Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
My world astir and sickly
Spits out our voices singing
"Tra la la la" on high now
To kingdom come so slightly
Herein a void in your place
I twitch and tweak in allusion
To sit and stare so blankly
Until all hope is used up
Why do I always need to need you when you're fleeting?
Where do you go when I'm around?
What have I done, what have I lost that's so defeating?
And have the nerve to wear a crown?
Oh na na na na na na
Hey hey hey hey
In some dark room
A smoky figure fills me full
Makes my head swell in ruin
My family kneels at their pew
They nod, "We believe in
What you're doing"
I feel it rise above me
The western landscapes towering
And from my shell of a body
The flowers blossom for picking
I've waited and waited
For someone to take it
Don't fight it, don't bother
An inch for another
Don't listen
Don't hear them
They're in this together
I've learned well
Now hear me
There's much to be fearing
I'm used to your absence
Your faceless distractions
I've painted your patterns
But found them attractive
Now I've been leaning towards
A life far more candid
Though lead through the dark
With your eyes as my candles
Where your life
And my life's directions
Can wrangle
And all of a sudden
You've left me to handle
The reasons that never
Forbid me to stand tall
And somehow or somewhere
I found out the secret
To staying alive
Without actually breathing
Spits out our voices singing
"Tra la la la" on high now
To kingdom come so slightly
Herein a void in your place
I twitch and tweak in allusion
To sit and stare so blankly
Until all hope is used up
Why do I always need to need you when you're fleeting?
Where do you go when I'm around?
What have I done, what have I lost that's so defeating?
And have the nerve to wear a crown?
Oh na na na na na na
Hey hey hey hey
In some dark room
A smoky figure fills me full
Makes my head swell in ruin
My family kneels at their pew
They nod, "We believe in
What you're doing"
I feel it rise above me
The western landscapes towering
And from my shell of a body
The flowers blossom for picking
I've waited and waited
For someone to take it
Don't fight it, don't bother
An inch for another
Don't listen
Don't hear them
They're in this together
I've learned well
Now hear me
There's much to be fearing
I'm used to your absence
Your faceless distractions
I've painted your patterns
But found them attractive
Now I've been leaning towards
A life far more candid
Though lead through the dark
With your eyes as my candles
Where your life
And my life's directions
Can wrangle
And all of a sudden
You've left me to handle
The reasons that never
Forbid me to stand tall
And somehow or somewhere
I found out the secret
To staying alive
Without actually breathing
Lyrics submitted by HopeSoForYou
Eyes as Candles Lyrics as written by Michael Angelakos
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Techno Ted
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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.
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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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I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
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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,
and itunes*