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 knew this kid named Alberto
Funny style cat
And his girl looked like a turtle
Not Lisa Turtle, just a turtle
High school track
He ran the hurdle
His peers shed tears senior year when he got murdered
Now Alberto was your average A student
Participated in class,
Never came late
And never truant
His family was picture perfect
His older sister was prom queen
His dad a decorated vet from the Vietnam team
His mother was Dear Abby,
An ordinary house wife
Like clockwork, always had dinner on the table at 5
But Alberto had a monster he kept under his bed
Instead of letting it out,
He just got a girlfriend instead
She knew something was funny
Shecould tell by his behavior
Or the way he flamboyantly shook his hand
When he would wave to her
She thought nothing of it
And just shoved it in the closet
Until the day that word dripped out like leaky faucet
Alberto was homosexual
I ain't have nothing against it
But little Ronnie Johnson and all his football player friends did
They'd always pick and nag
Call him "fag" and such and such
And couldn't wait to get to gym so they could really bust his nuts
The gym teacher never cared
He'd just join in on the action
He'd make silly gestures
And compared him to Micheal Jackson
Alberto couldn't take it
He'd just stop showing up and whenever he walked them halls
He just felt like throwin' up
And night he would cry and cry and ask "God why?"
Like "God, why the fuck'd I have to be born this way?"
God would reply, "Son, you've gotta show 'em you're more than gay"
Cause he had dreams to be a track star
Until that warm April night
Them gay jokes went way too far
Ronnie begged for his forgiveness
And invited him to a party
Cause his parents went away
And left him plenty of Bacardi
Alberto kindly accepted
He was finally accepted
Except it was all deception
And left them all unprotected
It was a plan Ronnie had scammed
To get him in the right place
Verbally degrade and rearrange his pretty face
The plan would go swiftly
They started calling him sissy
One punch turned into fifty
They beat him till he was dizzy
Now Alberto lie in blood
While his peers look on in fear
He took his last breath
And passed away his senior year
Needless to say
It was one big tragedy
And how was Ronnie gonna explain to his family,
While they were on vacation taking in sights
He got wasted and killed a kid that night
Don't be a slave and behave the way they do,
Just utilize the gifts that God gave you [x4]
I knew this girl named Maria
Bright and talented
With aspirations to be a
Big superstar
What a great idea
Until she fell off and started to listening to her peers
Oh dear!
Now Maria was your typical obnoxious
Analytical head strong rebel
Flippin' off the principal
Single mother home structure
She looked after baby brother
While mom worked two jobs
Just to buy supper
Pops was a struggling musician
Troubled man,
Juggling family and heroin addiction
He overdosed and left a notice of eviction
And a crate of records on the table in the kitchen
And a little angel with a keen sense of sound
Who saw silence in the records she found
And she would stay up late at night
Reciting songs to herself
Under pale moonlight
Righting wrongs that her pops made,
Promised her mom she'd never go that same route
Turns out
Carrie Anne had other plans
Her and her man Ronnie most popular,
Second best to nobody
Homecoming queen versus ugly duckling
And the story ends the same way
Ok, Ronnie's parents went away for a couple of days
And told him "No Drinking"
What the fuck were they thinking?
Maria was oblivious that her boyfriend had already been invited
So when Carrie Anne asked
She got all excited
Like "damn now I got something to look forward to"
Or so she thought
Maria kindly accepted,
Except it was all bullshit
Not pay attention,
Carrie Anne hated Maria cause she could sing
So she scored a bag of heroin
But the craziest thing was
Maria never touched drugs, she did that night
And when her man was getting beat
She was nowhere in sight
Now her boyfriend lie in blood
And she had no idea
Alberto passed away and she got hooked her senior year
Needless to say
It was one one big tragedy
And I hate to break it but
It doesn't end happily
A warm day in May,
The sky was so beautiful
Carrie Anne died in a crash leaving the funeral
Funny style cat
And his girl looked like a turtle
Not Lisa Turtle, just a turtle
High school track
He ran the hurdle
His peers shed tears senior year when he got murdered
Now Alberto was your average A student
Participated in class,
Never came late
And never truant
His family was picture perfect
His older sister was prom queen
His dad a decorated vet from the Vietnam team
His mother was Dear Abby,
An ordinary house wife
Like clockwork, always had dinner on the table at 5
But Alberto had a monster he kept under his bed
Instead of letting it out,
He just got a girlfriend instead
She knew something was funny
Shecould tell by his behavior
Or the way he flamboyantly shook his hand
When he would wave to her
She thought nothing of it
And just shoved it in the closet
Until the day that word dripped out like leaky faucet
Alberto was homosexual
I ain't have nothing against it
But little Ronnie Johnson and all his football player friends did
They'd always pick and nag
Call him "fag" and such and such
And couldn't wait to get to gym so they could really bust his nuts
The gym teacher never cared
He'd just join in on the action
He'd make silly gestures
And compared him to Micheal Jackson
Alberto couldn't take it
He'd just stop showing up and whenever he walked them halls
He just felt like throwin' up
And night he would cry and cry and ask "God why?"
