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,
Sister bluebird flying high above
Shine your wings forward to the sun
Hide the mysteries of life on your way
Though you've seen them, please don't say a word
What you don't know, I have never heard
Starship trooper, go sailing on by
Catch my soul, catch the very night
Hide the moment from my eager eyes
Though you've seen them, please don't tell a soul
What you can't see, can't be very whole
Speak to me of summer
Long winters longer than time can remember
Setting up of other roads
To travel on in old accustomed ways
I still remember the talks by the water
The proud sons and daughters
That in the knowledge of the land
Spoke to me in sweet accustomed ways
Mother life, hold firmly on to me
Catch my knowledge higher than the day
Lose as much as only you can show
Though you've seen them, please don't say a word
What I don't know, I have never shared
Loneliness is a power that we possess to give or take away forever
All I know can be shown by your acceptance of the fact there shown before you
Take what I say in a different way and it's easy to say that this is all confusion
As I see a new day in me, I can also show if you and you may follow
Speak to me of summer
Long winters longer than time can remember
Setting up of other roads
To travel on in old accustomed ways
I still remember the talks by the water
The proud sons and daughters
That in the knowledge of the land
Spoke to me in sweet accustomed ways
Shine your wings forward to the sun
Hide the mysteries of life on your way
Though you've seen them, please don't say a word
What you don't know, I have never heard
Starship trooper, go sailing on by
Catch my soul, catch the very night
Hide the moment from my eager eyes
Though you've seen them, please don't tell a soul
What you can't see, can't be very whole
Speak to me of summer
Long winters longer than time can remember
Setting up of other roads
To travel on in old accustomed ways
I still remember the talks by the water
The proud sons and daughters
That in the knowledge of the land
Spoke to me in sweet accustomed ways
Mother life, hold firmly on to me
Catch my knowledge higher than the day
Lose as much as only you can show
Though you've seen them, please don't say a word
What I don't know, I have never shared
Loneliness is a power that we possess to give or take away forever
All I know can be shown by your acceptance of the fact there shown before you
Take what I say in a different way and it's easy to say that this is all confusion
As I see a new day in me, I can also show if you and you may follow
Speak to me of summer
Long winters longer than time can remember
Setting up of other roads
To travel on in old accustomed ways
I still remember the talks by the water
The proud sons and daughters
That in the knowledge of the land
Spoke to me in sweet accustomed ways
Lyrics submitted by RoboLuncheon
Starship Trooper Lyrics as written by Chris Squire Jon Anderson
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Gentle Hour
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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.
Magical
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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.
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Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
I've always taken a more literal view of this song--I think it refers to wars, and how unfair wars are to the soldiers who have to fight in them. The middle portion of the song (Disillusion) exemplifies this to me. The line, "loneliness is a pow'r that we possess to give or take away forever," speaks to me about life and death and how easy it is to cause some woman half a world away to become a widow when you have no other choice. The movement ends with, "As I see a new day in me, I can also show it you and you may follow," which I think is about how war changes the soldiers in a way they never knew possible, but all they can do is hope to pass on what they have learned to the guy next to them, and hopefully it will keep both of them alive.
One of the greatest things about good music is that it can mean so many different things to the people who listen to it. This is one of those songs whose meaning is dependant upon the listener, and that's one reason I love Yes--regardless of the musicians' intentions, this song has a deep and emotional impact no matter what your interpretation.
i definitely agree that the first line in Disillusion (loneliness is a power...) is that we have the power to kill or love.<br /> <br />