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 don't have to say you're sorry
To look on further down the line
Into the sun
Too close at heaven
Love is fine
But you can't hold it like a...
Two worlds apart two together
Into that good night kiss away
One takes the hard, one the other
Kiss away
Are you living for love?
Are you living for love?
When the road gets too tough
Is your love strong enough?
Are you living?
Are you living for love?
Are you living for love?
Are you living?
Are you living for love?
Are you living for love?
Do you feel your head is full of thunder?
Questions never end?
Empty nights alone?
No wonder
It all comes back again
Are you living for love?
Are you living for love?
I've been under the gun
I've lost and I've won
Are you living for love?
Are you living for love?
I've been under the gun
I've lost and I've won
(two, three, four)
Forget the many steps to heaven
It never happened and it ain't so hard
Happiness is a loaded weapon and a
Short cut is better by far
Explosive bolts, ten thousand volts
At a million miles an hour
Abrasive wheels and molten metals
It's a semi-automatic, get in the car
Corrosive heart and frozen heat
We're worlds apart where we could meet
Where the street fold round and the motors start
And the idiot wields the power
Where the chosen hold the highest card
On the field of honour where the ground is hard
So the highest hand is joking wild
And the house soon fold and no one stand
I put my finger on and dialled
The tower, the moon, the gun and
Nine nine nine, singer down
Cloudburst and all around
The first are last, the blessed get wired
The best is yet to come
I put my finger on and fired
Heat-seeking, out of the sun
You can set the controls for the heart or the knees
And the meek'll inherit what they damn well please
Get ahead, go figure, go ahead and pull the trigger
Everything under the gun
To look on further down the line
Into the sun
Too close at heaven
Love is fine
But you can't hold it like a...
Two worlds apart two together
Into that good night kiss away
One takes the hard, one the other
Kiss away
Are you living for love?
Are you living for love?
When the road gets too tough
Is your love strong enough?
Are you living?
Are you living for love?
Are you living for love?
Are you living?
Are you living for love?
Are you living for love?
Do you feel your head is full of thunder?
Questions never end?
Empty nights alone?
No wonder
It all comes back again
Are you living for love?
Are you living for love?
I've been under the gun
I've lost and I've won
Are you living for love?
Are you living for love?
I've been under the gun
I've lost and I've won
(two, three, four)
Forget the many steps to heaven
It never happened and it ain't so hard
Happiness is a loaded weapon and a
Short cut is better by far
Explosive bolts, ten thousand volts
At a million miles an hour
Abrasive wheels and molten metals
It's a semi-automatic, get in the car
Corrosive heart and frozen heat
We're worlds apart where we could meet
Where the street fold round and the motors start
And the idiot wields the power
Where the chosen hold the highest card
On the field of honour where the ground is hard
So the highest hand is joking wild
And the house soon fold and no one stand
I put my finger on and dialled
The tower, the moon, the gun and
Nine nine nine, singer down
Cloudburst and all around
The first are last, the blessed get wired
The best is yet to come
I put my finger on and fired
Heat-seeking, out of the sun
You can set the controls for the heart or the knees
And the meek'll inherit what they damn well please
Get ahead, go figure, go ahead and pull the trigger
Everything under the gun
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"Happiness is a loaded weapon and a Short cut is better by far Explosive bolts, ten thousand volts At a million miles an hour"
"I put my finger on and fired Heat-seeking, out of the sun You can set the controls for the heart or the knees And the meek'll inherit what they damn well please"
go figure..
"Heat-seeking, out of the sun/set the controls.." is a reference to the Pink Floyd song Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.
Given the space theme, "explosive bolts" might refer to the pod bay doors scene in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Oddysey.
"the chosen" recalls "one of the chosen/one of the few" in Driven Like the Snow.
Yah, I think it's definitely a 2001 reference.
"Forget the many steps to heaven..." is probably a nod to the old Eddie Cochran number Three Steps To Heaven, "Happiness is a loaded weapon" echos Happiness Is A Warm Gun by the Beatles.
"The meek will inherit what that damn well please" might be my favourite Eldritch lyric of all time. :)
Abrasive wheels are an Eighties Leeds band, contemparies of the Sisters. I think the whole thing is some sort of summary of Eldtrich's career and the Sisters but its all very abstract. I think its his way of tying things up for the greatest hits. The fact half of its a Berlin song is the Sisters long tradition of innappropriate covers coupled with Eldritch seeing what he can get away with.
I really like the way the count in works between the other lines- "I've lost and I've won two three forget the many steps to heaven..."
Both the general sound and the percussions of this song, and the style of the female vocals and the slow progression and the bits of guitar phrases remind me of "Is Your Love Strong Enough" by Brian Ferry and Dave Gilmour. I love both songs because this is a kind of sound that I like. It's so late 80's/early 90's.
"The tower, the moon, the gun..."
Inkeeping with the "card game" theme, The Tower and The Moon are both parts of the Tarot deck's major arcana. The Tower traditionally depicts a tower being struck by lightining and signifies the breaking down of existing forms (tying into "THe house soon fold and no-one stand"? And even more tenuously, might "the gun" refer to the famous Chairman Mao quote about change only coming through the barrel of a gun?). The Moon signifies dreams, hopes, faith, intuition and the subconscious. Between those two cards you've pretty much got the whole of the Sisters' canon!
"Nine nine nine, singer down..."
999 is the number for the British emergency services, the equivalent to the American 911 call. Coincidence that the phrase is so close to "Nine While Nine"?