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.
My father once told this to me
Boston's gritty history
Another ruthless battle
in a useless holy war
Handed down discrepancies
and tensions that'll never ease
One early afternoon on Broad street
It blew up down there for sure
Broad street's just not broad enough
and you just don't love God enough
and if that isn't odd enough
We've taken too much crap
You've pushed us round the sod enough
We'e scrapped and rapped and jawed enough
poked, provoked and prod enough
Something's gonna snap
The Boston fire fighting volunteers
On their way to fight a fire somewhere
Met with a funeral procession
proceeding way too slow
A brownstone burns out of control
We need to lay to rest this soul
Loggerheads on broadstreet
Eye to eye and toe to toe
Broad street's just not broad enough
and you just don't love God enough
and if that isn't odd enough
We've taken too much crap
You've pushed us round the sod enough
We'e scrapped and rapped and jawed enough
poked, provoked and prod enough
Something's gonna snap
Riot down on Broad street
Hand me a brick, a stick, a picket
Bottle, axe or cobblestone
Riot down on Broad street
And if I'm going down
Hell, I'm not going down alone
I won't go down alone
And when the fight was over
they retired to the Clover,
Silver Dollar, Thirsty Scollar
Whatever pubs they had back then
The Brownstone was in ashes
Broken Bones and bloody gashes
and a casket sat on Broad street
'til the sun came up again
Broad street's just not broad enough
and you just don't love God enough
and if that isn't odd enough
We've taken too much crap
You've pushed us round the sod enough
We'e scrapped and rapped and jawed enough
poked, provoked and prod enough
Something's gonna snap
Riot down on Broad street
Hand me a brick, a stick, a picket
Bottle, axe or cobblestone
Riot down on Broad street
And if I'm going down
Hell, I'm not going down alone
And if I'm going down
Hell, I'm not going down alone
And if I'm going down
Hell, I'm not going down alone
There's a Riot down on broad street (x 4)
Boston's gritty history
Another ruthless battle
in a useless holy war
Handed down discrepancies
and tensions that'll never ease
One early afternoon on Broad street
It blew up down there for sure
Broad street's just not broad enough
and you just don't love God enough
and if that isn't odd enough
We've taken too much crap
You've pushed us round the sod enough
We'e scrapped and rapped and jawed enough
poked, provoked and prod enough
Something's gonna snap
The Boston fire fighting volunteers
On their way to fight a fire somewhere
Met with a funeral procession
proceeding way too slow
A brownstone burns out of control
We need to lay to rest this soul
Loggerheads on broadstreet
Eye to eye and toe to toe
Broad street's just not broad enough
and you just don't love God enough
and if that isn't odd enough
We've taken too much crap
You've pushed us round the sod enough
We'e scrapped and rapped and jawed enough
poked, provoked and prod enough
Something's gonna snap
Riot down on Broad street
Hand me a brick, a stick, a picket
Bottle, axe or cobblestone
Riot down on Broad street
And if I'm going down
Hell, I'm not going down alone
I won't go down alone
And when the fight was over
they retired to the Clover,
Silver Dollar, Thirsty Scollar
Whatever pubs they had back then
The Brownstone was in ashes
Broken Bones and bloody gashes
and a casket sat on Broad street
'til the sun came up again
Broad street's just not broad enough
and you just don't love God enough
and if that isn't odd enough
We've taken too much crap
You've pushed us round the sod enough
We'e scrapped and rapped and jawed enough
poked, provoked and prod enough
Something's gonna snap
Riot down on Broad street
Hand me a brick, a stick, a picket
Bottle, axe or cobblestone
Riot down on Broad street
And if I'm going down
Hell, I'm not going down alone
And if I'm going down
Hell, I'm not going down alone
And if I'm going down
Hell, I'm not going down alone
There's a Riot down on broad street (x 4)
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
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No Surprises
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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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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The Broad Street Riot occurred in Boston, Massachusetts, on June 11, 1837. The riot began when a company of English firefighters met with an Irish funeral procession on Broad Street. Fighting broke out, and eventually 1000 people were included in the melee, though no one was killed. Several houses were broken into and vandalized, and the rioters launched rocks and other missiles at each other. The fight was eventually broken up by the military.
I may be digging too deep here, but I think that they're comparing themselves to the Irish rioters. In protesting social change, the MMB's are a lot like the Irish, who viewed themselves as oppressed by the British. Mainly because they were oppressed by the British.