The Face of the Earth

i took the line "Though it seems like I've spent my life in planes" to mean that he spends his life up in the air looking for her.

jonbash and fuig3 have it. Here's the interview response:

"Did I tell you the story that the song came from? I read an interview with Michael Jordan where he talked about going to a beach house with friends. The girl he had been dating for just a little bit got sucked into the riptide at night and drowned. The way he capped off the story was kind of like, "ain't that crazy?" He's actually a pretty meditative and introspective guy. You'll catch him saying all kinds of things you wouldn't associate with a superstar athlete. I could tell he was kind of riffing on the unpredictability of things. It's funny because, how upset do you get if you've been dating someone for three or four months, and they die? That must happen in life. If someone I was just dating through my course of urban bachelorhood died after only a couple of months, I can see it being very hard to establish that they'd be dead. Are they just blowing me off? My dad passed away a couple of years ago. It's nothing like that, but watching people deal with the mourning process, they have no idea what to make of it. Reading the Jordan story crystallized in me the idea of, how upset am I supposed to be? It's an alarming one as human beings. We're very uncomfortable when we think we're supposed to be feeling more than we are, and we don't know why that is. The story stuck with me for the longest time. You go to the funeral but you're probably not going to be that upset, because you don't know them that well!" -Travis Morrison

Sadly, the metaphor of this song is somewhat lost on me. Every time I read or hear the lyrics, I can't help but visualize the scenes from "The Forgotten", when the people are sent flying into the sky so fast that they just turn into little dots, and then nothing. The lyrics match those scenes pretty well, actually.

Still, the bizarre situation of someone being blown from the face of the earth it an amazing metaphor for the song's meaning. Really. I can somewhat relate, knowing someone for a few hours, kind of hitting it off but really not knowing them well at all, only for them to die in an accident. It's kind of surreal, but you're not sad. Should you be? You didn't know how they lived their life, their family, their friends. The way this song conveys the metaphor is pretty fucking amazing. Interpretations aside, listening to this song just sends chills down my spine. I don't know what it is, but it definitely has a certain vibe to it that strikes me. Such an amazing song.

This is such a beautiful song, and it's an interesting topic-a girl disappearing right into thin air.

great song, odd lyrics.

This is probably an obvious statement, but I think the song is metaphorical for an odd end to a relationship. Just my guess.

This song reminds me of an ultra-hip art gallery, you know, a fucking chic coffeeshop or jazz club. I'm not sure where the similarities lie, but there is just this stylish vibe. The subject matter furthers my point...it's an abstract and almost 'collegiate' manner of addressing a relationship where the female simply left, with virtually no notification or explanation...like she was blown completely off of the face of the earth. The aftertaste resulted in something similar to "a quizzical expression suspended on confounded cheeks". I don't know man....it's just so fucking ethereal, the song is excellent.

this song is crazy. i like it alot.

when i first heard the song, i assumed she'd died, and this was just an interesting way to tell it. but then i read somewhere a collective interpretation which thought she had simply disappeared into another dimension, which is just fucking weird. i'd like the inside story on this one.

I guess i always just assumed it was a clever metaphor for a relationship ending without any clear reason.