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.
Sharpen my body like a pen
Come on I need to show it
Something too small for a lense
If I rub it if I wipe it
Guiding with one single hand
Nothing's wrong you like the feeling
I am all over the land
Come on I need to show it
Back on the mountain again
I was standing watching seasons
You're now my only friend
I'm too heavy, I'm the burden
Sitting and picking on myself
It's a shiny, shiny morning
And when the light finds my eye
I'll be fleeting like a scent
I hold my breath and then count to three
On and on outworn
Must be five hundred degrees
Will it show, in my show
Come on I need to show it
Something too small for a lense
If I rub it if I wipe it
Guiding with one single hand
Nothing's wrong you like the feeling
I am all over the land
Come on I need to show it
Back on the mountain again
I was standing watching seasons
You're now my only friend
I'm too heavy, I'm the burden
Sitting and picking on myself
It's a shiny, shiny morning
And when the light finds my eye
I'll be fleeting like a scent
I hold my breath and then count to three
On and on outworn
Must be five hundred degrees
Will it show, in my show
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More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
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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,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.
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.
I agree with the masturbation theories.
Woman can't climax and it's driving her insane:
"Sharpen my body like a pen Come on, I need to show it"
She's trying to focus herself into orgasming - so much that she feels she needs to prove to herself that she can.
"Something too small for a lense If I rub it if I wipe it"
She's stimulasting her clitoris, but it's not doing anything - her magic spot has shrunk down so no one would be able to find it.
"Guiding with one single hand Nothing's wrong you like the feeling"
She's doing everything she should, and she's trying to convince herself that she can orgasm, that she's enjoying her masturbation.
"I am all over the land Come on I need to show it"
Again, she's trying to convince herself, but her mind's erratic, and what was her attempt at feeling pleasurable has given way to feeling frustrated.
"Back on the mountain again I was standing watching seasons"
She's trying yet again - the mountain is the uphill struggle she's facing trying to climax. 'I was standing watching seasons' might literally mean it's been a long long time since she's attempted to orgasm, or that she's so unable to orgasm that she's started daydreaming.
"You're now my only friend I'm too heavy, I'm the burden"
Masturbation itself is all she does now. She's so frustrated and pent up that she's isolating herself in her mind until she can come and be done with it.
"Sitting and picking on myself It's a shiny, shiny morning"
She's tried so long that she hasn't slept - her attempts at masturbation are now just 'picking on [her]self' - she's noticed that it's morning. The 'shiny shiny morning' refers to the breaking dawn - the wee hours.
"And when the light finds my eye I'll be fleeting like a scent"
Despite it being a new day, she is still attempting to have an orgasm, but still can't. When the day has pushed on too far, she'll have to give up and go about what she's doing.
"I hold my breath and I count to three On and on outworn"
It's her final chance - a focussed attempt. She is literally worn out by not being able to climax despite her efforts.
"It must be five hundred degrees Will it show, in my show"
She's been at it so long that she's worked up an immense heat (when you're horny it always seems hotter than it is). 'Will it show, in my show' refers to her trying to hide her frustration from those around her.
Another equally valid reading is that it's about her faking an orgasm during sex - all instances of her pleasuring herself in the first example are replaced with a sexual partner.
@daveydaveson Exactly.<br /> Could also be self stimulation during sex