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.
What's there that makes you want to be lonely?
What's there to keep you sitting at home?
He'd always say no, no, no
As if he wanted you to be hungry
Well, the same things you're missing
Could get you into something else
Better leave when to stay
Is only nothing but being alone
What I wanted you to know is kid things
Seemed like nothing at all
Kid things make it better than it was
Kid things seemed like nothing at all
But kid things make it better than it was
Hey, what you got that makes you want to be lonely?
Hey, what you got that makes it a better way to be?
She said no, no, no
I can't get any love and it's a Sunday
I said oh, yeah
What makes you think I wanted it that way?
'Cause one or two more smiles from you
And I don't need anything else
What I wanted you to know is kid things
Seemed like nothing at all
Kid things make it better than it was
We're just kids
We spend all night on the phone
It's a kid thing
But I sleep better when I'm not alone
What I want right now is just some more
Gimme more, hey what you think
Is you're not getting any younger
What I know is that you're not really very old
I know you wanna say no, no, no
It feels much better in the summer
Well, if it isn't warm where you're sittin'
Then kitten come on in out of the cold
'Cause all I know is when I'm with you
Well, I don't need anything else
What I wanted you to know is kid things
Seemed like nothing at all
And kid things make it better than it was
We're just kids
We spend all night on the phone
It's a kid thing
So I sleep better when I'm not alone
Kid things seemed like nothing at all
Kid things make it better than it was
We're just kids, just like driving a car
It's a kid thing and the further out
The closer in you are
What's there to keep you sitting at home?
He'd always say no, no, no
As if he wanted you to be hungry
Well, the same things you're missing
Could get you into something else
Better leave when to stay
Is only nothing but being alone
What I wanted you to know is kid things
Seemed like nothing at all
Kid things make it better than it was
Kid things seemed like nothing at all
But kid things make it better than it was
Hey, what you got that makes you want to be lonely?
Hey, what you got that makes it a better way to be?
She said no, no, no
I can't get any love and it's a Sunday
I said oh, yeah
What makes you think I wanted it that way?
'Cause one or two more smiles from you
And I don't need anything else
What I wanted you to know is kid things
Seemed like nothing at all
Kid things make it better than it was
We're just kids
We spend all night on the phone
It's a kid thing
But I sleep better when I'm not alone
What I want right now is just some more
Gimme more, hey what you think
Is you're not getting any younger
What I know is that you're not really very old
I know you wanna say no, no, no
It feels much better in the summer
Well, if it isn't warm where you're sittin'
Then kitten come on in out of the cold
'Cause all I know is when I'm with you
Well, I don't need anything else
What I wanted you to know is kid things
Seemed like nothing at all
And kid things make it better than it was
We're just kids
We spend all night on the phone
It's a kid thing
So I sleep better when I'm not alone
Kid things seemed like nothing at all
Kid things make it better than it was
We're just kids, just like driving a car
It's a kid thing and the further out
The closer in you are
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Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Blue
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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.
My favorite lines in this song are "Cause one or two more smiles from you and I don't need anything else." And the other version: "Cause all I know is when I'm with you well I don't need anything else."