Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Just a semi normal person
Thought he had the future planned
Then he won some silly sweepstakes
Now he had a hundred grand
Never stopped to think of taxes
He was gone before they knew
With a flair for old romantics
To the Orient he flew
When they fueled in Papeete
Place a call to Big Mamou
With an honest explanation
Just to tell the whole damn truth
It's his one chance in a million
Who'd deny the simple fact
Twas no use to talk it over
He'd be home when he got back
Chorus
Now he's somewhere over China
Lookin' down on all the trails
On the mountains lookin' back at him
It's a real live fairy tale
Put a little distance
Between causes and effects
Like a day old fortune cookie
Askin' who or what comes next
What the hell did Marco Polo think
When he ran into the wall
Or the crazy flying tigers
Doin' spins and loops and stalls
Just a taste for something different
Perking up a boring day
Now our man from Louisiana
Feels exactly the same way
They're all somewhere over China
Shanghai or old Peking
On a plane or a boat in an envelope
Real adventure has it's ring
Just to put a little distance
Between fact and fantasy
Still six thousand miles away from
where I really want to be
How I would love to drive the shuttle
Just to feel the engines roar
And to operate the levers
That control the payload doors
I could buzz the Himalayas
Barrel roll above Hong Kong
Set her down in San Francisco
To the clanging of the gong
We're all somewhere over China
Headin' east of headin' west
Takin' time to live a little
Flying so far from the nest
Just to put a little distance
Between causes and effects
Like an ancient fortune teller
Knowin' who and what comes next
Thought he had the future planned
Then he won some silly sweepstakes
Now he had a hundred grand
Never stopped to think of taxes
He was gone before they knew
With a flair for old romantics
To the Orient he flew
When they fueled in Papeete
Place a call to Big Mamou
With an honest explanation
Just to tell the whole damn truth
It's his one chance in a million
Who'd deny the simple fact
Twas no use to talk it over
He'd be home when he got back
Chorus
Now he's somewhere over China
Lookin' down on all the trails
On the mountains lookin' back at him
It's a real live fairy tale
Put a little distance
Between causes and effects
Like a day old fortune cookie
Askin' who or what comes next
What the hell did Marco Polo think
When he ran into the wall
Or the crazy flying tigers
Doin' spins and loops and stalls
Just a taste for something different
Perking up a boring day
Now our man from Louisiana
Feels exactly the same way
They're all somewhere over China
Shanghai or old Peking
On a plane or a boat in an envelope
Real adventure has it's ring
Just to put a little distance
Between fact and fantasy
Still six thousand miles away from
where I really want to be
How I would love to drive the shuttle
Just to feel the engines roar
And to operate the levers
That control the payload doors
I could buzz the Himalayas
Barrel roll above Hong Kong
Set her down in San Francisco
To the clanging of the gong
We're all somewhere over China
Headin' east of headin' west
Takin' time to live a little
Flying so far from the nest
Just to put a little distance
Between causes and effects
Like an ancient fortune teller
Knowin' who and what comes next
Lyrics submitted by EnjOy IncUbus
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Blue
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“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.
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love this song so much. Sometimes I hear it and think its a story of reality and adventure and sometimes I think its simply fantasy, and the line "Just to put a little distance between fact and fantasy" outlines that perfectly. When i think of it in a sense of reality, its just taking advantage of the treasures in life to live to the fullest and do something different.