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.
Good looking, bad tasting
Full bodied, butt wasting
Loose living, tight fitting
What you see ain't what you are getting
Big make-up, little break-up
She wants it, he's got it
Cold blooded, hot gossip
Superficial expectations
Look at me
You can take it all because this face is free
Maybe next time use your eyes and look at me
I'm a drama queen if that's your thing baby
I can even do reality
Uh, uh, uh, uh
Fake honey, real plastic
Stupid cupid, fantastic
Queer thinking, straight talking
What you see ain't what you are getting
Fast loving, slow moving
No rhythm, but I'm grooving
Old feeling, new beginning
Superficial expectations
Look at me
You can take it all because this face is free
Maybe next time use your eyes and look at me
I'm a drama queen if that's your thing baby
I can even do reality
That's me
Sometimes I don't recognize my own face
I look inside my eyes and find disgrace
My little white lies tell a story
I see it all, it has no glory
Huh
Look at me
You can take it all because this face is free
Maybe next time use your eyes and look at me
I'm a drama queen if that's your thing baby
I can even do reality
Come and look at me
This face is free
I'm your fantasy
So Who'd you wannabe?
Not what you see
I'm a drama queen
If that's your thing
Come on and look at me
I'm your fantasy
This face is free (face is free)
Come on and look at me
So who'd you wannabe? (Look at me)
This face is free
Come on and look at me (thing baby)
I'm your fantasy
Come on and look at me (look at me)
Not what you see
I'm a drama queen (face is free)
If that's your thing
Come on and look at me (look at me)
So who'd you wannabe?
This face is free
Full bodied, butt wasting
Loose living, tight fitting
What you see ain't what you are getting
Big make-up, little break-up
She wants it, he's got it
Cold blooded, hot gossip
Superficial expectations
Look at me
You can take it all because this face is free
Maybe next time use your eyes and look at me
I'm a drama queen if that's your thing baby
I can even do reality
Uh, uh, uh, uh
Fake honey, real plastic
Stupid cupid, fantastic
Queer thinking, straight talking
What you see ain't what you are getting
Fast loving, slow moving
No rhythm, but I'm grooving
Old feeling, new beginning
Superficial expectations
Look at me
You can take it all because this face is free
Maybe next time use your eyes and look at me
I'm a drama queen if that's your thing baby
I can even do reality
That's me
Sometimes I don't recognize my own face
I look inside my eyes and find disgrace
My little white lies tell a story
I see it all, it has no glory
Huh
Look at me
You can take it all because this face is free
Maybe next time use your eyes and look at me
I'm a drama queen if that's your thing baby
I can even do reality
Come and look at me
This face is free
I'm your fantasy
So Who'd you wannabe?
Not what you see
I'm a drama queen
If that's your thing
Come on and look at me
I'm your fantasy
This face is free (face is free)
Come on and look at me
So who'd you wannabe? (Look at me)
This face is free
Come on and look at me (thing baby)
I'm your fantasy
Come on and look at me (look at me)
Not what you see
I'm a drama queen (face is free)
If that's your thing
Come on and look at me (look at me)
So who'd you wannabe?
This face is free
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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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Great version of a great song,
No Surprises
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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.
Magical
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This song rocks! "This face is free" is a great line but look at Geri's mega buff image now. What a hypocrite!