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.
Wake up, got another day to get through now
Got another man to see
Got to call him on the telephone, hey oh
Got to find a piece of paper
Sit down, got another letter to write
Think hard, got to get a letter just right
There's a ringing on the telephone, oh no
Got to write a little later
No such thing as tomorrow, only (1, 2, 3, go!)
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
If I tell you what I'm doing today
Will you shut up and get out of my way
Someone asked me what the time is, I don't know
Only know I gotta go now
No time, trying to get a watch repaired
No time, never got a thing to wear
Hear the ringin' of the telephone, no, no
Hear a ringin' in my head now
No such thing as tomorrow, only (1, 2, 3, go!)
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
No such thing as tomorrow, only (1, 2, 3, go!)
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick--
Got another man to see
Got to call him on the telephone, hey oh
Got to find a piece of paper
Sit down, got another letter to write
Think hard, got to get a letter just right
There's a ringing on the telephone, oh no
Got to write a little later
No such thing as tomorrow, only (1, 2, 3, go!)
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
If I tell you what I'm doing today
Will you shut up and get out of my way
Someone asked me what the time is, I don't know
Only know I gotta go now
No time, trying to get a watch repaired
No time, never got a thing to wear
Hear the ringin' of the telephone, no, no
Hear a ringin' in my head now
No such thing as tomorrow, only (1, 2, 3, go!)
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
No such thing as tomorrow, only (1, 2, 3, go!)
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick-tick-tickin' in my head
Time, got the time tick--
Lyrics submitted by agnamaracs
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
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Somewhere Only We Know
Keane
Keane
Per the FAQ on Keane's website, Keane's drummer Richard Hughes, stated the following:
"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs... It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message... Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."
With the nostalgic sentiment and the overall tone of the song, I think Keane is attempting to express a Portuguese term known as 'saudade', which does not have a direct English translation but roughly means "that which we remember because it is gone."
Zombie
Cranberries, The
Cranberries, The
"Zombie" is about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland. This is obvious if you know anything of the singer (Dolores O'Riordan)'s Irish heritage and understood the "1916" Easter Rising reference.
"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
-
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over"
Laments the Warrington bomb attacks in which two children were fatally injured on March 23rd, 1993. Twelve year old Tim Parry was taken off life support with permission from his mother after five days in the hospital, virtually braindead.
"But you see it's not me
It's not my family"
References how people who are not directly involved with the violence feel about it. They are "zombies" without sympathy who refuse to take action while others suffer.
Sunglasses at Night
Corey Hart
Corey Hart
In the 1980s, sunglasses were a common fashion for people who wanted to adopt a "tough guy" persona (note all the cop shows from that era -- Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, etc. -- where the lead characters wore shades). So I think this song is about a guy who wears shades as a way of hiding his insecurity after learning that his girlfriend is cheating on him. He's trying to pretend that he's a "tough guy" to hide the fact that his girlfriend's affair is disturbing him.
This song is the business, covered by the almighty ANTHRAX and lost none of its charm of appeal neither.
been listening to a lot of Joe Jackson lately, and i realized this song sounded familiar...because i'd heard the Anthrax cover years back.
anyways, classic song.