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.
Stay still do be still
No wonder you are always lost
If a messenger you must be known
Then with messages you must return
To be seen by demanding hands
And touches of jealous men
Invisible and forgivable
To all their secret hands
Be it so be quick
Don't run just walk and walk and walk
Don't loose yourself to decorate
Somewhere on your wall
Cause somewhere in your mind
You know you are doing fine
Holding secret hair locks
You'll pluck before you hide
So how can I keep anything to myself
So how can I keep any of these to myself
So how can I keep anything to myself
Behind those clouds
I'm almost home
No wonder you are always lost
If a messenger you must be known
Then with messages you must return
To be seen by demanding hands
And touches of jealous men
Invisible and forgivable
To all their secret hands
Be it so be quick
Don't run just walk and walk and walk
Don't loose yourself to decorate
Somewhere on your wall
Cause somewhere in your mind
You know you are doing fine
Holding secret hair locks
You'll pluck before you hide
So how can I keep anything to myself
So how can I keep any of these to myself
So how can I keep anything to myself
Behind those clouds
I'm almost home
Lyrics submitted by Sepulchrave
Messenger Lyrics as written by Simos
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“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.
To me it seems that this guy is singing about how difficult it is being a messenger. all those letters you've got to deliver, all those people expecting so much of you, so many jealous hands longing to find out what's in those letters...But you get nothing instead. Why can't you keep anything to yourself? Might sound banal but that's what i think.
I think this song talks about how every person is a messenger of sorts, a carrier of opinions and views which none are his own and as a result he loses his own identity. His attempts to stay true to himself are expressed by his will to slow down, be still and not lose himself to other people's expectations - those "jealous hands". The wall decorations are what society expects to find when one encounters it. This songs portraits the conflict of being an individual while at the same time being an integral part of a culture which seeks to (violently) imprint its truths onto its members.
Dreamlike, dizzy and narcotic ballad is even better with the comfort and solace of David Sylvian's vocal. Almost too much melody for a single song to bear.... I haven't much of an idea what it's about! But it alleviates my heart.
@juror8 yup! As much as I adore Blonde Redhead, I’ve always felt the same about David Sylvian— especially his 80s solo work. His voice singing a BH melody is almost too much awesomeness to behold… my mind almost snapped! What pipes that guy has…
Oh, I love this song. I think the song is about a girl growing up in an abused home. It sounds like her father's friends sexually abuse her and she hates it so she lives in her mind. The messages she carries could be from the father to the mother, or perhaps more business related, but either way, you can feel the girl's despair.
I think its about war. A message from a wife to a husband...and husband to wife. Maybe keeping contact through the mail. He keeps locks of her hair...he's also jealous...maybe maddening because of war and what surrounds him. It seems she's telling him to hide..or be safe til he can return...and he's telling her he'll come home soon. Sad...really really sad.
I tend to agree with Spirtos. Also, this song reminds me of "The Last Book in the Universe" by Rodman Philbrick, which features a shadowy group of messengers.
Indeed everyone here is on the right track for the most part, it's pretty ominous actually. MKUltra, Satanic ritual abuse, Tax Funded - CIA/ILLUMINATI Trauma-Based Mind Control - "Monarch Programming"
I have 2nd hand experience with this as my ex-gf is a vitcim of it.
jealous hands...My ex's has a new "Boyfriend" who is actually what is known as a "handler". She was in a relationship with me for 5 1/2 years and there was never an issue of jealousy because we are both above that stupidity...then suddenly after our traumatic split, this "new" person using methods (i believe aided by drugs and post hypnotic suggestions) to trigger ALTS (altered states of mind, fragmented personality/multiple personality etc.). In trying to communicate to her one day she told me "he get's Jealous when I talk to you." I was like WHAT? I said "This isn't about jealousy this is about your VERY LIFE. Since when does jealousy rule your life and how you live it. Think for yourself." She was telling me over and over the reason she left me was mainly because I was too controlling- (this was and is a cover story for what really is happening - here). Anyway, you don't have to believe me, but it only added to the long list of various evidences of why I firmly believe she is a victim of Trauma based mind control. She is used a sex slave and a messenger.
This is barely the tip of the iceberg I shared with you all here and and I want everyone to know how much these lyrics exemplify the very nature of this growing beast (Tax Funded Trauma Based Mind Control - MKUltra/Project Monarch), and share this with everyone.
The song Misery is a Butterfly is also related to this, my ex-gf btw has a blue butterfly tattoo on her shoulder - an indicator mark to advertise to handlers (programmers).
For more information educate yourself on this gigantic nightmare scenario...
educate-yourself.org/mc/IlluminatiFormulaindex.shtml
outpost-of-freedom.com/operatio.htm
mindcontrolforums.com/
mkzine.com
Wow.
the melody is absolutely heartbreaking
hmmm - can't possibly desipher the lyrics right now - but what a pretty song - I'm copping out...yes.... but wow! - lovely!