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.
How hard for the covers to be pulled by from their slumbers
But a ghost never gives up its sheet
Tell me is it the same
For the rattlin' chains or whatever you wear when you sleep
Do you remember the time
I told you to take off your clothes
You were naked as a window
But I'll take all that nothin' over nothin' at all
I'm just a hallway for ceilings and walls babe
And emptiness all the way through
You know you're askin' too much
To be held and not touched
But somehow that's just what you do
Do you remember the time
I told you to take off your clothes
You were naked as a window
But I'll take all that nothin' over nothin' at all
Yeah I'll take all that nothin' over nothin' over nothin' at all
But a ghost never gives up its sheet
Tell me is it the same
For the rattlin' chains or whatever you wear when you sleep
Do you remember the time
I told you to take off your clothes
You were naked as a window
But I'll take all that nothin' over nothin' at all
I'm just a hallway for ceilings and walls babe
And emptiness all the way through
You know you're askin' too much
To be held and not touched
But somehow that's just what you do
Do you remember the time
I told you to take off your clothes
You were naked as a window
But I'll take all that nothin' over nothin' at all
Yeah I'll take all that nothin' over nothin' over nothin' at all
Lyrics submitted by Duke487
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These lyrics so perfectly describe some times of my life for me. I don't know that Josh meant any of what I get from it, but anyway...
I think that the "naked as a window" means that she's more than just nude. She's transparent in a way. A window when you pull the curtains, like a ghost without its sheet; there's nothing there, just "emptiness all the way through." She's hollow.
For me, "held but not touched" hits home. I wouldn't know how to word it otherwise, but Josh does so perfectly. I think she's asking for the comfort and love and trust of him, "to be held." But she doesn't want to be "touched" sexually or even too closely because she feels vulnerable. Because she's feeling so empty and numb that being touched would make her feel like a play-thing.