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.
life used to be life-like
now it's more like show biz
i wake up in the night and i
don't know where the bathroom is
and i don't know what town i'm in
or what sky i am under
and i wake up in the darkness
and i don't have the will anymore to wonder
and everyone has a skeleton
and a closet to keep it in and
you're mine
every song has a you
a you that the singer sings to
and you're it this time
baby, you're it this time
when i need to wipe my face
i use the back of my hand
and i like to take up space
just because i can
and i use my dress
to wipe up my drink
you know, i care less and less
what people think
and you are so lame , you know
you always disappoint me
it's kinda like our running joke
but it's really not funny
i just want you to live up to
the image of you i create
i see you and i'm so unsatisfied
i see you and i dilate
so i'll walk the plank
yeah, i'll jump with a smile
if i'm gonna go down
i'm gonna do it with style
and you won't see me surrender
you won't hear me confess
'cause you've left me with nothing
but i've worked with less
and i learn every room long enough
to make it to the door
and then i hear it click shut behind me
and every key works differently
and i forget every time
and the forgetting defines me
that's what defines me
when i say you SUCKED my brain out
the ENGLISH translation
is i am in LOVE with you
and it is NO fun
but i DON'T use words like love
'cause words like that DON'T MATTER
but don't look so OFFENDED
you know, you should be FLATTERED
i wake up in the night
in some big hotel bed
my hands grope for the light
my hands grope for my head
the world is my oyster, you know
the road is my home
and i know that i'm better
i'm better, i'm better off alone
now it's more like show biz
i wake up in the night and i
don't know where the bathroom is
and i don't know what town i'm in
or what sky i am under
and i wake up in the darkness
and i don't have the will anymore to wonder
and everyone has a skeleton
and a closet to keep it in and
you're mine
every song has a you
a you that the singer sings to
and you're it this time
baby, you're it this time
when i need to wipe my face
i use the back of my hand
and i like to take up space
just because i can
and i use my dress
to wipe up my drink
you know, i care less and less
what people think
and you are so lame , you know
you always disappoint me
it's kinda like our running joke
but it's really not funny
i just want you to live up to
the image of you i create
i see you and i'm so unsatisfied
i see you and i dilate
so i'll walk the plank
yeah, i'll jump with a smile
if i'm gonna go down
i'm gonna do it with style
and you won't see me surrender
you won't hear me confess
'cause you've left me with nothing
but i've worked with less
and i learn every room long enough
to make it to the door
and then i hear it click shut behind me
and every key works differently
and i forget every time
and the forgetting defines me
that's what defines me
when i say you SUCKED my brain out
the ENGLISH translation
is i am in LOVE with you
and it is NO fun
but i DON'T use words like love
'cause words like that DON'T MATTER
but don't look so OFFENDED
you know, you should be FLATTERED
i wake up in the night
in some big hotel bed
my hands grope for the light
my hands grope for my head
the world is my oyster, you know
the road is my home
and i know that i'm better
i'm better, i'm better off alone
Lyrics submitted by aur0ra
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Standing On The Edge Of Summer
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Fast Car
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"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
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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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Head > Heels
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Ed Sheeran
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What I don't get is why so many people responding to this song take it to be angry. To me, it speaks more to an introspection. The lyrics that, if read straight from a page without Ani's guitar or voice to color them, could seem resentful, are delivered, if anything, indifferently when she actually sings them: "You've left me with nothing, but I've worked with less", exempli gratia. All the times I've seen her perform live, all the recordings I've heard of this song, her tone doesn't convey anger or hatred when she sings this verse. If anything, she seems to be trivializing the fact that the person she's singing to has either literally or figuratively desolated her. This song speaks more to a sense of loneliness to me. It may have a bitter, ironic edge, but the core of the emotion itself seems a barrenness in my opinion.
Confer: "Not A Pretty Girl": "I am not an angry girl, but it seems like I've got everyone fooled, Every time I say something they find hard to hear, they chalk it up to my anger, never to their own fear."
I don't think Ani would ever identify a single song of hers as coming solely from one, broad, ambiguous emotion. Her narrative voice is usually quite intimate and nuanced.
Also, I think this song has less to do with the "man" everyone likes to identify (Ani's bisexual: yes, much of the album Dilate was purportedly inspired by a relationship she had with a man, but you CANNOT whitewash or pigeon-hole an artist like Ani) and more to do with Ani's own internal turmoil: "And I just want to you to live up to the image of you I create, I see you and I'm so unsatisfied, I see you and I dilate." This line speaks more to Ani's awareness of the fact that she's created an ideal of what a romantic partner "should" be. She's recognizing a disconnect of her inner narrative and external reality.
I see this song more as her coming to terms with the fact that reality is never going to live up to her expectations; she concludes that she's "… better off alone." Not that she's better off with another "man", or with a woman, or with anyone else, or with someone who can fulfill her romantic ideal, or with the ideal itself: alone.
I always look at this song as Ani using her life on the road as a metaphor for her relationships. Life on the road is a completely evolving, always different at each turn and she sees her relationships as being the same while wishing for some kind of stability.
"every key works differently and i forget everytime"
btw/ i love playing this song on guitar (to bad i can't sing it). Her dropping the low E string down to an A to form an amazing resonating, strong bass note ... i love it.
This is a beautiful song.
I never understood this stanza until now- "i learn every room long enough to make it to the door and then i hear it click shut behind me and every key works differently and i forget every time and the forgetting defines me that's what defines me"
it's about thinking things will be different and ignoring past experiences to hope things will be different, but they aren't. forgetting is her way of making the same mistake over and over again.
i have had this cd for a while and it's gotten me through a few breakups, but by far- this breakup has helped me understand this stanza the most.
this song is so fucking beautiful.
This is such an amazing, empowering song. She's trying to get over a man she knows was bad for her - she knows she's stronger than being hung up on him. I especially love the lines:
"and you are so lame , you know you always disappoint me it's kinda like our running joke but it's really not funny i just want you to live up to the image of you i create i see you and i'm so unsatisfied i see you and i dilate"
I feel that, completely. It's so easy to be in love with someone, but you're not quite sure why, because they always let you down. They don't live up to the perfect image you have of them in your head.
I think the lyric "i see you and i'm so unsatisfied i see you and i dilate", might have meaning to the science of attraction. Because apparently when you like someone, and they might not know it, but your pupils will dilate in even lighting, so you can get a better focus on the object of your affection. And its actually true.
Though it could be taken as a drug term to, and maybe its like the person she likes is like a drug to her, and seeing them is like a high. Yet the more she see that person, the more she realises they aren't what she was looking for, so therefore her drug isn't satisfying her anymore...
I think its a combination of those two meanings really, but thats just me.
I would suggest that, as Ani sings it, Dilate refers to the lack of excitement that this person/lifestyle/character trait gives her. When put into an exciting/stressful situation, our heart rate rises and we get tunnel vision. When this subsides, our eyes "dilate", as MurryHam described. That is to say, as situations become less adverse, our eyes dilate.
i love this song. its one of my favorites by ani. the lyrcs are just amazing.
"so i'll walk the plank yeah, i'll jump with a smile if i'm gonna go down i'm gonna do it with style and you won't see me surrender you won't hear me confess 'cause you've left me with nothing but i've worked with less" that gets me everytime i lissin to it.
but don't look so offended, you know you should be flattered.
i always wanna sing this song to my ex.