Like "God, why the fuck'd I have to be born this way?"
God would reply, "Son, you've gotta show 'em you're more than gay"
Cause he had dreams to be a track star
Until that warm April night
Them gay jokes went way too far
Ronnie begged for his forgiveness
And invited him to a party
Cause his parents went away
And left him plenty of Bacardi
Alberto kindly accepted
He was finally accepted
Except it was all deception
And left them all unprotected
It was a plan Ronnie had scammed
To get him in the right place
Verbally degrade and rearrange his pretty face
The plan would go swiftly
They started calling him sissy
One punch turned into fifty
They beat him till he was dizzy
Now Alberto lie in blood
While his peers look on in fear
He took his last breath
And passed away his senior year
Needless to say
It was one big tragedy
And how was Ronnie gonna explain to his family,
While they were on vacation taking in sights
He got wasted and killed a kid that night
Don't be a slave and behave the way they do,
Just utilize the gifts that God gave you [x4]
I knew this girl named Maria
Bright and talented
With aspirations to be a
Big superstar
What a great idea
Until she fell off and started to listening to her peers
Oh dear!
Now Maria was your typical obnoxious
Analytical head strong rebel
Flippin' off the principal
Single mother home structure
She looked after baby brother
While mom worked two jobs
Just to buy supper
Pops was a struggling musician
Troubled man,
Juggling family and heroin addiction
He overdosed and left a notice of eviction
And a crate of records on the table in the kitchen
And a little angel with a keen sense of sound
Who saw silence in the records she found
And she would stay up late at night
Reciting songs to herself
Under pale moonlight
Righting wrongs that her pops made,
Promised her mom she'd never go that same route
Turns out
Carrie Anne had other plans
Her and her man Ronnie most popular,
Second best to nobody
Homecoming queen versus ugly duckling
And the story ends the same way
Ok, Ronnie's parents went away for a couple of days
And told him "No Drinking"
What the fuck were they thinking?
Maria was oblivious that her boyfriend had already been invited
So when Carrie Anne asked
She got all excited
Like "damn now I got something to look forward to"
Or so she thought
Maria kindly accepted,
Except it was all bullshit
Not pay attention,
Carrie Anne hated Maria cause she could sing
So she scored a bag of heroin
But the craziest thing was
Maria never touched drugs, she did that night
And when her man was getting beat
She was nowhere in sight
Now her boyfriend lie in blood
And she had no idea
Alberto passed away and she got hooked her senior year
Needless to say
It was one one big tragedy
And I hate to break it but
It doesn't end happily
A warm day in May,
The sky was so beautiful
Carrie Anne died in a crash leaving the funeral
Lyrics submitted by MyAntiDrugIsSuicide
Faces In The Hall Lyrics as written by Roger Hodgson Richard Davies
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Songtrust Ave
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This song is a long story about a homosexual high school kid named Alberto who is a perfect student and a star athlete living in a perfect family but he doesnt want people to know his secret so he gets a girlfriend, but one day the word gets out and the football players and gym teacher make his life miserable, tormenting him with verbal abuse. one day at school they beg for his forgiveness and invite him to a party, only to isolate him and drunkenly beat him to death that night.
The second verse is about how his girlfriend Maria got invited to the same party by a girl named Carrie Anne, who was jealous of Maria because she could sing and had aspirations to be a star. Carrie Anne ends up hooking Maria up with a bag of heroin, which takes her out so when Alberto was dying, she was nowhere to be found. Finally, during Alberto's funeral in May, Carrie Anne dies in a crash leaving the funeral...
I have no idea if this is a true story or not and i may have left a few parts out but the message of the song i believe is in the lines: "don't be a slave and behave the way they do, just utilize the gifts that God gave you"