This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"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"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"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"
beaches, make the sand white
make the sand, all romantic and shit
palm trees, branches, imagine them, green, naive and shining with pride
oh arrogant island, be buried in
humility like your beaches were buried in ash (buried in ash)
who will, remember you, now? (now)
billows and billows, see the smoke rise, a smoke stack for every sin
but did they believe that, at the center of the island was a volcano?
oh no. oh no!
who will remember you now? youre dead and gone
we came here on a plane, just a couple of scientists, oh oh oh!
among the ruins and remains, this island could have been saved, oh oh oh!
but some people just choose death and cant see a way out
till their bones are all thats left, and their cests are hollowed out
some people never know, too caught up in the beautiful
that their hearts a volcano
make the sand, all romantic and shit
palm trees, branches, imagine them, green, naive and shining with pride
oh arrogant island, be buried in
humility like your beaches were buried in ash (buried in ash)
who will, remember you, now? (now)
billows and billows, see the smoke rise, a smoke stack for every sin
but did they believe that, at the center of the island was a volcano?
oh no. oh no!
who will remember you now? youre dead and gone
we came here on a plane, just a couple of scientists, oh oh oh!
among the ruins and remains, this island could have been saved, oh oh oh!
but some people just choose death and cant see a way out
till their bones are all thats left, and their cests are hollowed out
some people never know, too caught up in the beautiful
that their hearts a volcano
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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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,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
GAD definitely likes using literary allusion. The title of this song is from a novel with the same title, authored by Orson Scott Card. It's a frickin' awesome book, and it's really cool how this song uses the idea developed in the book of a speaker for the dead.
Orson Scott Card, who wrote the book Ender's Game also wrote this book which is part of the Ender's series.
Speaker for the Dead is a science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card... "We came here on a plane, Just a couple of scientists, Among the ruins and remains This island could have been saved"
Two biologists die from the descoloda virus, which is the virus that keeps the natives alive... their daughter calls Ender, who is the SPEAKER OF THE DEAD to speak on her parents behalf... I am sure there is more meaning than just that...
.. i havn't really tried to figure out what this song is about.. though it has some lyrical similarities to 'fable' ..
i know this title is also a book in the enders game series.. but i havn't read that in forever so i forgot what it was about.
I think this song is, like alot of the others on this album, about Pompeii. From what i read the band was really interest in the idea that the people of Pompeii were so arrogant that they wouldn't leave their beautiful city despite living beneath a volcano that was acting up.... "Oh arrogant island being buried in humility Like the beaches were buried in ash." The fact that it talked about scientists finding them and " their chests hollowed out " follows the Pompeii thing too, where the bodies of the citizens of Pompeii were encased in ash, eventually decomposing and leaving hollowed out spaces inside the hardened ash.
Am I the only one who hears "green light" and thinks of The Great Gatsby itself?
wow sparty thats really interesting. thanks for that bit of information it answers a lot of questions i had
The song could obviously be referencing a couple of books... with similarites to "Fable", it could be talking about the end of Lord of the Flies. The green light indeed is a reference to Jay Gatsby, but what it has to do with LotF or even Pompeii is anyone's guess.
"We came here on a plane, Just a couple of scientists Among the ruins and remains This island could have been saved"
Thats a reference to Jurassic Park, most definitely.
But isn't there the fact that pompeii wasn't an island or am I just stupid?