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.
It's another way to get through the day
Picking up ripped cigarette boxes
Hoping that one remains
Yellow lucky day suck deep and bathe
For the next ten minutes spent coughing
All the pleasures craved
Write down all the things that
You'd like to say
Write down all the things that
You'd like to change
Write down all the places you'd
Like to stay
Write down anything that you want
Is yesterday, tomorrow, today?
Is nothin' gonna change the way
Cracked rock top wall let the ash to fall
Left alone to wait I've never looked at things
I've liked only things I hate
You're not the first today
Not the softest face
Was there any that you liked
Was there any that you didn't fake?
Write down all the things
That you'd like to be
Write down all the things
That you don't believe
Write down all the places you'd like to see
Write down anything that you want
Is yesterday, tomorrow, today?
Is nothing gonna change the way?
Because everything that's you
And the things that you like to do
And all of the things that are
Come back again
Is yesterday, tomorrow, today?
Picking up ripped cigarette boxes
Hoping that one remains
Yellow lucky day suck deep and bathe
For the next ten minutes spent coughing
All the pleasures craved
Write down all the things that
You'd like to say
Write down all the things that
You'd like to change
Write down all the places you'd
Like to stay
Write down anything that you want
Is yesterday, tomorrow, today?
Is nothin' gonna change the way
Cracked rock top wall let the ash to fall
Left alone to wait I've never looked at things
I've liked only things I hate
You're not the first today
Not the softest face
Was there any that you liked
Was there any that you didn't fake?
Write down all the things
That you'd like to be
Write down all the things
That you don't believe
Write down all the places you'd like to see
Write down anything that you want
Is yesterday, tomorrow, today?
Is nothing gonna change the way?
Because everything that's you
And the things that you like to do
And all of the things that are
Come back again
Is yesterday, tomorrow, today?
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Standing On The Edge Of Summer
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Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
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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.
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
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“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
What the hell?? This is my favourite song on this album!
This is also one of my favourite phonics song!!! I even once preached a sermon using it. Taliking about regrets and not having 'yesterday' again... a good point...
Top 3 on the album IMO. Song is about what you could have changed if you could turn back time.
The title is apparently from something Kelly heard a little boy ask his mum, I think perhaps when he was in a waiting room, and it got him thinking. In Kelly's words "Its not what the songs about, but I thought it was cool'. Having spent a lot of time thinking about chronology, the title is surely a misnomer tho. Not wanting to pick holes, but surely it should be correctly titled 'Is Today Tomorrow Yesterday?'
Should have been titled "is yesterday's tomorrow today"
Possibly the weakest on the album. I still love it but i think it and minute longer could have been cut.