This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"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"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
The axes who pacify with gold
And they walk right into town
And a man stood he was brought back by lady luck
And he was so strong, and he was so strong, and he was so strong
He was so strong, he was so strong, he was strong
He said lady where's your dark undercoat?
Then he rode away and he rode away and he died
Said I am not strong, and I am not wide, and I am not long
I am not strong and I am not wide, I'm not long
Oh but if I was a deep bathtub would you sink down
To the bottom of my love?
And if I was a deep bathtub would you sink down
To the bottom of my love?
But I am not strong and I am not wide and I am not long
I am not strong, and I am not wide, and we are not tall
Oh cowboy ride the time
Ride it high with rhythm and rhyme
To the sound of a bleeding ghost train
And a needing, to let go, of tidal pain
He said lady where's your dark undercoat?
And they walk right into town
And a man stood he was brought back by lady luck
And he was so strong, and he was so strong, and he was so strong
He was so strong, he was so strong, he was strong
He said lady where's your dark undercoat?
Then he rode away and he rode away and he died
Said I am not strong, and I am not wide, and I am not long
I am not strong and I am not wide, I'm not long
Oh but if I was a deep bathtub would you sink down
To the bottom of my love?
And if I was a deep bathtub would you sink down
To the bottom of my love?
But I am not strong and I am not wide and I am not long
I am not strong, and I am not wide, and we are not tall
Oh cowboy ride the time
Ride it high with rhythm and rhyme
To the sound of a bleeding ghost train
And a needing, to let go, of tidal pain
He said lady where's your dark undercoat?
Lyrics submitted by echoparkrecords
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
beautiful song, and I may be ignorant for saying this, but does anyone see the meaning? I'm sure there's something profound in here that I just can't find...
It IS beautiful.<br /> <br /> think it may be about a man who went to war. He was strong and unable to be harmed there.<br /> He asked the narrator to be with him and was rejected because of her fear.<br /> Now he is gone, and I think she is saying he killed himself, or maybe just that he has died metaphorically on the inside.<br /> <br /> I could be way off though. :p Its just the story that plays in my head
We blind ourselves with these expectations and these assumptions that plague our daily lives. Sometimes, the truth is a soft and fragile light that we guard deep within ourselves until we allow another in.
I've always thought it was about myths, the myths we tell ourselves and how reality destroys them, through exploring the cultural myths about how our country was settled, and who settled it.
The axes who pacify with gold who walk right into town --
This makes me think of the final season of Deadwood, when predatory capitalism, in the form of George Hearst, arrives in the formerly anarchistic, illegal mining camp, and takes over. He brings his own unique and dreadful brand of industry, backed up by extreme violence. You will sell him your claim, or you will die.
And a man stood, he was brought back by lady luck --
He could be a gambler, brought to the mining town for the chance of some quick gold. A cowboy arriving on the scene in the nick of time to try to intervene.
And he was so strong, and he was so strong, and he was strong --
Here's the myth, the image we have of the lone gambler, the cowboy on the plains, the mountain man, independent, alone, the rugged individualist. This is the image we have of our ancestors, particularly in Western America.
He said, lady where's your dark undercoat? --
Underneath the civilized veneer, something hidden and frightening.
Then he rode away, and he rode away, and he died Said I am not strong, and I am not wide, and I am not long I am not strong, and I am not wide, I'm not long --
The myth dies when you learn the reality. We are not strong enough to keep the myths, and reality is not large enough to hold them.
Oh, but if I was a deep bathtub would you sink down to the bottom of my love? --
This is a little harder, but I see it as representing the appeal of the myth, the longing to submit to a romanticized ideal of our past and of ourselves.
But I am not strong and I am not wide and I am not tall. --
Reality is just not what you wish it were, and history is mostly lies.
Oh cowboy, ride the time Ride it high with rhythm and rhyme To the sound of a bleeding ghost train And I am needing to let go of tidal pain --
The stories we tell ourselves, individually and collectively, persist because they do have a painful beauty, the feeling of something being lost. If we lost it, rather than it never having existed at all, maybe we could reclaim it again. When we realize the truth, it's hard. And since she's using Western imagery to explore this idea, I also see the last line as expressing some guilt and pain over what really happened in our history with Manifest Destiny, etc.
I don't think this song is meant only to apply to a general Western mythology or specifically to cowboys and Indians, as it were, but that she's using that symbolism deliberately to express something that happens inside ourselves as we grow up and realize how much of what we are taught about our past, both collectively and individually, are lies meant to make us feel better about that past.
I could be way off base, but this is what occurs to me when I listen to this song. Whatever the case it is stunningly beautiful. This artist is kind of local to me and just released a new album. I really hope to see her perform soon.
I got the sense that it was talking about rape. "He was so strong" implies that he's using force against her.
"Hey lady where's your dark undercoat" sounds like she's dressed provocatively. A see-through shirt or something of the sort.
"I am not strong, and I am not wide, and I am not long" sounds like he's trying calm her down, or maybe even alleviate some of his guilt, "I'm not strong" to say "I won't hurt you." "I am not wide and I am not long" is saying that his penis isn't very big so it shouldn't be painful.
"Oh cowboy ride the time Ride it high with rhythm and rhyme" In other words, keep the tempo, don't bother slowing down. I see this verse as completely facetious. An underhanded jab at the rapist. Like saying "Is that all you've got?" To someone who just hit you. You don't want to get hit again, you say it to show they haven't won.
"To the sound of a bleeding ghost train And a needing, to let go, of tidal pain" I see the bleeding ghost train as a symbol of her inner turmoil. A never ending "train" of pain. Filled with ghosts as she slowly dies inside. Bleeding in agony. "A needing to let go" I see as HER need. She needs him to let go, to stop the ceaseless pain.