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.
I sit two stories above the street
It's awful quiet here since love fell asleep
There's life down below me though
The kids are walking home from school
Some long ago when we were taught
That for whatever kind of puzzle you got
You just stick the right formula in
A solution for every fool
I remember the time when I came so close to you
Sent me skipping my class and running from school
And I bought you that ring 'cause I never was cool
What makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
Oh, I just sit up in the house and resist
And not be seen until I cease to exist
A kind of conscientious objection
A kind of dodging the draft
The boy and girl are holding hands on the street
And I don't want to but I think you just wait
It's more than just eye to eye
Learn the things I could never apply
I remember the time when I came so close with you
I let everything go it seemed the only truth
And I bought you that ring, it seemed the thing to do
What makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
So what makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
Oh, I'm just a mirror of a mirror myself
All the things that I do
And the next time I fall I'm gonna have to recall
It's isn't love it's only something new
I sit two stories above the street
It's awful quiet here since love fell asleep
There's life down below me though
The kids are walking home from school
I remember the time when I came so close with you
Sent me skipping my class and running from school
And I bought you that ring 'cause I never was cool
What makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
So what makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
The least complicated
The least complicated
It's awful quiet here since love fell asleep
There's life down below me though
The kids are walking home from school
Some long ago when we were taught
That for whatever kind of puzzle you got
You just stick the right formula in
A solution for every fool
I remember the time when I came so close to you
Sent me skipping my class and running from school
And I bought you that ring 'cause I never was cool
What makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
Oh, I just sit up in the house and resist
And not be seen until I cease to exist
A kind of conscientious objection
A kind of dodging the draft
The boy and girl are holding hands on the street
And I don't want to but I think you just wait
It's more than just eye to eye
Learn the things I could never apply
I remember the time when I came so close with you
I let everything go it seemed the only truth
And I bought you that ring, it seemed the thing to do
What makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
So what makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
Oh, I'm just a mirror of a mirror myself
All the things that I do
And the next time I fall I'm gonna have to recall
It's isn't love it's only something new
I sit two stories above the street
It's awful quiet here since love fell asleep
There's life down below me though
The kids are walking home from school
I remember the time when I came so close with you
Sent me skipping my class and running from school
And I bought you that ring 'cause I never was cool
What makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
So what makes me think I could start clean slated
The hardest to learn was the least complicated
The least complicated
The least complicated
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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.
I think on the live CD, Emily says this song is about the first little boy she had a crush on in grade school or something. She bought him a toy ring and gave it to him and he rejected her and she ran away all upset.
What a fabulous song! Someone recovering from a breakup watching the purity of young love from a distance. There's bitterness in her thoughts, but she's affected by the simplicity of the kids.
Somehow, the personal component of this makes me think of "Something Real" from "All That We Let In". For some reason, I wonder if there's a connection between the boy she gave the ring to and the friend she left behind years ago.