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.
Precious and fragile things
Need special handling
My God, what have we done to you?
We always try to share
The tenderest of care
Now look what we have put you through
Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we'd manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give
Angels with silver wings
Shouldn't know suffering
I wish I could take the pain for you
If God has a master plan
That only He understands
I hope it's your eyes He's seeing through
Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we'd manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give
I pray you learn to trust
Have faith in both of us
And keep room in your hearts for two
Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we'd manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give
Need special handling
My God, what have we done to you?
We always try to share
The tenderest of care
Now look what we have put you through
Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we'd manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give
Angels with silver wings
Shouldn't know suffering
I wish I could take the pain for you
If God has a master plan
That only He understands
I hope it's your eyes He's seeing through
Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we'd manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give
I pray you learn to trust
Have faith in both of us
And keep room in your hearts for two
Things get damaged
Things get broken
I thought we'd manage
But words left unspoken
Left us so brittle
There was so little left to give
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"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
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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.
Plastic Bag
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
To me it's seems like it's idealism in love. Witnessing your loved ones beauty and optimism in the face of a very apathetic and bleak humanity, and believing that love and all things good will prevail in the end.
Inevitably, their soft heart is crushed under the weight of the masses expectations of survival in the world, and that initial beauty you fell in love with in regards to them is slowly fading away. Kind of like the innocence of a child being destroyed, and wanting to hang on to that fragile quality for as long as possible because it's so few and far in the "real world".
The narrator wants to save this trait and laments the loss of it in an equally beautiful way.
"If God has a master plan That only He understands I hope it's your eyes He's seeing through"
The persons vision was so pure and wholehearted that it was Paradise, and if God knows what he's doing all along and will eventually bring prosperity, the person hopes that it's through their loved ones eyes because nothing can get more perfect than the vision they previously had.
you literally spoke my soul up there with the above comment.....i wish i could have said it better,AND before you did,but life flows in their own way.<br /> <br /> <br /> regarding the song,i do believe it's about something,but not ONLY intended for one understanding nor for one listening....<br /> <br /> <br /> (on my count i'm at least at 12,3435,7690...and going further : )<br /> <br /> i AM sorry for my english.
Another fine example of how Martin Gore has the ability to see things from a perspective of absolute clarity. Having been a child that went through divorce I would have liked to think that my parents thought this way, but I don't believe they did. It is an ugly process, and in families with children there is unavoidable collateral damage. In a way only Gore can craft, his plea to God is groundshaking. I hope if you have a master plan, that you are seeing the result of what you have created through the eyes of the innocent that are sentenced to live through the strife. That is absolute revelation that he understands the situation his children find themselves in. If Martin Gore had lived and died a long time ago, no doubt he would be held in the same breath of some of the poets and literaries that the world holds dear today.
"angels with silver wings Shouldn't know suffering I wish I could take the pain for you"
I agree
"If God has a master plan That only He understands I hope it's your eyes He's seeing through"
Great lyrics.
Well, I'm sorry to say this if it is not a public knowledge. Martin is/was currently undergoing a divorce and this song is said to be written about his children.
The song is very Depeche-like. Nothing new but hey, it sounds good, anyway. Dave's vocals are amazing.
this is a great song and the lyrics are on point about the delicate and difficult process of divorce and how the child is caught in the middle
Wanting to protect your girlfriend :) that's the impression I get, or someone you love... you feel like they don't deserve the pain that life brings :)
i know it all
I agree with the divorce scenario.. Dave does sound amazing just as ever. DM still has it after all these years. and will continue to outlast all the passing trends of today.
Ekizzle get off this board