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'll go away,
till there's no one around
then leave your house
when the sun goes down
plant myself
at the first bottle i see,
and pour a thousand
drinks in the dream
and you'll be gone
for one more day,
and i'll watch you slip
a little further away from us
and you were right
this place is haunted
change the locks
we are unwanted
drown me in your heat-shaped locket
and store me in your fur coat pocket
and you'll be gone
for one more year,
and i'll watch you slip
a little further away from me
till there's no one around
then leave your house
when the sun goes down
plant myself
at the first bottle i see,
and pour a thousand
drinks in the dream
and you'll be gone
for one more day,
and i'll watch you slip
a little further away from us
and you were right
this place is haunted
change the locks
we are unwanted
drown me in your heat-shaped locket
and store me in your fur coat pocket
and you'll be gone
for one more year,
and i'll watch you slip
a little further away from me
Lyrics submitted by Zaphod77
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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.
Just A Little Lovin'
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Plastic Bag
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“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.
Well, I think I'll put in my two cents.
It seems to me like this song is about a man that is losing the love of his life. The laughter of the children, the "fur coat pocket"...
It seems to me like the characters in this story grew up in a small town where nothing really happens. In this "nothingness" a little girl and a little boy grow up together, being childhood sweethearts or childhood friends. The girl has big dreams, she leaves one day to the city, comes back once in a while to visit family and friends, perhaps at this point already has a relationship with the man in the song. She's gone for long periods of time, then comes back...
It also seems like the man suspects that she has found a man in the city, someone rich and of higher status..."as I watch you slip a little far away from us"...
And "this place is haunted" meaning to say that the town is like a ghost town, abandoned and insignificant. This song reminds me a lot of Catherine and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights.
@psychegloom It does sound like he is singing to Catherine! Wuthering Heights is my favorite book ever! You should listent to Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush... really cool song.
There are a few other elements to the song mos doesn't touch on
The title: "This Place Is Haunted" can be referring to a house somewhere in Denver or anywhere with haunted houses, and there are plenty of haunted houses, but this specific house will be where his woman lives. It is haunted (change the locks/ we are unwanted) perhaps by a ghost, or as the song goes on, by the singer/speaker.
It seems like the content of the song is also aiming to make the singer/speaker as a ghost, and invisible to his loved one, probably because of his alcoholic use. "plant myself at the first bottle I see and pour a thousand drinks in the dream" is a good line describing that. the first verse shows that he probably drinks every night, and during the day when people are at the house he has to "go away until nobody's around" then "leave during the night" for more drinks.
And the same with all alcoholics, they repeat themselves, which might be more beautifully signified not in the lyrics but the repetition of chords musically. But the lyrics do signify it, " and you'll be gone for one more year/ and I'll watch you slip a little further away from me"..
A man drinks to forget about girl. He drinks to try and forget her for a day - but eventually he's still drinking trying to forget about it a year later.
I think it is about a man whose wife has Alzheimer's... :( And he is drinking to deal with it. The slipping away for one day and then later a year is what makes me think of it...