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.
where did my father find this photograph?
where is the spite, the narrowed eyes?
she was so beautiful in black and white. anywhere else, would i recognize that smile (is it like mine)?
was this before she died from making the best of it?
prehistory in tacked-up polaroid.
proof of a life nothing survived.
anger like amber, where they're fossilized. maybe i like the way it dulls the light. anaesthetized.
were we ever alive?
it's so cold inside the surgeon's house tonight.
where is the spite, the narrowed eyes?
she was so beautiful in black and white. anywhere else, would i recognize that smile (is it like mine)?
was this before she died from making the best of it?
prehistory in tacked-up polaroid.
proof of a life nothing survived.
anger like amber, where they're fossilized. maybe i like the way it dulls the light. anaesthetized.
were we ever alive?
it's so cold inside the surgeon's house tonight.
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This is an amazing song! What it means, to me anyway, is a father maybe revealing something to his son for the first time. The son perhaps feels angry at his father for hiding the truth from him this whole time. I don't know what he means by "The Surgeons House" maybe a symbolic reference to being cut open by memories. . .or maybe its just his father's occupation.
Another meaning I toyed with was that the singer's mother had just died, or someone close to him in his family. He was angry about the change and was reliving the memories. Eh, just thoughts. Anyone else?
black and white = grandma? I dont know about surgeon good song
Where did my father find this photograph? Where is the spite, the narrowed eyes? She was so beautiful in black and white. Anywhere else, would I recognize this smile is it like mine? Was this before she died. We're making the best of it. Prehistory in tacked up Polaroids. Some proof of a life. Nothing survived. Anger like amber where they're fossilized. Maybe I like the way it dulls the light. Anesthetized. Were we ever alive? Draw the blinds. It's so cold inside the surgeon's house tonight.
I'm pretty sure that's how the lyrics go.
Where did my father find this photograph? What happened to the person that I knew, the spite, the narrowed eyes? She was beautiful in this picture. So what happened? How did she go from this beauty to such a cold angry person? There used to be a whole person here, the proof is in the pictures, prehistory tacked up in Polaroid. I think this song is about who a person was, and how we remember that person. Something happened to this woman, she became embittered, unhappy, but there was a time when she wasn't, when she was beautiful. Whoever she was, that happy beautiful person did not survive. I think this song is also tipping it's hat at a family surviving a death of someone who through the course of dyeing was bitter and hateful, who required having to "make the best of it".