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.
You make promise of protection
To a future after life
To the final resurrection
And to eternal paradise
But then I'm blinded with temptation
And to every mortal sin
Is it god that sits there waiting?
Or will the darkness suck me in
Let's wake up the dead oh yeah
It's better that never you know
More tears are shed oh yeah
I'm praying that you'll never know
That I'm facing hell
Oh the children sit and listen
The belief was in their eyes
In a land without tomorrows
Through the night you hear their cries
But then your eyes just skip the pages
Of a book that never ends
Is it god that sits there waiting?
Do you hear the call again?
Let's wake up the dead oh yeah
It's better that never you know
More tears are shed oh yeah
I'm praying that you'll never know
That I'm facing hell
It's just crazy world we live in and I'm out of my mind
You pray tomorrow but your leaving today
Evil one is coming and he's knocking your door
'Cause today's the day you'll pay
Let's wake up the dead oh yeah
It's better that never you know
More tears are shed oh yeah
I'm praying that you'll never know
Let's wake up the dead oh yeah
It's better that never you know
More tears are shed oh yeah
I'm praying that you'll never know
That I'm facing hell
That I'm facing hell
That I'm facing hell
That I'm facing hell
To a future after life
To the final resurrection
And to eternal paradise
But then I'm blinded with temptation
And to every mortal sin
Is it god that sits there waiting?
Or will the darkness suck me in
Let's wake up the dead oh yeah
It's better that never you know
More tears are shed oh yeah
I'm praying that you'll never know
That I'm facing hell
Oh the children sit and listen
The belief was in their eyes
In a land without tomorrows
Through the night you hear their cries
But then your eyes just skip the pages
Of a book that never ends
Is it god that sits there waiting?
Do you hear the call again?
Let's wake up the dead oh yeah
It's better that never you know
More tears are shed oh yeah
I'm praying that you'll never know
That I'm facing hell
It's just crazy world we live in and I'm out of my mind
You pray tomorrow but your leaving today
Evil one is coming and he's knocking your door
'Cause today's the day you'll pay
Let's wake up the dead oh yeah
It's better that never you know
More tears are shed oh yeah
I'm praying that you'll never know
Let's wake up the dead oh yeah
It's better that never you know
More tears are shed oh yeah
I'm praying that you'll never know
That I'm facing hell
That I'm facing hell
That I'm facing hell
That I'm facing hell
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Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
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.
This song appears to be about Ozzy's frustration with god and religion. He is told that god is omnibenevolent and will protected him. Then he is told that he must be pure.
The song is about frustration by how easy it is to be corrupted in the world. Ozzy is trying to figure out if god is watching over him or not because he does not feel as though he is protected. He is "blinded by temptation" and he cannot understand the text of the "book that never ends."
He wants to know if a god is actually protecting him or if he is going to fall into darkness when his life ends.