cuts deep, safe in the knowledge
Part of my roots
Part of the soil, part of the soil
Before it goes sad
It goes sad, it goes sad
She said no more sad
No more sad, no more sorry
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
It cuts deep, in human error
Where do I start
We'll be around, we'll be around
Keeping it real
Keeping it real, skeleton in the closet
And if there's a god
If there's a god, and if he is watching
Who else do you kiss
With those lips, with those lips
The animals roam
The animals roam, out of the forest
These are the rules
These are the rules, and they are cruel
The door is ajar
The door is ajar, safe in the knowledge
Under the Chinese sun
Chinese sun, Chinese sun
I hope to see you soon
See you soon, somehow I doubt it
It's just the rest of the time
Of the time
You've come and blew
My mind, my mind
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
It cuts deep
It cuts deep, safe in the knowledge
Part of my roots
Part of the soil, part of the soil
Before it goes sad
It goes sad, it goes sad
She said no more sad
No more sad, no more sorry
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
Faced with
When you get
When you get
Lyrics submitted by smallwonderrobot, edited by deviant5
S.A.D. Lyrics as written by Thomas Edward Yorke Michael Balzary
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.