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.
What?
Well, let me roll up on to the sidewalk and take a look
Yes, whoa! She's beautiful
I'm talking about a Yankee Rose
And she looks wild, wild, wild, wild!
Are you ready for the new sensation
Well here's a shot heard 'round the world
All you back room boys salute
When her flag unfurls
Well guess who's back in circulation
Now I don't know what you may have heard
But what I need right now's
The original good time girl
She's a vision from coast to coast (coast to coast)
Sea to shining sea (sea to shining sea)
Hey, sister you're the perfect host
(Make a toast)
Show me your bright lights
And your city lights, all right
I'm talking 'bout the Yankee Rose
Bright lights
And your city lights, all right
I'm talking 'bout it
When she walks
Watch, the sparks will fly
Fire cracking on the Fourth of July
No sad songs tonight
Something's in the air
Yeah, the feeling gets you
A real state of independence
So pretty when her rockets flare
Still proving every night
That her flag's still there
She's a vision from coast to coast (coast to coast)
Sea to shining sea (sea to shining sea)
Hey, sister you're the perfect host
(Make a toast)
Show me your bright lights
And your city lights, all right
I'm talking 'bout the Yankee Rose
(Your) bright lights
And your city lights, all right
I'm in love with a Yankee Rose
Oh she's beautiful, all right
Nothing like her in the whole world
Yeah she's right on time
I'm on the case
Pick up the phone
No time to waste
She's got the beat
And there's a little bit
Coming your way
Oh raise 'em up there
Let's see who salutes baby
Little bit, little bit, little bit higher
Here's the national anthem
A wanna get a little bit of apple pie, man
Bright lights, city lights
Bright lights, city lights
Bright lights, city lights
Well, let me roll up on to the sidewalk and take a look
Yes, whoa! She's beautiful
I'm talking about a Yankee Rose
And she looks wild, wild, wild, wild!
Are you ready for the new sensation
Well here's a shot heard 'round the world
All you back room boys salute
When her flag unfurls
Well guess who's back in circulation
Now I don't know what you may have heard
But what I need right now's
The original good time girl
She's a vision from coast to coast (coast to coast)
Sea to shining sea (sea to shining sea)
Hey, sister you're the perfect host
(Make a toast)
Show me your bright lights
And your city lights, all right
I'm talking 'bout the Yankee Rose
Bright lights
And your city lights, all right
I'm talking 'bout it
When she walks
Watch, the sparks will fly
Fire cracking on the Fourth of July
No sad songs tonight
Something's in the air
Yeah, the feeling gets you
A real state of independence
So pretty when her rockets flare
Still proving every night
That her flag's still there
She's a vision from coast to coast (coast to coast)
Sea to shining sea (sea to shining sea)
Hey, sister you're the perfect host
(Make a toast)
Show me your bright lights
And your city lights, all right
I'm talking 'bout the Yankee Rose
(Your) bright lights
And your city lights, all right
I'm in love with a Yankee Rose
Oh she's beautiful, all right
Nothing like her in the whole world
Yeah she's right on time
I'm on the case
Pick up the phone
No time to waste
She's got the beat
And there's a little bit
Coming your way
Oh raise 'em up there
Let's see who salutes baby
Little bit, little bit, little bit higher
Here's the national anthem
A wanna get a little bit of apple pie, man
Bright lights, city lights
Bright lights, city lights
Bright lights, city lights
Lyrics submitted by UseYourIllusion
Yankee Rose Lyrics as written by Steve S. Vai David Lee Roth
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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.
Plastic Bag
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.
I'm pretty sure the words: 'Yankee Rose' are the final words in the Satanic Bible.