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"
Help me, Mary, please
I've lost my home to thieves
They bully the stereo and drink
They leave suspicious things in the sink
They make rude remarks about me
They wonder just how wild I would be
As they egg me on and keep me mad (egg me on)
They play me like a pit bull in a basement, and for that
I lock my door at night
I keep my mouth shut tight
I practice all my moves
I memorize their stupid rules
I make myself their friend
I'll show them just how far I can bend
As they egg me on and keep me mad (egg me on)
They play me like a pit bull in a basement, and for that
I'm asking you, Mary, please
Temper my hatred with peace
Weave my disgust into fame
And watch how fast they run to the flame
I've lost my home to thieves
They bully the stereo and drink
They leave suspicious things in the sink
They make rude remarks about me
They wonder just how wild I would be
As they egg me on and keep me mad (egg me on)
They play me like a pit bull in a basement, and for that
I lock my door at night
I keep my mouth shut tight
I practice all my moves
I memorize their stupid rules
I make myself their friend
I'll show them just how far I can bend
As they egg me on and keep me mad (egg me on)
They play me like a pit bull in a basement, and for that
I'm asking you, Mary, please
Temper my hatred with peace
Weave my disgust into fame
And watch how fast they run to the flame
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More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
I'm kind of surprised that this song has not yet drawn a comment. First and foremost, the "Mary" strikes me as very probably meaning Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Christian religions (more on that in a moment). But a quick Googling pulled up a couple of references (e.g., nndb.com/people/481/000024409/) stating that Phair is a Scientologist. Perhaps the references are wrong, or perhaps Phair was raised Catholic (the religion with the most devotion to Mary, and very common in Chicago), and retains some sliver of Catholic belief?
Evidence that "Mary" refers to the mother of Jesus includes the prayer-like requests for assistance ("Help me Mary please"), especially when coupled with a request to bring peace ("I'm asking, will you, Mary, please / Temper my hatred with peace"), which sounds typically Catholic. Of course, maybe "Mary" refers to someone (or something?) else (cf. The Beatles' "Let It Be", about which many think "Mary" refers to marijuana).
Anyway, to me the song is about getting mixed up with so-called friends who you learn are bad for you--they use you, mistreat you for sport, say mean things about you, show no respect for your home or property, and generally enjoy seeing how badly they can treat you before their utter contempt for you makes you do something about it. Popular culture is full of stories of anti-social groups who pick out a loner / loser to befriend, just for the sport of abusing the "friend". I think Phair is singing about such experiences, and/or maybe complaining that she has some "friends" of this sort.
The fame part does stump me just a tad. Is it a Joplin-esque request (cf. "Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz / My friends all have Porsches, I must make aments")? Is it a suggestion that these "friends" would be devastated to see her achieve success? I don't know.
@NAwlinsContrarian The fame part is just her wanting to become famous. <br /> She imagines her abusive pseudo friends running to the flame of fame and being more respectful hoping to benefit in some way from her success.
P.S.
I think the second line above is wrong--after several listenings, I don't hear a "your" in there, and it just seems to be simply, "I've lost my home to theives."
Indeed, it would be odd to plead for help from someone who in some way controlled the theives, especially when some of the help requested is for tempering hatred with peace.