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.
Another night with open eyes
Too late to sleep, too soon to rise
You're short of breath, is it a heart attack?
Hot and feverish you face the fact
You're in love, and it feels like shame
Because she's gone and made a fool of you in public again
You're in love, and it feels like pain
Because you know there's too much truth in everything she claims
So ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she wants you to?
Ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
You drift into the strangest dreams
Of youthful follies and changing teams
Admit you're wrong, oh, no, not yet
Then you wake up and remember that you can't forget
She's made you some kind of laughing stock
Because you dance to disco, and you don't like rock
She'd make fun of you, and even in bed
Said she was gonna go and get herself a real man instead
So ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
Ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Or do you want revenge?
But that's childish, so childish!
(That's childish, so childish!)
Remember when you were more easily led
Behind the cricket pavilion and the bicycle shed
Trembling as your dreams came true
You looked right into those blue eyes and knew
It was love, and now you can't pretend
You've forgotten all the promises of that first friend
It's bad enough, she knows how you feel
But she's not prepared to share you with the memory
So ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
Ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
And ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Or do you want revenge?
But that's childish, so childish!
Too late to sleep, too soon to rise
You're short of breath, is it a heart attack?
Hot and feverish you face the fact
You're in love, and it feels like shame
Because she's gone and made a fool of you in public again
You're in love, and it feels like pain
Because you know there's too much truth in everything she claims
So ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she wants you to?
Ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
You drift into the strangest dreams
Of youthful follies and changing teams
Admit you're wrong, oh, no, not yet
Then you wake up and remember that you can't forget
She's made you some kind of laughing stock
Because you dance to disco, and you don't like rock
She'd make fun of you, and even in bed
Said she was gonna go and get herself a real man instead
So ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
Ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Or do you want revenge?
But that's childish, so childish!
(That's childish, so childish!)
Remember when you were more easily led
Behind the cricket pavilion and the bicycle shed
Trembling as your dreams came true
You looked right into those blue eyes and knew
It was love, and now you can't pretend
You've forgotten all the promises of that first friend
It's bad enough, she knows how you feel
But she's not prepared to share you with the memory
So ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
Ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Ask yourself now: Can you forgive her
If she begs you to?
And ask yourself: Can you even deliver
What she demands of you?
Or do you want revenge?
But that's childish, so childish!
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I think Neil himself could not have put it better :-)
This is about a gay guy who's trying to pass as a str8t man, but he's girlfriend has figured it out already and had embarassed him by disclosing he's gay tendencies.The third verse points to homosexual experimentation with friends during boyhood.
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@Jaberwocky Wow....you have just written the story of my school years and subsequent time at university...spooky and emotional at the same time. When I first heard this song it was weirdly appropriate and actually given to me by the girl I had been dating as a sort of apology, many of the other songs on the album have a similar message like 'one in a million men'....it takes me back and brings a tear to my eye...thank you for this.
"changing teams" "Because you dance to disco, and you don't like rock"
Is he gay or bisexual?
I wouldn't have even gone for a gay/straight interpretation. I just thought it was about a man who has no authority or say in the relationship ("because she's gone and made a fool of you in public again").
But ultimately the woman needs that authority/power hence asking for forgiveness ("if she begs you to?")
Just my interpretation.