Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
I remember redwood trees, bumper cars and wolverines
The ocean's Trident submarines
Lemons, limes and tangerines
I remember this
I remember traffic jams
Motor boys and girls with tans
Nearly-was and almost-rans
I remember this
History is made
History is made to seem unfair
I recall that you were there
Golden smile and shining hair
I recall it wasn't fair
Recollect it wasn't fair
Remembering it wasn't fair outside
Low ebb, high tide
The lowest ebb and highest tide
A symbol wave I must confide
I guess we took us for a ride
I guess it's just a gesture
I remember this defense
Progress fails pacific sense
All those sweet conspiracies
I remember all these things
I remember traffic jams
Motor boys and girls with tans
Nearly-was and almost-rans
I remember this, this
Low ebb, high tide
The lowest ebb and highest tide
I guess we took us for a ride
I guess it's just a gesture
At the end of the continent
At the edge of the continent
At the end of the continent
At the edge of the continent
The ocean's Trident submarines
Lemons, limes and tangerines
I remember this
I remember traffic jams
Motor boys and girls with tans
Nearly-was and almost-rans
I remember this
History is made
History is made to seem unfair
I recall that you were there
Golden smile and shining hair
I recall it wasn't fair
Recollect it wasn't fair
Remembering it wasn't fair outside
Low ebb, high tide
The lowest ebb and highest tide
A symbol wave I must confide
I guess we took us for a ride
I guess it's just a gesture
I remember this defense
Progress fails pacific sense
All those sweet conspiracies
I remember all these things
I remember traffic jams
Motor boys and girls with tans
Nearly-was and almost-rans
I remember this, this
Low ebb, high tide
The lowest ebb and highest tide
I guess we took us for a ride
I guess it's just a gesture
At the end of the continent
At the edge of the continent
At the end of the continent
At the edge of the continent
Lyrics submitted by xpankfrisst
I Remember California Lyrics as written by Peter Buck Bill Berry
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Audioslave
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
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.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
This is another ambiguous puzzler: A lot of the imagery is clear, but the underlying story is hard to tease out. What the lyrics don't show is that the tune is uniformly sad.
It's clear that some past episode took place in California, and something that once seemed to have potential came, disappointingly, to nothing. Positive images are listed with two negative images inserted into the description (Trident submarines, which are instruments of nuclear war... and traffic jams), suggesting that something that seemed to be positive had flaws lurking beneath (submarines are not seen). The question is: what is the something? My ideas would be:
a) A love affair. b) California itself. No need to allude to Luthor (from Superman I, not III) -- it is folk science that California might one day be lost to a big earthquake, which is because of its postion at "the edge of the continent" -- an odd fact to bring up if geography or geology is not relevant.
With the mention of "history is made to seem unfair", however, another very strong possible interpretation is(c) the death of Bobby Kennedy. He was on the path to becoming president when he was shot to death in Los Angeles in 1968. He certainly had a golden smile and shining hair, and his shooting is certainly a case of history being unfair and a "nearly was" and his candidacy thus an "also ran".
None of those interpretations is incompatible with the lyrics, although the Kennedy one seems to fit the most small points. This could be about RFK or simply a vague, lyrical song.
@rikdad Good interpretation. I agree, it is mysterious.
@rikdad I believe in the Bobby Kennedy interpretation.