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.
You know my friend
I’ve been walking on a really strange path lately
I’m so glad you were not there
To see my fall, to see me passing on
My wound so deep
My veins opened wide
Letting flow my distress
Letting flow my requests
Listen my friend
As so one wanted to hear I’m telling you now
So weak was my hope
So cold the world around
So strong the calls
My pain invited echoes to my pain
Anguish Coiled in the gut like a starving worm
Fallen, between . . .
I slide down the hole at the center of my soul
I’ve given up, I’ve given up, larvae rots
For I let the angel rise
For I let the angel rise
I’ve been walking on a really strange path lately
I’m so glad you were not there
To see my fall, to see me passing on
My wound so deep
My veins opened wide
Letting flow my distress
Letting flow my requests
Listen my friend
As so one wanted to hear I’m telling you now
So weak was my hope
So cold the world around
So strong the calls
My pain invited echoes to my pain
Anguish Coiled in the gut like a starving worm
Fallen, between . . .
I slide down the hole at the center of my soul
I’ve given up, I’ve given up, larvae rots
For I let the angel rise
For I let the angel rise
Lyrics submitted by sean
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More Featured Meanings
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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.
Trouble Breathing
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio
While the obvious connections with suicide or alcoholism could be drawn easily, more subtly this song could be about someone who views the world through a negative lens constantly and how as much as the writer tries to show the beauty in the world, this person refuses to see it. It's one or another between the rope and the bottle. There is no good option for this person. They can't see it. Skiba sings it in a kind of exasperated way like He's tired of hearing this negative view constantly and just allowing that person to continue feeling the way they feel knowing he can't do anything about it. You can hear it when he says maybe you're a vampire.
Zombie
Cranberries, The
Cranberries, The
"Zombie" is about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland. This is obvious if you know anything of the singer (Dolores O'Riordan)'s Irish heritage and understood the "1916" Easter Rising reference.
"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
-
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over"
Laments the Warrington bomb attacks in which two children were fatally injured on March 23rd, 1993. Twelve year old Tim Parry was taken off life support with permission from his mother after five days in the hospital, virtually braindead.
"But you see it's not me
It's not my family"
References how people who are not directly involved with the violence feel about it. They are "zombies" without sympathy who refuse to take action while others suffer.
Let the record show I"m the first one to say anything about samael. This is the first post for them ever. Yay for me and stuff cause samael kicks a lot of ass and stuff. well anyway, this song seems to be about one who's embarassed about a time when he was down and is thankful that no one whitnessed him in his time of faithless despair. Beginning to lose faith he lets himself go I guess. not too sure though, good song, course all samael songs are cool.
yay... second post for samael.. awesome band really simplistic but always amazing.. great utilization of many instruments.. this song in particular made me sit up and notice these guys.
4th post ya
kickass song
Minor error in the lyrics I believe. "As so one wanted to hear.." should be "As no one.."
I'd say it's basically a short tale of depression/suicide.
The strange path he has been walking on is depression but he's shamefull of not being able to cope with life.
"My wound so deep My veins opened wide Letting flow my distress Letting flow my requests"
The deep wound is mentally. He slits his wrists and the flowing blood provides relief from that.
"Listen my friend As so one wanted to hear I’m telling you now "
No one would hear his pleas for help (or at least it seemed that way because of the depression), suicide is the only way he can express how he feels.
Third verse details the depression. Eg. "I slide down the hole at the center of my soul ": The self-destructive introversion depression can lead to.
"For I let the angel rise" The soul, or the "good and pure" part of him, is freed from the confinement of his body when he dies.
GriZzmo:
Great analysis! My precise interpretation of the song. What puzzles me is the song title. Why "Angel's Decay" and not "Angel's Rise" or something like that. After all, it's the body that decays and not "The Spirit". Any thoughts on that?
GriZzmo:
Great analysis! My precise interpretation of the song. What puzzles me is the song title. Why "Angel's Decay" and not "Angel's Rise" or something like that. After all, it's the body that decays and not "The Spirit". Any thoughts on that?
it might be that HE was the fallen angel. May I mention just as I did in my other post on The Cross, Samael is the name of a fallen angel. A certain fallen angel, whose name changed after he broke off. Satan himself, actually.
maybe since Samael is so centered on Satan, as their name indicates, this song is their interpretaion of what it was like for Satan to become a being of darkness and hate, from what he was: a being of light and goodwill.
"I let the angel rise" maybe he's not saying that the good of him is freed, but that the good in him is DRIVEN OUT. To make way for his REAL nature.
I think this song is about the initial weakness that Satan must have felt before establishing himself as the Devil. Now that he is so high and mighty, he is ashamed he was ever like that.
It could very well be about depression, but considering the band's background, it looks like what it's name suggests : "Angel's Decay", how an angel decayed into a being of evil, and instead of seeking the light, he sought out the dark instead.
This song is about a person struggling with thier sexual orientation, it is about a person talking to a friend and sharing that he will not pursue this lifestyle but follow gods ways:
You know my friend I�ve been walking on a really strange path lately I�m so glad you were not there To see my fall, to see me passing on
"this part represents a person exploring the other side of sexuality..one that is filled with sin, He feels guilty and is glad his friend was not there to see him engage in his weakness"
My wound so deep "gay is something that cannot be healed and is a part of the person"
My veins opened wide
Letting flow my distress "the more honest he is with himself the more he hates himself" Letting flow my requests "wanting not to be gay anymore"
Listen my friend As so one wanted to hear I�m telling you now "He is telling his friend that he is gay"
So weak was my hope So cold the world around So strong the calls My pain invited echoes to my pain "The guy is feeling hopeless for the future and is feeling tempted to live the christian lifestyle, he is doubting himself more and more"
Anguish Coiled in the gut like a starving worm Fallen, between "refering to abstinance-starving worm. The peguy has 'fallen between' the normal society
I slide down the hole at the center of my soul "the gayness is such a part of him that it creates a denial of basic self" I�ve given up, I�ve given up, larvae rots "The guy supresses his sexuality and gives up all hope at life"
For I let the angel rise For I let the angel rise "the man grasp onto the holy lifestyle, it is pure...the angel is totally a dying being decaying in its self for its self denial..hence the name of the song"