I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
When you left this town, with your windows down
And the wilderness inside
Let the exits pass, all the tar and glass
'Til the road and sky align
The strangers in this town
They raise you up just to cut you down
Oh, Angela, it's a long time coming
When your Volvo lights lit up green and white
With the cities on the signs
But you held your course to some distant war
In the corners of your mind
From the second time around
The only love I ever found
Oh, Angela, it's a long time coming
Home at last
Were you safe and warm in your coat of arms
With your fingers in a fist?
Did you hear the notes, all those static codes
In the radio abyss?
Strangers in this town
They raise you up just to cut you down
Oh, Angela, it's a long time coming
Oh, Angela, spent your whole life running away
Home at last
Home at last
Vacancy, hotel room, lost in me, lost in you
Angela, on my knees, I belong, I believe
Home at last
Home at last
Home at last
Home at last
Home at last
Hmm-mmm-mmm
Hmm-mmm-mmm
Hmm
Hmm
And the wilderness inside
Let the exits pass, all the tar and glass
'Til the road and sky align
The strangers in this town
They raise you up just to cut you down
Oh, Angela, it's a long time coming
When your Volvo lights lit up green and white
With the cities on the signs
But you held your course to some distant war
In the corners of your mind
From the second time around
The only love I ever found
Oh, Angela, it's a long time coming
Home at last
Were you safe and warm in your coat of arms
With your fingers in a fist?
Did you hear the notes, all those static codes
In the radio abyss?
Strangers in this town
They raise you up just to cut you down
Oh, Angela, it's a long time coming
Oh, Angela, spent your whole life running away
Home at last
Home at last
Vacancy, hotel room, lost in me, lost in you
Angela, on my knees, I belong, I believe
Home at last
Home at last
Home at last
Home at last
Home at last
Hmm-mmm-mmm
Hmm-mmm-mmm
Hmm
Hmm
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
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
At first glance it seems to be sort of a coming of age, leaving your home town kind of story.
There also may be references to mental illness. Most specifically in the lines: "Did you hear the notes, all those static codes In the radio abyss". -Schizophrenic auditory hallucinations can be triggered (or more intense) when the person is hearing white noise. Also the lines about the "wars in your mind" and "wilderness inside" may generally reference the persons battle with the onset of this mental illness, thinking that the problems lies in the town itself but ultimately finding out that this problems will follow her. The wilderness being the new unknown territory her brain has created. She may also be experiencing paranoia: "The strangers in this town, They raise you up just to cut you down". These "strangers" may only be perceived by Angela as cutting her down.
Anyway, this is a great song. I like to think the narrator loved this person and is seeing them flee from her problems both physically and mentally, hoping she eventually finds "home" or peace. Pretty tragic.
Thanks for reading!
@Treehouzz This song caught me in an unexpected way. I think many of your interpretations are correct but the line "you spent your whole life running away" makes me feel like "home at last" is Angela coming home no longer living. I feel like the songwriter loved this girl who had mental health issues and was reminiscing about the time they spent together after her passing. I am not sure about the strangers in the town but I think its talking about her family, having to cut her down possibly after suicide.