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.
als er mitten in der nacht erwachte
schlug sein herz, dass er davon erschrak
denn die frau, die neben ihm lag lachte
dass er klang als sei der jüngste tag
und er hörte ihre stimme klagen
und er fühlte, dass sie trotzdem schlief
weil sie beide blind im dunkeln lagen
sah er nur die worte, die sie rief:
"warum tötest du mich denn nicht schneller?"
fragte sie und weinte wie ein kind
und ihr weinen drang aus jenem keller
wo die träume eingemauert sind
"wieviel jahre willst du mich noch hassen?"
rief sie aus und lag unheimlich still
"willst du mich nicht weiterleben lassen,
weil ich ohne dich nicht leben will?"
ihre fragen standen wie gespenster
die sich vor sich selber fürchten da
und die nacht war schwarz und ohne fenster
und schien nicht zu wissen, was geschah
ihm, dem mann im bett, war nicht zum lachen
traüme sollen wahrheitliebend sein
doch er sagt sich "was soll man machen?"
und beschloss nachts nicht mehr aufzuwachen
daraufhin schlief er getröstet ein
schlug sein herz, dass er davon erschrak
denn die frau, die neben ihm lag lachte
dass er klang als sei der jüngste tag
und er hörte ihre stimme klagen
und er fühlte, dass sie trotzdem schlief
weil sie beide blind im dunkeln lagen
sah er nur die worte, die sie rief:
"warum tötest du mich denn nicht schneller?"
fragte sie und weinte wie ein kind
und ihr weinen drang aus jenem keller
wo die träume eingemauert sind
"wieviel jahre willst du mich noch hassen?"
rief sie aus und lag unheimlich still
"willst du mich nicht weiterleben lassen,
weil ich ohne dich nicht leben will?"
ihre fragen standen wie gespenster
die sich vor sich selber fürchten da
und die nacht war schwarz und ohne fenster
und schien nicht zu wissen, was geschah
ihm, dem mann im bett, war nicht zum lachen
traüme sollen wahrheitliebend sein
doch er sagt sich "was soll man machen?"
und beschloss nachts nicht mehr aufzuwachen
daraufhin schlief er getröstet ein
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"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."
No Surprises
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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.
Blue
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Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.
The title means "A Woman Spoke Asleep" in German.
English translation: When he woke up in the middle of the night His heart beat, so that he was afraid of it Because the woman that lay next to him laughed So that it sounded like it was judgment day
And he heard her voice wailing Although he felt she was asleep Because they both lay blind in the dark He only saw the words that she shouted
Why don't you kill me faster? She asked and cried like a child And her cries creeped out of that cellar Where the dreams are walled in
How many years do you want to keep hating me? She shouted out and lay eerily still Do you not want to let me live anymore, Because I don't want to live without you?
Her questions stood like ghosts That were afraid of themselves And the night was black without windows And seemed to not know, what happened
To him, the man in bed, this was nothing to laugh at Dreams should be truthful But he said to himself: "what can one do?" And decided not to wake up at night anymore And with that he fell asleep comfortably
Ein Mann und eine Frau. Sie sind ein Paar und sie sind unglücklich. SIE vor allem ist unglücklich. Sie liebt ihn nicht mehr, er liebt sie auch nicht mehr. Doch sie kann nicht gehen oder er lässt sie nicht gehen. Sie ist verzweifelt und will, dass es endet.
Doch sie kann es ihm nicht sagen, sie sprechen nicht miteinander. Deswegen spricht sie im Schlaf. Und was sie sagt, was sie rausschreit, macht ihm Angst, ist unbequem. Doch er tröstet sich damit, dass man ja doch nichts daran ändern kann. Die Situation wird nicht geklärt. Er dreht sich auf die Seite und beschließt einfach nachts nicht mehr aufzuwachen.
Assoziationen: Verzweiflung, Machtlosigkeit eine Situation zu ändern, Lieblosigkeit, keine direkte Kommunikation, nur im Schlaf, nur im Traum kommt ans Licht, was von ihr zu jeder Tageszeit unterdrückt wird, was ihre Seele auffrisst. Und er ignoriert es. Es gibt kein Erwachen...
A man and a woman. They have a relationship and they are not happy. SHE is not happy. She does not love him anymore, maybe he does not love her. But she can’t leave, or he does not let her go. She is deaperate, she wants the end.
But she can’t tell him, they can’t talk to another. That’s why she speaks asleep. What she says scares him, makes him feel uncomfortable. But he thinks that one can not change it. The situation is not to be cleared. He turns around and does not want to wake upo at night anymore.
Associations: Desparation, no power to change a situation, loveless, no direct communication, just at night in her dreams it is showing up, what she is holding down all day, what kills her soul. And he ignores. There is no wake up…