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.
She had to leave...
Los Angeles
All her toys wore out in black and her boys had too
She started to hate every nigger and Jew
Every Mexican that gave her lotta shit
Every homosexual and the idle rich
She had to get out
She gets confused
Flying over the dateline her hands turn red
Cause the days change at night change in an instant the days
Change at night change in an instant
She had to leave
Los Angeles
She found it hard to say goodbye to her own best friend
She bought a clock on Hollywood blvd the day she left
It felt sad she had to get out
Los Angeles
All her toys wore out in black and her boys had too
She started to hate every nigger and Jew
Every Mexican that gave her lotta shit
Every homosexual and the idle rich
She had to get out
She gets confused
Flying over the dateline her hands turn red
Cause the days change at night change in an instant the days
Change at night change in an instant
She had to leave
Los Angeles
She found it hard to say goodbye to her own best friend
She bought a clock on Hollywood blvd the day she left
It felt sad she had to get out
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
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
In the era this lyric was penned, punk and other forms of metal rock where in a backlash against the turmoil of the 60-70s counterculture. The generation coming of age then experienced the counterculture from a younger perspective: as if listening to one's parents argue and wondering if they are going to both be alive in the morning. People who were young children, but aware of events going on, during the counterculture, naturally built up an insulating wall to protect themselves, particularly on topics such as race, gender identity, class, etc., which the counterculture struggle had been about. The generation originally listening to X in live performances were very atuned to the release and pleasure to be experienced from raw and candid expressions of what was bugging them. Thus the very raw racial epithets in this lyric have an authenicity for them.
Notice that in some singing of the lyrics (live or recorded) you can almost hear "cross the date line" as both or either "cross the Orange County line" and "cross the color line". Both had resonance as it relates the racial angst a mostly white punk set in Los Angeles.
In many ways the protagonist of this lyric is dealing with her feelings of distress and confusion about race that were very typical for the generation coming of age immediately after the death of the counterculture, and what was envigorating about these lyrics in part is the very fact of candidly using epithets that expressed the sense of unease this generation felt about all topics of race, etc, that reminded them of the counterculture struggle going on that they were old enought to witness with horror but too young to actually be part of.