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.
She came in on the red eye to Dallas-Ft. Worth
All the way from sunny Taipei
Skin the color of a walnut shell
And a baseball cap holding down her black hair
And she came here after midnight
The hot weather made her feel right at home
Come on in, we haven't slept for weeks
Drink some of this, it'll put color in your cheeks
He drove in from Mexicali, no worse for wear
Money to burn, time to kill
But five minutes looking in his eyes and we all knew
He was broken pretty bad so we gave him what we had
We cleared a space for him to sleep in
And we let the silence that's our trademark make its presence felt
Come on in, we haven't slept for weeks
Drink some of this, it'll put color in your cheeks
They came in by the dozens, walking or crawling
Some were bright-eyed, some were dead on their feet
And they came from Zimbabwe or from Soviet Georgia
East St. Louis or from Paris or they lived across the street
But they came, and when they finally made it here
It was the least we could do to make our welcome clear
Come on in, we haven't slept for weeks
Drink some of this, it'll put color in your cheeks
All the way from sunny Taipei
Skin the color of a walnut shell
And a baseball cap holding down her black hair
And she came here after midnight
The hot weather made her feel right at home
Come on in, we haven't slept for weeks
Drink some of this, it'll put color in your cheeks
He drove in from Mexicali, no worse for wear
Money to burn, time to kill
But five minutes looking in his eyes and we all knew
He was broken pretty bad so we gave him what we had
We cleared a space for him to sleep in
And we let the silence that's our trademark make its presence felt
Come on in, we haven't slept for weeks
Drink some of this, it'll put color in your cheeks
They came in by the dozens, walking or crawling
Some were bright-eyed, some were dead on their feet
And they came from Zimbabwe or from Soviet Georgia
East St. Louis or from Paris or they lived across the street
But they came, and when they finally made it here
It was the least we could do to make our welcome clear
Come on in, we haven't slept for weeks
Drink some of this, it'll put color in your cheeks
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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It's fairly clear that this is a song of embrace, "man is all the same," all that.