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.
If only dust could talk
What would we hear it say?
Before it's brushed aside
Just as it's swept away
It's just the evidence
It's of no consequence
It's only flesh and bone
Why don't we leave it alone?
If dust could only gather into lines of chalk
Around a silhouette detective fiction walks
For it's the only witness that can testify
Can I spit out the truth or would you rather just swallow a lie?
Why did they dam the land?
How did they flood the plain?
Did they erase the name
And wipe away the stain?
You kept your mouth well shut
Appeared to turn your coat
Now there's a name for you but it's stuck in my throat
If dust could only mutter
Or in laughter trill
If it could warn and whisper from the windowsill
But it's the only witness that can testify
Can I spit out the truth or would you rather just swallow a lie?
Here come the juggernaut
Here come The Poisoners
They choke the life and land
And rob the joy from us
Why do they taste of sugar
When they are made of money?
Here come the Lamb of God
And the butcher's boy, Sonny
If dust could only gather in the needle track
Then it would skip a beat and it would jump right back
If dust could only gather in the needle track
Then it would skip a beat
And all the sense I lack
What would we hear it say?
Before it's brushed aside
Just as it's swept away
It's just the evidence
It's of no consequence
It's only flesh and bone
Why don't we leave it alone?
If dust could only gather into lines of chalk
Around a silhouette detective fiction walks
For it's the only witness that can testify
Can I spit out the truth or would you rather just swallow a lie?
Why did they dam the land?
How did they flood the plain?
Did they erase the name
And wipe away the stain?
You kept your mouth well shut
Appeared to turn your coat
Now there's a name for you but it's stuck in my throat
If dust could only mutter
Or in laughter trill
If it could warn and whisper from the windowsill
But it's the only witness that can testify
Can I spit out the truth or would you rather just swallow a lie?
Here come the juggernaut
Here come The Poisoners
They choke the life and land
And rob the joy from us
Why do they taste of sugar
When they are made of money?
Here come the Lamb of God
And the butcher's boy, Sonny
If dust could only gather in the needle track
Then it would skip a beat and it would jump right back
If dust could only gather in the needle track
Then it would skip a beat
And all the sense I lack
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Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
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Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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.
Maybe its due to my personal experience, but this song (and #2) suggests to me the realities of asbestos.
The dust produced from the handling and use of a variety of asbestos products: to name a very few: chalkboards, brakes, cloth-clothing, walls, floors, irrigation pipes (flood the plain), transite walls (dam the land), etc.
Asbestos dust causes the same results that EC mentions: getting caught in ones throat, causes hearts to skip a beat (esp relating to breathing), death by poisoning, etc.
The "poisoners" are the companies that put the product out in the market, knowing the results that would come much later in life. The companies (yes Johns Manville, especially you but many others) tried to perpetuate the lie to customers, the government and companies the fiber was sold to that asbestos was not harmful, that it was merely overreaction even though the evidence has been around since the early 1900s.
Many times in asbestos cases, most of the witnesses that could have testified have already died of mesothelioma, cancer, asbestosis, lymphoma, etc. Hence, the only witness to testify is the dust itself.
Companies still try to deny the evidence and suggest that its no longer a problem since its banned in many countries. However, it is still in the buildings, houses, cars, equipment that were built prior to the 21st century. Even today asbestos is merely imported to other countries without bans and we get products here in the US with asbestos whether the evidence is apparent or not. Trace the path of the sales and you will find the evidence.
This might not have been EC's intent but thats what this song means to me.