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.
The battle's been lost, the war is not won
An addled republic, a bitter refund
The business first flat earthers licking their wounds
The verdict is dire, the country's in ruins
[Chorus]
Providence blinked, facing the sun
Where are we left to carry on
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
As we've written our stories to entertain
These notions of glory and bull market gain
The tele-prompt flutters, the power surge brings
An easy speed message falls into routine
[Chorus]
A voice whispers "Son,
The blessed vision comes."
What have I done
What have I done
So hold tight your babies and your guns
Forgive us our trespasses, father and son
[Chorus]
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
An addled republic, a bitter refund
The business first flat earthers licking their wounds
The verdict is dire, the country's in ruins
[Chorus]
Providence blinked, facing the sun
Where are we left to carry on
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
As we've written our stories to entertain
These notions of glory and bull market gain
The tele-prompt flutters, the power surge brings
An easy speed message falls into routine
[Chorus]
A voice whispers "Son,
The blessed vision comes."
What have I done
What have I done
So hold tight your babies and your guns
Forgive us our trespasses, father and son
[Chorus]
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
Until the day is done
Lyrics submitted by HansMaulwurf
Until the Day Is Done Lyrics as written by Mike Mills Peter Buck
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
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"Some and now none of you"
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This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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R.E.M. put two quotes with the lyrics of this song.
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross." -Sinclair Lewis
"Thanks for the last and greatest betrayal of the last and greatest of human dreams. Thanks for the American dream to vulgarize and falsity until the bare lies shine through." -William Burroughs
These quotes also point that the song is about the state of the United States, and fit with the album's theme of a dystopian society created by governmental actions.
I think its about the state of america, and more accurately its foreign policy in recent years. The first verse is clearly about Iraq; 'the business first class' who are licking their wounds are perhaps the oilmen and construction companies who were intially excited about the invasion as they saw the chance to get rich. 'The countrys in ruins' is clearly Iraq too. I take the second verse to be about the US itself; the 'easyspeak message' is the language we use knowadays (terror etc) . 'The notions of glory and bull market gain' is surely about the ridiculous idea that to many the country is doing well so long at the stock market is on the rise, completely ignoring the real problems in the economy.
No doubt that it's about the harm done to the US and it's people by the Bush admin. The album notes differ "Providence blinked, facing the SON". A typo or a clever play on words ? Providence = a manifestation of God's foresightful care for His creatures. Is God shocked by his own creation ! "What have I done?" Or is this the deceived voter who must suffer under this ruler "Until the day is done". A great song.
I disagree EvilVulture: it is drawing attention to the irony of wanting to protect your own babies by killing other people's babies.
Oh dear, Rush. You are as deluded as your namesake. Just to nix your little fantasy in the bud, I should point out that Accelerate was released in March of 2008 which is quite a few months before Mr. Obama was even elected, and I'd imagine that the song itself was written somewhat before the album was released. Probably about the time Chimpy McBush was stumbling over his teleprompter lines whilst adhering to his favored ideology of "bull-market gains".
Quite apart from which, R.E.M. are well known for their liberal and progressive political stance en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.E.M.
But don't despair, you've still got guiding lights like Kid Rock on your team. LMFAO.
"Forgive us our trespasses, father and son" - while could simply be a prayer on behalf of America, could certainly be a reference to GHWB and GWB administrations and their horrible decisions to wage war with Iraq....
This song sounds to me like a cross between 'Working Class Hero' by John Lennon, and 'Masters of War' by Bob Dylan - both lyrically and musically.
they played this over a video during the secret policeman's ball yesterday (the amnesty international annual showtypething.)
One of Michael Stipe's more biting political critiques. Along with Skynyrd, the Black Crowes and U2, R.E.M. WILL REMAIN A POLITICAL BAND!
MICHAEL STIPE, WHERE ARE YOU NOW? We need lyrics like this now more than even in the Bush years.