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.
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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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.