This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
On a floating lily island
Moving over slowly sideways
Rested temper and the creatures
Spending all of their days
Praying for the floor to
Buckle down below their belts
Crashing into yet another
Drifting continental shelf
Moving without motion
Screaming without sound
Across an open ocean
Flying there on temporary ground
Moving without motion
Screaming without sound
Across an open ocean
Flying there on temporary ground
The old explorers had it easy
They discovered nothing new
But returned on home with answers
Of sad existent clues
All the creatures have it hard now
Nothing but god is left to know
And while he left us all here hanging
We're barely losing off our home
Moving without motion
Screaming without sound
Across an open ocean
Flying there on temporary ground
Moving without motion
Screaming without sound
Across an open ocean
Flying there on temporary ground
Moving without motion
Screaming without sound
Across an open ocean
Flying there on temporary ground
Moving over slowly sideways
Rested temper and the creatures
Spending all of their days
Praying for the floor to
Buckle down below their belts
Crashing into yet another
Drifting continental shelf
Moving without motion
Screaming without sound
Across an open ocean
Flying there on temporary ground
Moving without motion
Screaming without sound
Across an open ocean
Flying there on temporary ground
The old explorers had it easy
They discovered nothing new
But returned on home with answers
Of sad existent clues
All the creatures have it hard now
Nothing but god is left to know
And while he left us all here hanging
We're barely losing off our home
Moving without motion
Screaming without sound
Across an open ocean
Flying there on temporary ground
Moving without motion
Screaming without sound
Across an open ocean
Flying there on temporary ground
Moving without motion
Screaming without sound
Across an open ocean
Flying there on temporary ground
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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Hayalperest
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This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Cajun Girl
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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”
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
On a floating lily island Moving over slowly sideways Rest the temporary creatures Spending all of their days
Waiting for the floor to Buckle down below their belts Crashing into yet another Drifting continental shelf
We're nothing more than temporary creatures inhabiting a constantly shifting and changing planet that could open up and eat us at any moment.
Moving without motion Screaming without sound Across an open ocean Lying there on temporary ground
This makes me think the song was written on an airplane. Just in general we're always moving, even when sitting still, in our natural functions and rhythms and planetary orbit.
Temporary ground in this context makes me think of high and low tides and how ocean levels are changing.
The old explorers had it easy They discovered nothing new But returned on home with answers Of sad existent clues
All the creatures have it hard now Nothing but God is left to know And why he left us all here hanging With an illusion of a home.
The dichotomy of the ease of the old explorers and difficulty of modern folks is playful because it's completely counterintuitive. We can hop on an airplane and go anywhere where they had to endure long ocean or land voyages into uncharted terrain. I know there's a lot more to discover in this world beyond religion, but he makes a good point.
LoserNo1's version of the lyrics is more accurate than what is currently posted.
Temporary Ground is about mortality and the ephemeral nature of reality. As Heraclitus said in ancient times, "You can never step in the same river twice." The universe is constantly in flux, which leaves us self-conscious creatures in a constant state of uncertainty and doubt. Yet at the same time, this perpetual change is the source of beauty, curiosity, surprise, artistry, invention, and all the things that give life meaning.
The ending hints at a more cynical direction, stating that "the old explorers had it easy" because there was so much still to be discovered (although none of it truly "new" as there is nothing new under the sun). Now with all our science and technology we have nothing left to discover except the ultimate cause of reality itself, which may finally reveal our quaint notions of being at home in the universe as nothing more than an illusion.
Powerful stuff.
One thing I know for sure is that Jack White was inspired to write this song by seeing huge lily pads, 6-feet or even more in diameter, in South America. I think the lyrics represent the fragile state our world is now in - and how fragile (and most probably well on the way to completely destroyed) our world will be in the coming years. For the life desperately clinging to it, that is. Hence, we are on temporary ground. This is just a quickie comment, I'll post more ideas I have about this when I have time!