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.
Down came the sky
And all you did was blink
I would cry like I never do
In order to stay true
But everybody has their own opinion on such
They're all much alike
Alike, alike
One hundred of a million is worth penning dead down
So why am I writing to the moon?
Down came the sky
To whack us to attack
While we cried in between our cheeks
I was red and bleak
We often joke it's over
But it's never enough
I take it you are afraid
Afraid of everything I am
And of some things, I am not
A fear I share before I go to bed
When tears are pretzels pouring
Down each time
The sweetness is returning
At times when you appreciate
That you survived
Tricks tend to track you down
Even when you're high
It's the reason they made
It all easier
You'll never know the hit
Tricks they track you down
Tricks they track you down
Down came the sky
And everything went black
I saw you
You saw me
And you were naked
Which was weird
But in that space in time
We played the strangers again
In oceans of oh I see, I see
When my words lost their meaning
On their way to your door
Yours lost their way out of your
I don't want to want you to go
But I think you've left me
Without options
Things that you should know by now
That I never told
Tricks tend to track you down
Even when you're high
It's the reason
They made it all easier
You'll never know the hit
Tricks they track you down
Tricks they track you down
And all you did was blink
I would cry like I never do
In order to stay true
But everybody has their own opinion on such
They're all much alike
Alike, alike
One hundred of a million is worth penning dead down
So why am I writing to the moon?
Down came the sky
To whack us to attack
While we cried in between our cheeks
I was red and bleak
We often joke it's over
But it's never enough
I take it you are afraid
Afraid of everything I am
And of some things, I am not
A fear I share before I go to bed
When tears are pretzels pouring
Down each time
The sweetness is returning
At times when you appreciate
That you survived
Tricks tend to track you down
Even when you're high
It's the reason they made
It all easier
You'll never know the hit
Tricks they track you down
Tricks they track you down
Down came the sky
And everything went black
I saw you
You saw me
And you were naked
Which was weird
But in that space in time
We played the strangers again
In oceans of oh I see, I see
When my words lost their meaning
On their way to your door
Yours lost their way out of your
I don't want to want you to go
But I think you've left me
Without options
Things that you should know by now
That I never told
Tricks tend to track you down
Even when you're high
It's the reason
They made it all easier
You'll never know the hit
Tricks they track you down
Tricks they track you down
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"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"
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"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"
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The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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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.
what tricks is he referring to, i'm not sure.
i'm pretty sure it's a break-up song ("i don't want to want you to go"). in my opinion, what happened is that he was living this relationship in which he wanted to believe. he tricked himself trying to make it seem like it was good for him and the other person, but it started to became too complicated for him. tricking wasn't enough anymore, he was brought down.
as for the first lines, maybe one could understand that no matter if how well he writes, it's not going to matter, because it's all completely different from what the other person is expecting or could understand (considering all his previous lies).
by joking it's over i understand that they break up and then go back together often, because of small things, but that is not enough to solve the bigger problem. sometimes he does feel like it's a good relationship ("each time the sweetness is returning") and appreciate they're still together.
but in the end he can't go on anymore ("down came the sky and everything went black"). he suddenly felt akward with her presence and everything seemed out of place. he finally realized the relationship wasn't working. he had been lying to himself and to her.
I think the first two lines are especially tragic: "down came the sky and all you did was blink" Going along with what fixstrike said, this is when they broke up and it was a huge deal to him, but his girl hardly noticed. Just my interpretation. Sondre is amazing!!
I actually think that "tricks they track you down" is sort of like karma (what goes around comes around). So all the bad things she did to him will track her down in a karma-esque way.