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.
In the shadows of tall buildings
Of fallen angels on the ceilings
Oily feathers in bronze and concrete
Faded colors, pieces left incomplete
The line moves slowly past the electric fence
Across the borders between continents
In the cathedrals of New York and Rome
There is a feeling that you should just go home
And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is
In the shadows of tall buildings
The architecture is slowly peeling
Marble statues and glass dividers
Someone is watching all of the outsiders
The line moves slowly through the numbered gate
Past the mosaic of the head of state
(chorus)
In the shadows of tall buildings
Of open arches endlessly kneeling
Sonic landscapes echoing vistas
Someone is listening from a safe distance
The line moves slowly into a fading light
A final moment in the dead of night
(chorus)
Of fallen angels on the ceilings
Oily feathers in bronze and concrete
Faded colors, pieces left incomplete
The line moves slowly past the electric fence
Across the borders between continents
In the cathedrals of New York and Rome
There is a feeling that you should just go home
And spend a lifetime finding out just where that is
In the shadows of tall buildings
The architecture is slowly peeling
Marble statues and glass dividers
Someone is watching all of the outsiders
The line moves slowly through the numbered gate
Past the mosaic of the head of state
(chorus)
In the shadows of tall buildings
Of open arches endlessly kneeling
Sonic landscapes echoing vistas
Someone is listening from a safe distance
The line moves slowly into a fading light
A final moment in the dead of night
(chorus)
Lyrics submitted by fadingxthexkisses
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Martha, I don't think that sounds stupid at all. It's one of the impressions I've always got from it too - nothing really coherent, but it always makes me want to write some sort of dystopian post-apocalyptic fic based on it. The lines about electric fences and the mosaic of the head of state and "someone is watching all of the outsiders" kind of add to that - it gives this sort of idea of some sort of [maybe collapsing] dictatorship. Adding in the fact that it's nominally at least about cathedrals, that could be how he feels religion is, but maybe not...
It does feel like it's about rebuilding/trying to find a life in a world where you don't know where you belong. That's the basic idea I get strongly from it, anything more is speculation.
Martha- Ametatsu-<br /> <br /> That is exactly my take on this song.<br /> <br /> It's post-war, post-apocalyptic disaster. People are segregated, separated by a fence, perhaps in war camps...almost like the plight of the Jews.<br /> <br /> As to the "Cathedrals" it represents how beautiful the buildings are and yet how cold they are and uncaring to the situation below. How we turn to the church to seek absolution and yet find none.<br /> <br /> Everyone just wants to go home...but there is no home anymore.<br /> <br />
@ametatsu <br /> Hello from 10 years in th future. To add to this, I've always imagined some sort of funeral procession possibly for an assassinated leader or 'head of state' even.