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.
Late at night I go to bed
Pull the blankets over my head
Thoughts of you get in my brain
Like a faucet drips into a drain
And I can't forget you, though I don't recall
When I ever met you if I met you at all
Are you an illusion? Say it ain't so
Excuse the intrusion, but
I've got no where else that I can go
Oh, there's blood on the blankets
And nobody's there, I sit and I stare
At shadows on the wall
Place a banana peel outside my door
I don't know how I feel
You seem to be sure
Though I don't believe it
I come when you call
Though I can perceive it
I slip and I fall
And I can't forget you
Though I don't recall
When I ever met you
If I met you at all
Are you an illusion? Say it ain't so
Excuse the intrusion, but
I've got nowhere else that I can go
Oh, there's blood on the blankets
And I'm scared
Someone's beside me
But nobody's there, I sit and I stare
At shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
It's the long-awaited single
From the album unreleased
Artist deceased
You're the bastard undertaker
I'm a corpse beneath your knife
For all of my life, just a dead fish
I've got one wish
I wish you'd stop embalming me
With all your fluid fantasy
And I can't forget you
Though I don't recall
When I ever met you
If I met you at all
Are you an illusion? Say it ain't so
Excuse the intrusion
But I've got nowhere else that I can go
Oh, there's blood on the blankets and I'm scared
Someone's beside me
But nobody's there, I sit and I stare
At shadows on the wall
I said nobody's there, I sit and I stare
That's right, nobody's there, I sit and I stare
Said nobody's there, I sit and I stare
At shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Pull the blankets over my head
Thoughts of you get in my brain
Like a faucet drips into a drain
And I can't forget you, though I don't recall
When I ever met you if I met you at all
Are you an illusion? Say it ain't so
Excuse the intrusion, but
I've got no where else that I can go
Oh, there's blood on the blankets
And nobody's there, I sit and I stare
At shadows on the wall
Place a banana peel outside my door
I don't know how I feel
You seem to be sure
Though I don't believe it
I come when you call
Though I can perceive it
I slip and I fall
And I can't forget you
Though I don't recall
When I ever met you
If I met you at all
Are you an illusion? Say it ain't so
Excuse the intrusion, but
I've got nowhere else that I can go
Oh, there's blood on the blankets
And I'm scared
Someone's beside me
But nobody's there, I sit and I stare
At shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
It's the long-awaited single
From the album unreleased
Artist deceased
You're the bastard undertaker
I'm a corpse beneath your knife
For all of my life, just a dead fish
I've got one wish
I wish you'd stop embalming me
With all your fluid fantasy
And I can't forget you
Though I don't recall
When I ever met you
If I met you at all
Are you an illusion? Say it ain't so
Excuse the intrusion
But I've got nowhere else that I can go
Oh, there's blood on the blankets and I'm scared
Someone's beside me
But nobody's there, I sit and I stare
At shadows on the wall
I said nobody's there, I sit and I stare
That's right, nobody's there, I sit and I stare
Said nobody's there, I sit and I stare
At shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Shadows on the wall
Lyrics submitted by Sess
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c'mon! nothing?
Okay, i'll help you guys out. I know people are gonna attack me about bringing religion into the mix again, but just listen.
This song is quite obviously about how luring and idealistic religion seems, until realized that "nobody's there, I sit and I stare At shadows on the wall." It's plainly obvious that eppard compares the thought of god as an "illusion", but feels that " I've got nowhere else that I can go". But maybe he's referring to basic human thought about religion and how they feel that there's nothing else to do or to even think.
Oh, there's blood on the blankets and I'm scared Someone's beside me But nobody's there, I sit and I stare At shadows on the wall I said nobody's there, I sit and I stare That's right, nobody's there, I sit and I stare Said nobody's there, I sit and I stare At shadows on the wall
for those of you not convinced yet, the blood on the blankets could refer to the way eppard felt about discovering his atheism and how it would be percieved by others. For example, blood on the blankets could be another way of saying all of the shit out on the table. Basically something negative and dark being exposed. "Someone's beside me" aftering blood on the blankets could be his last grip of maybe even trying to believe in God as he doesn't want to yet admitt to himself that he's an atheist, cause at the time, it could have been an embarrassment. very long, but necessary for the "no, it's never about religion" kind of people.
To quote from the back of the CD leaflet from the album "The End is Begun."<br /> <br /> "Joey would like to thank: You, my family, my friends, my band mates, their families, and God."<br /> <br /> Last I checked, atheists don't thank God. Mind, that album was released more recently than "Paint By Numbers," but I have never found a progression from disbelief to belief in any of their lyrics. I don't see why every discussion HAS to go in the direction of religion when it comes to Three lyrics, considering there are almost countless ways to be interpreting them.