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.
Rip out the trees and plant your flag
Now I know just where you stand
Nature means nothing to you
Something that you can't control
And we make ourselves miserable
Trying to fill the hole
It's sad that our misunderstanding
Has turned into a war
I don't know you anymore
How was I supposed to know
I was steppin' on your toes
The momentum builds to a fever pitch
Talkin' but I just can't hear
Watchin' our problems multiply
Wishin' they would disappear
It's sad that our misunderstanding
Has turned into a war
I don't know you anymore, anymore
And our love got lost in the translation
And when I see you out
You're a stranger to me now
You're a stranger to me now
I, I wish I could talk to you
I wish I could make you see
How much I care
How much you mean to me
That our misunderstanding
Has turned into a war
I don't know you anymore, anymore
And our love got lost in the translation
And when I see you out
You're a stranger to me now
You're a stranger to me now
Now I know just where you stand
Nature means nothing to you
Something that you can't control
And we make ourselves miserable
Trying to fill the hole
It's sad that our misunderstanding
Has turned into a war
I don't know you anymore
How was I supposed to know
I was steppin' on your toes
The momentum builds to a fever pitch
Talkin' but I just can't hear
Watchin' our problems multiply
Wishin' they would disappear
It's sad that our misunderstanding
Has turned into a war
I don't know you anymore, anymore
And our love got lost in the translation
And when I see you out
You're a stranger to me now
You're a stranger to me now
I, I wish I could talk to you
I wish I could make you see
How much I care
How much you mean to me
That our misunderstanding
Has turned into a war
I don't know you anymore, anymore
And our love got lost in the translation
And when I see you out
You're a stranger to me now
You're a stranger to me now
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No Surprises
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I think this is a comment on the destructive nature of human society.
The first verse seems to be a comment on the way we abuse the earth. We are constantly extracting from the earth something that we think will "fill the hole", but in the end, profiting nothing, and only destroy the environment.
I think the rest of the song expands on that point and tries to state that human carelessness and selfishness leads to misunderstanding, which in turn, leads to war and havoc. We try to extract from others without ever giving back, and "make ourselves miserable" -- losing touch with true humanity ("You're a stranger to me now").
Any thoughts?
He seems to think that if we would be proactive, instead of just "Watchin' our problems multiply/ Wishing they would disappear"