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.
Say my hell is the closet
I'm stuck inside
Can't see the light
And my heaven is a nice house in the sky
Got central heating
And I'm alright
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Can't see the light
Keep it locked up inside
Don't talk about it
Talk about the weather
Can't see the light
Open up my head and let me out, little baby
Here we have been standing for a long, long time
Treading trodden trails for a long, long time
I say my hell is the closet I'm stuck inside
Can't see the light
And my heaven is a nice house in the sky
Got central heating and I'm alright
Here we have been standing for a long, long time
Treading trodden trails for a long, long time
I find sometimes it's easy to be myself
Sometimes I find it's better to be somebody else
I see you young and soft oh little baby
Little feet, little hands, little baby
One year of cryin' and the words creep up inside
Creep into your mind
So much to say
Here we have been standing for a long, long time
Treading trodden trails for a long, long time
I find sometimes it's easy
To be myself
Sometimes I find it's better
To be somebody else
So much to say
Open up my head and let me out
Little baby
I'm stuck inside
Can't see the light
And my heaven is a nice house in the sky
Got central heating
And I'm alright
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Can't see the light
Keep it locked up inside
Don't talk about it
Talk about the weather
Can't see the light
Open up my head and let me out, little baby
Here we have been standing for a long, long time
Treading trodden trails for a long, long time
I say my hell is the closet I'm stuck inside
Can't see the light
And my heaven is a nice house in the sky
Got central heating and I'm alright
Here we have been standing for a long, long time
Treading trodden trails for a long, long time
I find sometimes it's easy to be myself
Sometimes I find it's better to be somebody else
I see you young and soft oh little baby
Little feet, little hands, little baby
One year of cryin' and the words creep up inside
Creep into your mind
So much to say
Here we have been standing for a long, long time
Treading trodden trails for a long, long time
I find sometimes it's easy
To be myself
Sometimes I find it's better
To be somebody else
So much to say
Open up my head and let me out
Little baby
Lyrics submitted by Demau Senae, edited by Mellow_Harsher
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
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
If you've ever been depressed you would relate to it as being in a depressed state...I say my hell is the closet I�m stuck inside Can�t see the light... You get trapped in your own mind. Wishing you could talk to someone, but not being able to explain what's going on in your own mind. You have so much to say...but you keep it locked up inside. Just like being a little baby...you would imagine they have so much going on in their minds but aren't able to talk to tell you...The only escape you have is to go to your comfort zone within your own mind...my heaven is a nice house in the sky Got central heating and I�m alright...treading trodden trails for a long long time...because it's continuous...so it's much easier to pretend you are someone else at times. That's how I relate to it anyway...and I'm sure there is a totally different meaning to everyone that listens to it...it's how it affects your own thoughts. There are so many different things it could actually mean...but it would be really cool to know what he was actually thinking when he wrote it and the true meaning behind the song...regardless...I love it!!! Dave Matthews Rocks!!!
@ImLucyLocket your comment about this song as well as the song itself describes perfectly what life as an introvert is like. Is Dave an introvert? Introverts are typically very creative people who express themselves in diverse ways. Not so much by conversing with people but through writing....songs hummm.
Believe it or not, we spent a whole day in a college course on Child Developement disussing this song. Although certain parts may mean different things to different people (and some of my interpretations may be a stretch), the main gist of the song is the gradual developement of a child into a thinking, speaking individual.
Is a reference to being trapped inside the womb, with
representing the exit from the womb.
Refers to baby's frustration at not being able to communicate yet.
Now, once baby reaches speaking age--and of course Dave Matthews, being a "deep" musical artist, talks about the shallowness of one's conversations once we can speak, despite baby's earlier yearning to communicate, having had "so much to say." And what does baby talk about when he can finally speak?--after he had, "so much to say?" and was stuck in his own "hell" of muteness? The bloody weather! And not just that, but other mundain topics over and over again, as represented by the lyrics
The "trodden trails" (Nice alliteration by the way) are topics that have been disussed ad neaseum. Basicaslly, nobody has anything new to say, making Dave Matthew's repetitious chorus "so much to say" all the more ironic.
Pretty clever song for an ex bartender who never went to college.
I'm not sure but I think at least part of this is about how in our society we train ourselves to stay superficial in our conversations and not talk about what is really on our mind ("keep it locked up inside, don't talk about it, talk about the weather") I really like this song because it addresses something that bothers me in everyday life.
The most powerful line to me in this song is "I find sometimes it’s easy to be myself / Sometimes I find it’s better to be somebody else." I think Dave goes through the same dilemma as everyone else. Everyone feels uncomfortable in certain situations but comfortable in others. Sometimes you feel like you can speak your mind, but then other times you fear rejection and speak the mind of someone else.
the last line "open up my head and let me out" you know where its just the voice is really really cool to me...
good song dave :)
if you get a chance to dl the video for this song but it is awsome and bringsa whole new life to the song
plus the sax player smiles...he never does but in this video he did :)
I think that Dave is talkin about how sometimes it is just easier to put on a facade than to actually be yourself. It is one of my favorite Dave songs.
@eminem31 you are right. Dave is an INFJ (me too). It is the rarest personally type and we hate small talk,<br /> Keep it locked up inside<br /> Don't talk about it<br /> Talk about the weather". is very INFJ.<br /> Read about the INFJ to better understand Dave, Billy Corgan, Taylor Swift etc. intuitivemusician.com/infj/
one thing i love about the song is the complete contradiction it makes - while stating that there is "so much to say," dave is, for the most part, repeating the same lines over and over. i adore the paradox that creates.
I'm not sure about the song as a whole, but the last part where he talks about "One year of crying and the words creep up inside" he's talking about a newborn child and how after a year or so, they start to talk. And they have so much to say! :p Maybe one theme of the song is that he feels a sort of lament for the child that he has to go through all that Dave describes in the first half of the song, although the upbeat tune to the song might contradict that :p
I think NateKalbach is correct about the meaning and I HAVE to agree with Deathbear abot the last line "Open up my head and let me out Little baby" Its just awesome. I love this song and Love the video especially at that last line part; While Dave is singing it he's looking around the room and when he plays that last note it shows Leroi Moore smiling in Daves place for a split-second. Its funny.