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.
Cries from the aisles
the tolling of the judgement bell
Eyes watched the violence
the absence of those who have
seen, marks the faith of the spell
Cold is the viper
stalking the night for the heat
It must find
Time is the promise
delivered with stunning consistency
line after line, time after time
the innocent victim awaits...
Please take my hand
Don't be afraid
I am your master
You are my slave
Voices are calling me back
Back to the day
Footsteps had followed
Me faster... listen
Screams from a new love
the passion was burning, it singed in a stare
Free under the night sun
The fear of the hunger
Will always be there in my mind
Time after time the morning
Will close a new page
Please take my hand
Don't be afraid
I am your master
You are my slave
Follow the impulse you have
I'll show you the way
Forget what you've learned in the past now
Listen and...
the tolling of the judgement bell
Eyes watched the violence
the absence of those who have
seen, marks the faith of the spell
Cold is the viper
stalking the night for the heat
It must find
Time is the promise
delivered with stunning consistency
line after line, time after time
the innocent victim awaits...
Please take my hand
Don't be afraid
I am your master
You are my slave
Voices are calling me back
Back to the day
Footsteps had followed
Me faster... listen
Screams from a new love
the passion was burning, it singed in a stare
Free under the night sun
The fear of the hunger
Will always be there in my mind
Time after time the morning
Will close a new page
Please take my hand
Don't be afraid
I am your master
You are my slave
Follow the impulse you have
I'll show you the way
Forget what you've learned in the past now
Listen and...
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"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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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”
No Surprises
Radiohead
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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.
Page
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Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
This, like a few other songs on that album, is about a vampire.
@IRONCAT68 Yes I agree, vampirism. Such a great song and album.