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.
This song is for the rats
Who hurled themselves in to the ocean
When they saw that the explosives in the cargo hold
Were just about to blow
This song is for the soil
That's toxic clear down to the bedrock
Where no thing of consequence can grow
Drop your seeds there
Let them go
Let them all go
Let 'em all go
This song is for the people
Who tell their families that they're sorry
For things they can't and won't feel sorry for
And once there was a desk
And now it's in a storage locker somewhere
And this song is for the stick pins and the cottons
I left in the top drawer
Let 'em all go
Let 'em all go
I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving
And something has got to give
I saw you waiting by the roadside
You didn't know that I was watching
Now you know
Let it all go
Let 'em all go
Let it all go
Who hurled themselves in to the ocean
When they saw that the explosives in the cargo hold
Were just about to blow
This song is for the soil
That's toxic clear down to the bedrock
Where no thing of consequence can grow
Drop your seeds there
Let them go
Let them all go
Let 'em all go
This song is for the people
Who tell their families that they're sorry
For things they can't and won't feel sorry for
And once there was a desk
And now it's in a storage locker somewhere
And this song is for the stick pins and the cottons
I left in the top drawer
Let 'em all go
Let 'em all go
I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving
And something has got to give
I saw you waiting by the roadside
You didn't know that I was watching
Now you know
Let it all go
Let 'em all go
Let it all go
Lyrics submitted by I'm a Pirate
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“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 is for the rats Who hurled themselves in to the ocean When they saw that the explosives in the cargo hold Were just about to blow
There are numerous reference on We Shall All Be Healed to the friends that John lost to addiction, and how Darnielle himself escaped the death sentence of these drugs. John is one of these rats - he saw where Meth and Heroin, possibly among other drugs, were leading him and he jumped ship before things got too bad.
This song is for the soil That's toxic clear down to the bedrock Where no thing of consequence can grow Drop your seeds there Let them go
Plants growing up in harsh conditions are a recurrent theme in Darnielle's work (see Pale Green Things, Wild Sage and In The Hidden Places). It represents his difficult upbringing in the clutches of an abusive Stepfather, a toxic man by all accounts. John is also one of those seeds, feeling like he can become nothing of consequence.
Let them all go Let 'em all go
This song is for the people Who tell their families that they're sorry For things they can't and won't feel sorry for
This verse needs little explanation; this is John, again, who apologizes to his family in the throes of his addiction, yet it is something that he desires, that kind of escape and oblivion. Also his home situation no doubt in some sense led to his substance abuse problem, so how can he apologize for something to the people partly responsible?
And once there was a desk And now it's in a storage locker somewhere And this song is for the stick pins and the cottons I left in the top drawer
Let 'em all go Let 'em all go
Here he can finally show that this song is all about him, in every verse. He's chosen to leave his addiction behind him. He has to let it go.
I wanna sing one for the cars That are right now headed silent down the highway And it's dark and there is nobody driving And something has got to give
Again, this is him - aimless, starting again, alone, afraid, and feeling like there's nobody in control. Feeling like something is going to give. But always moving forward.
I saw you waiting by the roadside You didn't know that I was watching Now you know Let it all go
Let 'em all go Let it all go
And John knows that when you feel this way, alone, directionless, and wrapped up in your own hurt - someone understands. Hell, he understands, he was there, even though you didn't know he was watching. Now you know. Let it all go.