@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
I came upon a butcher,
He was slaughtering a lamb,
I accused him there
With his tortured lamb.
He said, Listen to me, child,
I am what I am and you, you are my only son.
Well, I found a silver needle,
I put it into my arm.
It did some good,
Did some harm.
But the nights were cold
And it almost kept me warm,
How come the night is long?
I saw some flowers growing up
Where that lamb fell down
Was I supposed to praise my Lord,
Make some kind of joyful sound?
He said, Listen, listen to me now,
I go round and round
And you, you are my only child.
Do not leave me now,
Do not leave me now,
I'm broken down
From a recent fall.
Blood upon my body
And ice upon my soul,
Lead on, my son, it is your world.
He was slaughtering a lamb,
I accused him there
With his tortured lamb.
He said, Listen to me, child,
I am what I am and you, you are my only son.
Well, I found a silver needle,
I put it into my arm.
It did some good,
Did some harm.
But the nights were cold
And it almost kept me warm,
How come the night is long?
I saw some flowers growing up
Where that lamb fell down
Was I supposed to praise my Lord,
Make some kind of joyful sound?
He said, Listen, listen to me now,
I go round and round
And you, you are my only child.
Do not leave me now,
Do not leave me now,
I'm broken down
From a recent fall.
Blood upon my body
And ice upon my soul,
Lead on, my son, it is your world.
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More Featured Meanings
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
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
Ed Sheeran
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.
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.
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.
I came upon a butcher, He was slaughtering a lamb, I accused him there With his tortured lamb.
(The lamb, or Jesus, was the ultimate, and perfect, sacrifice. Jesus accuses the butcher, or God, of sacrificing his only son as atonement for the sins of his people)
He said, Listen to me, child, I am what I am and you, you are my only son
(because God is ultimate he is also unknowable, he "is what he is.")
Well, I found a silver needle, I put it into my arm. It did some good, Did some harm
(it's hard not to this part as a literal end of emotional pain through heroin. As has been pointed out, heroin especially is a false descent into the pre-anxious state of innocence or "Eden.")
But the nights were cold And it almost kept me warm, How come the night is long?
(the cold night of depression is only barely improved by using Heroin. Why does depression have to last so long?)
I saw some flowers growing up Where that lamb fell down Was I supposed to praise my Lord, Make some kind of joyful sound?
(the sacrifice of the lamb, and hence the atonement of sin, brings new life, a rebirth, or flowers growing up. But this is a bitter pill, as salvation came from murdering God's only son)
He said, Listen, listen to me now, I go round and round And you, you are my only child.
(keep the faith, people will always need self-transcendence, you are still my only child)
Do not leave me now, Do not leave me now, I'm broken down From a recent fall.
(I might be reaching here, but by Cohen's time God had been proven a fiction, or narrative, by science and philosophy. He is saying don't give up on me, you still need me. Have a different relationship with me if you need to).
Blood upon my body And ice upon my soul, Lead on, my son, it is your world.
(a bleeding body and frozen soul indicates severe clinical depression; and yet, carry on, there is hope, you can still change)