| AFI – Of Greetings And Goodbyes Lyrics | 1 year ago |
| For me, this song is about being a social misfit and dreamer, embracing a world of fantasy. The references to the "secret show" remind me of Clive Barker's novel "The Great and Secret Show." It is perhaps about being a writer, musician, or performer of some kind and connecting with others. "Enter all the monsters, let us twist another fairytale." I also find it a very romantic song, that conjures up images of 19th century opera houses / theaters, crimson curtains draped over deserted stages, secret rooms and underground passageways. A lover tucking you into bed, ready to transcend into this magnificent dream world somewhere between fantasy and reality. | |
| AFI – Of Greetings And Goodbyes Lyrics | 1 year ago |
| For me, this song is about being a social misfit and dreamer, embracing a world of fantasy. The references to the "secret show" remind me of Clive Barker's novel "The Great and Secret Show." It is perhaps about being a writer, musician, or performer of some kind and connecting with others. "Enter all the monsters, let us twist another fairytale." I also find it a very romantic song, that conjures up images of 19th century opera houses / theaters, crimson curtains draped over deserted stages, secret rooms and underground passageways. A lover tucking you into bed, ready to transcend into this magnificent dream world somewhere between fantasy and reality. | |
| AFI – Of Greetings And Goodbyes Lyrics | 1 year ago |
| For me, this song is about being a social misfit and dreamer, embracing a world of fantasy. The references to the "secret show" remind me of Clive Barker's novel "The Great and Secret Show." It is perhaps about being a writer, musician, or performer of some kind and connecting with others. "Enter all the monsters, let us twist another fairytale." I also find it a very romantic song, that conjures up images of 19th century opera houses / theaters, crimson curtains draped over deserted stages, secret rooms and underground passageways. A lover tucking you into bed, ready to transcend into this magnificent dream world somewhere between fantasy and reality. | |
| Cold War Kids – First Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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@[tom1051708:8405] Good point! Never thought of that! |
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| Cold War Kids – First Lyrics | 10 years ago |
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The song itself is pretty self-explanatory I think - some kind of dysfunctional relationship with underlying trust issues. But the way it is written is truly eloquent and evocative; it's hard to listen to it and not feel some kind of personal connection. The narrator describes the impact that one bad experience can have on us, how it can then taint our perspectives and cause us to live in a state of anxiety and paranoia, believing that we are doomed to the same misfortunes over and over again. It also describes the general progression of any relationship, and the repetition of certain verses only reinforces the idea that we are in some sense going around in circles every time we get into a new relationship. A relationship always begins with a "first" and perhaps the title itself is a play on the old saying, "First comes love, then comes marriage..." Only the narrator is conveying a much darker, more cynical version of that, explaining how things are rarely picture perfect although they might seem that way at the beginning. "You'll play the game, though it's unfair They're all the same, who can compare?" This line suggests that everyone plays games, even if they do not realize it. Dating itself is a game - trying to find someone who you are compatible with, working up the courage to talk to them, hanging out for the first time and being on your best behavior... It's just this weird practice that is endemic only to the human species. Thus, he is chastising a girl for "playing games" but then realizes, well, everyone does to some extent, so how can I really compare? Humans rarely know what they want with absolute certainty. "First you lose trust, then you get worried" Unless you are exceptionally lucky, the person you are with is probably going to break or compromise your trust at some point. Sometimes it's as small as a white lie, other times it's as big as cheating. (The first line of the song suggests this.) But whenever and however trust is broken, it hurts. This makes me think of being young and in your first relationship. We tend to look at life with a very naive and hopeful mentality. That's why the first time something bad happens, it shatters us. It darkens our perspective, not enough to give up on love forever, but certainly enough where we never fully return to that type of innocent, child-like optimism. When you lose trust in someone or something, it leads to great anxiety and expecting the worst, and it follows you from there on, even in your future endeavors. "Night after night, bar after club..." A few different ways to interpret that. Could be that the pain drives you to engage in these sort of meaningless