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”
The symptoms of our getting older
The problems that say we don't mind
That most of us never get over
The memories mingled with lies
Coincidence gave a confession
That no one's allowed to forget
I don't want to give the impression
That predestination is set
The distance will increase the danger
Where certainty's never enjoyed
Regarded as equal yet stranger
Embark then embrace then destroy
Observing the process will change it
And afterwards even if you
Subconsciously rearrange it
It doesn't seem any less true
Remnants of thought disappearing
And even transcending concern
Disturbing but somehow endearing
Conditioned to never unlearn
And no one can tell me to listen
And no one can tell me what's right
'cause nobody has my permission
And no one can see in your mind
In your mind
In your mind
In your mind
When magnifications explore
There slowly emerges a pattern
The details you normally ignore
You notice really what matters
There isn't a time or a place
Only an ebb and a flowing
A permanent repeating space
Occurring, connecting and growing
And no one can tell me to listen
And no one can tell me what's right
'cause nobody has my permission
And no one can see in your mind
In your mind
In your mind
In your mind
The problems that say we don't mind
That most of us never get over
The memories mingled with lies
Coincidence gave a confession
That no one's allowed to forget
I don't want to give the impression
That predestination is set
The distance will increase the danger
Where certainty's never enjoyed
Regarded as equal yet stranger
Embark then embrace then destroy
Observing the process will change it
And afterwards even if you
Subconsciously rearrange it
It doesn't seem any less true
Remnants of thought disappearing
And even transcending concern
Disturbing but somehow endearing
Conditioned to never unlearn
And no one can tell me to listen
And no one can tell me what's right
'cause nobody has my permission
And no one can see in your mind
In your mind
In your mind
In your mind
When magnifications explore
There slowly emerges a pattern
The details you normally ignore
You notice really what matters
There isn't a time or a place
Only an ebb and a flowing
A permanent repeating space
Occurring, connecting and growing
And no one can tell me to listen
And no one can tell me what's right
'cause nobody has my permission
And no one can see in your mind
In your mind
In your mind
In your mind
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More Featured Meanings
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
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,
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
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.
It seems to me that a lot of the lines reference quantum theory and some other physics. Maybe I'm just making this up, but it seems like built to spill meant this. Here are some lines that caught my eye.
coincidence gave a confession that no one's allowed to forget
This could refer to whether information can really be destroyed, such as (possibly) in a black hole.
I don't wanna give the impression that predestination is set
Predestination is a central issue in quantum physics, where at some levels, events are random, yet at some levels, they are deterministic.
the distance will increase the danger where certainty's never enjoyed
"where certainty's never enjoyed" could be heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which states that the closer you know a particle's position, the less you know about it's momentum, and vice-versa. Hence, "the distance will increase the danger", or uncertainty.
observing the process will change it and afterwards even if you subconsciously rearrange it it doesn't seem any less true
This one could be taken right out of a quantum physics textbook. In quantum physics, observation is vital to deciding what outcome will occur. Physicists have "rearranged" quantum events, but they always end up being true, even in absurd cases of rearragement.
when magnifications explore there slowly emerges a pattern the details you normally ignore you notice really what matters
This is a basic process of science in general. One looks deeper into something, finding patterns in things you couldn't or wouldn't see before. And then, you notice what really matters, or the theory, etc. that explains it. Quantum physics is looking deeper into the macroscopic world of other physics, and seeing odd patterns at the atomic scale ("the details you normally ignore").
there isn't a time or a place only an ebb and a flowing a permanent repeating space occuring, connecting and growing
This seems like the elimination of absolute time and space in both theories of relativity. There is no such thing as absolute space or time; everything is relative. Also, "a permanent repeating space" sounds like the idea that our universe is not only permanent (always existed/extisting), and that it is infinite in size. "occuring, connecting, and growing" sounds like general relativity, in which time and space themselves are constantly warped by their contents.
As a final note, some people believe quantum theory is at the basis of consciousness, hence "in your mind".
@zyxwyvu Exactly what i thought ;)