He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
Come in my boat
A storm is rising / and the night is coming
Where do you want to go
So all alone / you are drifting away
Who will hold your hand
When it pulls you under
Where do you want you want to go
So boundless / the cold sea
Come in my boat
The wind of autumn / stiffens the sails
Now you are standing by the lantern
With tears in your face
The evening light chases the shadows away
Time stands still and it becomes autumn
Come in my boat
Yearning becomes / the helmsmen
Come in my boat
The best sailor / was I
Now you are standing by the lantern
With tears in your face
You take the fire from the candle
Time stands still and it becomes autumn
They only spoke of your mother
So merciless is only the night
In the end I'm left alone
The time stands still
And I am cold
A storm is rising / and the night is coming
Where do you want to go
So all alone / you are drifting away
Who will hold your hand
When it pulls you under
Where do you want you want to go
So boundless / the cold sea
Come in my boat
The wind of autumn / stiffens the sails
Now you are standing by the lantern
With tears in your face
The evening light chases the shadows away
Time stands still and it becomes autumn
Come in my boat
Yearning becomes / the helmsmen
Come in my boat
The best sailor / was I
Now you are standing by the lantern
With tears in your face
You take the fire from the candle
Time stands still and it becomes autumn
They only spoke of your mother
So merciless is only the night
In the end I'm left alone
The time stands still
And I am cold
Lyrics submitted by John M
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This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
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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.
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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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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
It's pretty clear to me that it's about the death of a man's girlfriend. Both of them look at life as being a slow death, with death being so very far away that neither of them will seize the moment while they can (the sea being boundless, time stands still)...When it becomes clear she doesn't have much time left ("EVENING light chases the shadows away", "It becomes autumn") she starts withdrawing into herself over her impending death (standing next to the lantern alone crying). His fear of her impending death drives him to do something ("yearning becomes the helmsman") and he appeals to her by saying he was the best boyfriend she could find, though not her dream boyfriend (hence the angry/unsure "doch" about him being the best sailor), and certainly not enough of a boyfriend to distract her from her sadness. He's angry that she has second thoughts because he's already devoted his years to her (as they are both old at this point). She's jealous about how many mourned for her mother's passing, while few will mourn hers. When she dies, he's left alone, sad, and still he won't make an effort to live the remainder of his life differently (time standing still again). He's stuck being morose over her death.