activities as a means of distraction. The video shows a guy drinking a lot, waking up on a stranger's lawn, etc. But I think it could also apply to the other person - maybe they are going out and having fun, and it makes you feel insecure and paranoid because you don't know exactly what they are doing. "First you get hurt, then you feel sorry" Again, a couple ways to interpret this. The first time I heard it, I took it to mean that even when we have done nothing wrong and people hurt us, we still absorb a strange sense of guilt i.e. "Maybe I deserve this." Or perhaps you become so desperate to make things right again that you are willing to apologize first, even though it's not really your fault. Another way to interpret it is just simply feeling sorry for yourself, your life, etc. You get hurt and then it seems like the whole world is falling down around you. "Flying like a cannonball, falling to the earth Heavy as a feather when you hit the dirt" Interesting, paradoxical imagery here. Cannonballs don't really fly, and feathers certainly aren't heavy. I suppose this just describes the conflicted feelings that can manifest in relationships. You can easily get caught up in the light, airy feeling of being in love and thinking everything is great, only to then plummet face first into the ground with no warning. "How am I the lucky one? I do not deserve to wait around forever when you were there first" This is my favorite line in the whole song. As always, we initially think we've lucked out by meeting someone and starting a seemingly great relationship with them. But as time goes on, we may start to question that. From watching the video, it seems like the girl has some commitment issues - she's going out different places, talking to different guys, etc. while her lover / ex-lover jealousy watches in the distance. Maybe she feels the need to explore he options or get more out of life. But the narrator doesn't think it's fair that he should have to wait around for her. "You were there first" seems to suggest that the other person was the one who initially showed interest, wanted the relationship, etc. And now they are being confusing, untrustworthy, and not showing any signs of true commitment. Also just my own personal spin on it: that person could be older, and thus there "first," so he/she should know what they want and not be playing games. "There comes a time in a short life Turn it around, get a rewrite" Not too sure about this whole section, but my guess is that it's a sort of existential assertion about how life is short and temporary, and we don't have an infinite amount of time to waste. So we need to "turn it around" and "get a rewrite" before it's too late. "First you get close, then you get worried" Again, showing us how getting close to someone makes us vulnerable. When you truly open yourself up to someone and give them your trust, it can be an uneasy feeling, especially if they have done things to jeopardize it. It can also describe how even when people do nothing to jeopardize it, we can still be irrationally worried that something bad is going to happen based on our past experiences. "You’re going silent, the silent treatment It’s not inviting now, don’t deny what you meant" Seems to be about mixed signals. Someone has become cold and avoidant. The other person finds it confusing, seeing as how they had previously been so "inviting." Maybe they also said they wanted something, and now they appear to want something different, hence, "don't deny what you meant." "You get excited, you get excited You got a feeling, oh, at least you can pretend" One of the most interesting aspects of this song is that it's hard to tell if / when the narrator is talking about himself / a general "you" in second person or if he's addressing another person. This line occurs at the part in the video where the girl is dancing at a party and having a good time. The narrator could be telling her, "You are excited because you're experiencing something new, it's a good feeling but you're just lying to yourself because you really want to be with me" or something like that. He could also be referring to himself, saying that he thinks things are going to start looking up for him, that he has some kind of "feeling" that he wants to believe, but that it probably isn't real and things aren't going to get any better. There's always that point in relationships where you feel like that, and just want things to work so badly. "You wanna light it now, the candle from both ends" This really sums up the song perfectly. One or both people don't really know what they want. This would definitely appear to be the girl in the video, who is seen dancing with other guys, then being driven home by her boyfriend / ex / whatever. She wants to have both options available to her. I also think it could be a metaphor for an unstable relationship in general. You're burning it from both ends - good and bad. You have the depressive lows when your trust is broken and things can't get worse, and you have the manic highs where everything seems right no matter how wrong it is. |
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