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.
I heard you play guitar
You got pedals around your feet like rocks around a fire
I don't know if we'll meet, I don't know who you are
You're just a traveled ghost that I admire from afar
Under the houselights
Me and you and the last bit of our pints
Well, I could carry a case or two up a couple of flights
The room with the Sir John A. view opens up to the night
Here I'm caught alive in this trap
I'm still breathing, it's just a leg hold
Are you an escape out of this?
Take me back to the place that I miss
'Cause this is a waste of money, that's all this is
It's a low-lying ache, like homesickness
When you're desperate for something that you know exists
And I saw it in your grin
And I wish it had never been
'Cause I don't want to hear about something that could be but never is
And here I'm caught alive in this trap
I'm still breathing, it's just a leg hold
Are you an escape out of this?
Take me back to the place that I miss
This is a waste of money
That's all this is
What does it mean not to say?
Could you be like it was just yesterday?
And I, well, I don't want it now cuz it's in the way
Well, I heard you play guitar
You got pedals around your feet like rocks around a fire
I don't know if we'll meet, I don't know who you are
I'm in the room with the Sir John A. view
Just down the street from the bar
Here I'm caught alive in this trap
I'm still breathing, it's just a leg hold
Are you an escape out of this?
Take me back to the place that I miss
This is a waste of money
That's all this is
That's all this is
You got pedals around your feet like rocks around a fire
I don't know if we'll meet, I don't know who you are
You're just a traveled ghost that I admire from afar
Under the houselights
Me and you and the last bit of our pints
Well, I could carry a case or two up a couple of flights
The room with the Sir John A. view opens up to the night
Here I'm caught alive in this trap
I'm still breathing, it's just a leg hold
Are you an escape out of this?
Take me back to the place that I miss
'Cause this is a waste of money, that's all this is
It's a low-lying ache, like homesickness
When you're desperate for something that you know exists
And I saw it in your grin
And I wish it had never been
'Cause I don't want to hear about something that could be but never is
And here I'm caught alive in this trap
I'm still breathing, it's just a leg hold
Are you an escape out of this?
Take me back to the place that I miss
This is a waste of money
That's all this is
What does it mean not to say?
Could you be like it was just yesterday?
And I, well, I don't want it now cuz it's in the way
Well, I heard you play guitar
You got pedals around your feet like rocks around a fire
I don't know if we'll meet, I don't know who you are
I'm in the room with the Sir John A. view
Just down the street from the bar
Here I'm caught alive in this trap
I'm still breathing, it's just a leg hold
Are you an escape out of this?
Take me back to the place that I miss
This is a waste of money
That's all this is
That's all this is
Lyrics submitted by geekusa
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I think this is about Sarah's time at Queen's University. (adjacent to the campus is the City Park that is home to the Sir John A. monument). Surrounding the area is plenty of student housing.
She is questioning whether she would be better off pursuing music than academics "...waste of money / that's all it is." The musician that she hears is sort of her own demons and perhaps she would be more happy/successful if she followed on her musical ambitions than being "caught alive in this trap" that schooling is only means of obtaining own's goals.
The idea that "she's still breathing, it's just a leg hold" meaning she is a point that the losses from her time at Queen's aren't really that burdensome (perhaps, some student loan debt, loss of savings; the fact she refers to school as nothing more than a waste of money)