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.
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Well, I've never seen us act like this
Our only hope is the minds of kids
And they'll show us a thing or two
Our only weapons are the guns of youth
It's only time before they tighten the noose
And then the hunt will be on for you
The red flag waving never meant the same, no
The red flag waving never meant the same
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Like the smallest bee packs a sting
Like a pawn checkmates a king
We'll attack at the crack of dawn
Build a ladder if there's a wall
Don't be afraid to slip and fall
Speak for yourself or they'll speak for you
The red flag waving never meant the same, no!
The red flag waving never meant the same, no!
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Like a fire
Don't need water
Like a jury
Needs a liar
Like a riot
Don't need order
Like a madman
Needs a martyr
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday (we don't need them, we don't need them)
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain (we don't need them, we don't need them)
The red flag waving never meant the same (we don't need them, we don't need them)
The kids of tomorrow don't need today (we don't need them, we don't need them)
When they live in the sins of yesterday
We don't need them!
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Well, I've never seen us act like this
Our only hope is the minds of kids
And they'll show us a thing or two
Our only weapons are the guns of youth
It's only time before they tighten the noose
And then the hunt will be on for you
The red flag waving never meant the same, no
The red flag waving never meant the same
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Like the smallest bee packs a sting
Like a pawn checkmates a king
We'll attack at the crack of dawn
Build a ladder if there's a wall
Don't be afraid to slip and fall
Speak for yourself or they'll speak for you
The red flag waving never meant the same, no!
The red flag waving never meant the same, no!
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Like a fire
Don't need water
Like a jury
Needs a liar
Like a riot
Don't need order
Like a madman
Needs a martyr
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
We don't need them
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain
The red flag waving never meant the same
The kids of tomorrow don't need today
When they live in the sins of yesterday (we don't need them, we don't need them)
Cast off the crutch that kills the pain (we don't need them, we don't need them)
The red flag waving never meant the same (we don't need them, we don't need them)
The kids of tomorrow don't need today (we don't need them, we don't need them)
When they live in the sins of yesterday
We don't need them!
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More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Well mostly based on the title and the repeated line "The Red Flag waving never meant the same/ The kids of tommorow don't need today" I'd say that the song is referencing the consistent misrepresentation and misconceptions of the communist ideal. The Red Flag is a symbol of communism, based on the blood of the workers as someone has said earlier, but corrupt political organizations have masked themselves under communist systems. The "kids" aren't necessarily literal, but rather the idealists who still believe in very liberal forms of government and the ideals of communism. It "never meant the same" because the corruption has become what people believe communism to be, rather than the ideals.
The next part is just a guess, but the song reminds me of the protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989. I realize most of the band's audience was either an infant or not yet born yet when the events happened, but those events pretty much remained the image of modern communism since Reagan and free market economics were literally tearing down communism in the rest of the world.