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.
Since I met you, I've been crazy
Since I've been with you I've been lost
You make everything seem hazy
Love comes with such a cost
Have I lost my mind?
Have I lost my mind?
Have I lost my mind?
Follow me down to the river
Drink while the water is clean
Follow me down to the river tonight
I'll be down here on my knees
So follow me down to the river
Follow me down through the trees
Follow me down to the river, man
I'll be down here on my knees
I'll be down here on my knees
Nights avoiding things unholy
Your hand slips across my skin
I go down on you so slowly
Don't confess none of your sins
Have I lost my mind?
Have I lost my mind?
Follow me down to the river
Drink while the water is clean
Follow me down to the river tonight
I'll be down here on my knees
So follow me down to the river
Follow me down through the trees
Follow me down to the river, man
I'll be down here on my knees
I'll be down here on my knees
When you're young, you always take what you can get
Even bicycles and sprinklers get you wet
Now I know that there's a different way to die
My body breathes
Heart still beats
But I am not alive
Follow me down to the river
Drink while the water is clean
Follow me down to the river tonight
I'll be down here on my knees
Follow me down to the river
Follow me down through the trees
Follow me down to the river, man
I'll be down here on my knees
I'll be down here on my knees
Young love as sweet as can be
Since I've been with you I've been lost
You make everything seem hazy
Love comes with such a cost
Have I lost my mind?
Have I lost my mind?
Have I lost my mind?
Follow me down to the river
Drink while the water is clean
Follow me down to the river tonight
I'll be down here on my knees
So follow me down to the river
Follow me down through the trees
Follow me down to the river, man
I'll be down here on my knees
I'll be down here on my knees
Nights avoiding things unholy
Your hand slips across my skin
I go down on you so slowly
Don't confess none of your sins
Have I lost my mind?
Have I lost my mind?
Follow me down to the river
Drink while the water is clean
Follow me down to the river tonight
I'll be down here on my knees
So follow me down to the river
Follow me down through the trees
Follow me down to the river, man
I'll be down here on my knees
I'll be down here on my knees
When you're young, you always take what you can get
Even bicycles and sprinklers get you wet
Now I know that there's a different way to die
My body breathes
Heart still beats
But I am not alive
Follow me down to the river
Drink while the water is clean
Follow me down to the river tonight
I'll be down here on my knees
Follow me down to the river
Follow me down through the trees
Follow me down to the river, man
I'll be down here on my knees
I'll be down here on my knees
Young love as sweet as can be
Lyrics submitted by irisme, edited by Mellow_Harsher, honestlywhat
Follow Me Down Lyrics as written by Taylor Momsen
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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,
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Plastic Bag
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Woah, I'm actually quite surprised no one has commented on this song yet. Well. What I think is that this song is about a young woman who used to be nice and "pure", let's say, a virgin who barely even thought about sex until a guy comes by and has sex with her and that completely changes her. But the thing here is that she's probably been taught from a young age that sex is bad and has not been told that she could feel lust (she's probably from a religious family? I don't know) and she starts feeling dirty and confused. When she understands she's feeling lust, she starts grows anger for the young man that "ruined" her pure life, goes crazy and either drowns herself in the river or kills the guy and throws his body to the river. See: "Since I met you I've been crazy/Since I've been with you I've been lost" He changed something inside her and she does not fully understand it (AKA she's feeling lust) "Have I lost my mind?" As she doesn't understand lust, she thinks she is simply crazy. "Nights avoiding things unholy/Your hand slips across my skin" She used to be "virgin pure" until he came along "When you're young you always take what you can get... But I am not alive" this whole fragment is about her realising that she's feeling lust and expressing her hatred for how easily she feels it now that she's been initiated sexually. This makes her terribly depressed, she doesn't feel alive anymore. She feels she's not worth anything now that she's sinned. "Follow me down to the river, man/I'll be down here on my knees" She kills herself on the river or throws her lover's corpse in it. Being down on your knees is a symbol of repenting your sins, so basically she's saying that this is her way of showing God that she's repented. So finally, I think this song is about how catholic religion and it's ideas about sex can fuck a person up terribly, to the point of making a person feel like they're worthless monsters for doing and feeling natural things.
wow, that's pretty accurate :)
XD Carrie anyone?
@honestlywhat
@honestlywhat this entire song is about youthfulness, nievity and sex. When she was young, she took what she could get... That's about masturbation. Bicycles, water jets in sprinkler form. She fell in love and is now figuring it all out. But she's still young and can't completely handle the new feelings and may be obsessed. But follow me down to the river aka vagina and cunninglingus, she'll be on her knees aka fellatio. The whole line about being dead? Lol in French orgasm is called me petit Mort. The little death. Death=orgasm
@honestlywhat *le petit mort
@honestlywhat that was a spot on interpretation of the lyrics.