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.
I don't know why you're mean to me
when I call on the telephone
and I don't know what you mean to me
but I want to turn you on, turn you up, figure you out, want to take you on
These words, "You will be mine"
These words, "You will be mine, all the time"
The Fool might be my middle name
But I'd be foolish not to say
Going to make whatever it takes,
ring you up, call you down, sign your name, secret love
Couldn't I take you in and make you mine?
These words, "You will be mine"
These words, "You will be mine, all the time", oh
I tripped and fell, did I fall?
What I want you to feel, I want to feel it now
You know with love come strange currencies
and here is my appeal:
I need a chance, a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance,
a word, a signal, a nod, a little breath
just to fool myself, catch myself, to make it real, real
These words, "You will be mine"
These words, "You will be mine, all the time", oh
These words, "You will be mine"
These words haunt me, hunt me down, catch in my throat, make me pray, say
Love's confined, oh
when I call on the telephone
and I don't know what you mean to me
but I want to turn you on, turn you up, figure you out, want to take you on
These words, "You will be mine"
These words, "You will be mine, all the time"
The Fool might be my middle name
But I'd be foolish not to say
Going to make whatever it takes,
ring you up, call you down, sign your name, secret love
Couldn't I take you in and make you mine?
These words, "You will be mine"
These words, "You will be mine, all the time", oh
I tripped and fell, did I fall?
What I want you to feel, I want to feel it now
You know with love come strange currencies
and here is my appeal:
I need a chance, a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance,
a word, a signal, a nod, a little breath
just to fool myself, catch myself, to make it real, real
These words, "You will be mine"
These words, "You will be mine, all the time", oh
These words, "You will be mine"
These words haunt me, hunt me down, catch in my throat, make me pray, say
Love's confined, oh
Lyrics submitted by Novartza
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No Surprises
Radiohead
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Ed Sheeran
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
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Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Midnight” is a song about finding a love that is so true that it provides a calming feeling through every storm. Ed Sheeran reflects on his good fortunes in landing someone with such peace and support and speaks of not fearing the dark days because he knows they’ll all end in the safety nets of her arms.
“Well, good morning there / What a way to start the day / With everything laid bare,” Ed Sheeran sings in the first verse, enthusiastic to be waking up beside his woman. He apologizes for missing her calls in the second verse and promises to return them because for him, speaking to her is the most important thing. “Well, I get lost inside my head / In this chaos, you’re my calm / And I will find my feet again / ‘Cause еven the worst days of my life will always еnd / At midnight in your arms,” sings Ed Sheeran in the chorus, revelling in his good luck.
I've never thought of it like the guy ruined the relationship. I've always thought this was a passionate crush almost. He really wants this person, but they don't necessarily want hiim. It's full of emotion - something which many feel at times when you feel you are unwanted by a person who you are besotted with. I can definitly relate to the being 'mean' part - a person I've liked in the past was, even though I later found that he liked me back. But it was too late then.
This is one of their finest songs ever.... I'm with Butterfly... on this one. I think it's about someone who's so intensely fixated on one person.... And I guess he calls them all the time (which, Michael, might explain why they're mean to you... If I'm right that is...) The "I'm gonna need a chance, a second chance..." part suggests that nothing has happened between them, and he's desperate for the opportunity to show this person that he'll try not to screw up, but be patient because nobody's perfect.... And "Just to fool myself, catch myself make it real..." he's been caught up in his own thoughts so much, he's desperate to make a go of it... And we've all been there!
I think this is one of the greatest songs for when a guy fucks up and wants to win someone back. I am trying to do that now but i am just gonna play her this song beucase i couldn't say it any better if i tried. I think the song means he messed up big time and he wants another chance to prove himself.
I'm pretty sure the last lyric is "love's confined". Only the most significant lyric ever written in the history of music.
So, I know it's been like 8 years and you probably will NEVER see this, but how did it go? Did you get her back?
wikipedia says this song is about a stalker or unrequited love. i highly doubt the stalker interpretation but its clearly about unrequited love.
great song.
"You know with love come strange currencies"
I love that line! Especially if you use the whole definition of currencies as: Transmission from person to person as a medium of exchange (TY Dictionary.com)....just because love has the power to bring about the strangest currencies.....aka asking for 4th chances, hunt me down, make me pray.
Prolly my most favorite REM song ever.
I love this song. It is one of those songs that pulls at me. This is the kind of song all of us on this page would write, if we could, to that person who just won't or can't give us a chance. Life is so short, and to be able to find someone that you truly love is a blessing. But to not be able to get through to that person, for whatever reason, and the frustration and longing that go along with that, those are things that I guess so many of us can relate to. I remember this girl I had a huge crush on, and about the time all of that was at it's apex, this song came out. I used to just drive around and play my "Monster" cassette, and just sing along. Man, did I feel this song. God, I feel alone.
In 2003, my husband left me for a year. He was seeing another woman. I remember listening to this song over and over and over again. The part where he says, "I don't know why you're mean to me when I call on the telephone..." that always hit me so deep because I'd call in desperation, just trying to get him back and he'd be so cold and so heartless. And then, "These words, you will be mine... all the time..." They made me feel stronger. I'm really not sure why because they are just words, but the emotion behind them was so intense! "Going to make whatever it takes, ring you up, call you down, sign your name, secret love... Couldn't I take you in and make you mine?" There's not many parts of this song that didn't mean something to me during that hard time. I agree, it's about unrequited love. Fortunately, my husband came to his senses and we've been married for 12 years now, but... wow... this was one of the hardest parts of my life and this song... it just spoke volumes for me. AMAZING SONG!!
"I need a chance, a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance, a word, a signal, a nod, a little breath just to fool myself, catch myself, to make it real..."
wow.
as above! ditto, and bless! dont b alone chicken! xx
I can see the unrequited love thing, but I don't think it's all that plain. He says I don't know why you're mean to me and then I don't know WHAT you mean...sounds like he's not sure what he feels. Maybe it's the thrill of the hunt. The sloppiness, the uncertainty not just of whether the felings are reciprocated, but also of what he truly feels himself.
Perhaps its an affair, or an old romance revisited. And both people enjoy the fantasy and chase of it all, but both know or at least suspect that at some point, it will end. And end that's protracted by a familiar breaking point where their "currencies" no longer jive. But for this moment in time, it's extremely intense and foolish and careless, but wonderful.
It always makes me think of this dorky but sweet boy who used to call me when I was in high school and kept calling, no matter how mean I was to him. Despite that, I love this song, and I am sorry that I was so mean to you, S. I hope you're rich and happy now.