First Train Home

Imogen Heap said the song, in the interview, was about her being outside of Essex at a party where she felt very overwhelmed by people and ideas and felt generally crappy, so she left and made sure she took the first train home. She sat down on her piano when she got back and wrote a good chunk of this. :)

"just prefer some kind of contact" should be "desparate for some kind of contact". good job otherwise, considering the song came out a few hours ago.

anyway this song is awesome, about being away from the place and person that you love and you can't wait to go back to them. if this is any indication of the rest of the album, Ellipse is going to be absolutely wonderful :)

I was in a long distance relationship with my ex. I moved away about 250 miles to go to college, but we wanted to stay together. I took the train home so many times, sometimes as a surprise. I always wanted to get on the earliest bus or train and was eager to see my lover. Well sure enough it all fell apart. She actually told me a lot of things that Imogen says in the second half of the song. I think that's what the song's about. Excited, but it's failing...regardless, you hope for something better.

From her official site:

Got to get on it

Bodies disengage, our mouths are fleshing over As hiss and echo gain, irises retreat into ovals of white The urge to feel your face, in blood, rushing to paint my hand print And Frisbee one by one, your vinyl on laminate I’m desperate for some kind of contact. First train home, I’ve got to get on it Got to catch, to catch, to catch, catch, catch the… First train home

Temporal dead zone where clocks are barely breathing Yet no one cares to notice for all their yamming on, I calm up to hold it together I want to Play-Do waveforms in the hideaway I want to get on with getting on with things I can’t do any of that here can I?

So what, you’ve had one too many So what, I’m not that much fun to be with So what, you’ve got a silly hat on. So what, I didn’t want to come here anyway

What matters to you, it doesn’t matter, matter to me What matters to me, doesn’t matter, matter to you What matters to you, doesn’t matter, matter to them What matters to them, it doesn’t change anything.

Got to get out now

This song says so many things to me. We all have moments when we feel out of place or just want to be somewhere else, we feel deprived at the moment and think of things that we could be doing. We all dream of that First train that will take us where we want to be..Like an escape route. I know i feel that way all the time. This is such a beautiful song. Beautifully written and sung. Ten stars to Immy.

This album dropped not long after my most favorite person in the whole world passed away: my grandmother. She raised me, and passed just 3 hours after my 27th birthday ended... as much as it might seem a bit of a stretch to those of you who don't know me, this song - to me- is spoken from her point of view.

Bodies disengaged, our mouths are fleshing over. <-- talking about how she's slipping away Is this an echo game? <-- things are being said over and over, no one is listening Irises retreating to ovals of white. <-- body shutting down (eyes lose color upon death) The urge to feel your face, and blood rushing to paint my handprint. <-- she suffered a stroke and couldnt move her hands anymore to touch me or any of us... A Frisbee one by one; your vinyl on lamanent, desperate for some kind of contact. <-- she couldn't speak or hear us very well..she was losing contact with all of us.

Chorus: First train home, I've got to get on it. <-- Obviously I see this as a literary reference... first train home...getting to heaven quickly.

Temporal deadzone where clocks are barely breathing. <-- she passed at 3:45am ... the middle of the night... none of us were thinking clearly... we were dead tired, stunned, shut down. It even felt like time stood still (clocks barely breathing) yet no one cares to notice for all the yelling on, they clamor to hold it together. <-- my family had totally resorted to complaining and yelling about the stupidest crap just to feel like that had some sort of control over the situation. We yelled and argued to hold it together.

I want to play--don't wait--forms in the hideaway I want to get on with getting on with things I want to run in fields, paint the kitchen, and love someone And I can't do any of that here, can I? <-- Obviously she can't do any of that here... her body has shut down and is now holding her prisoner. She wants to leave so she can live again - just not here on Earth

First train home, I've got to get on it. First train home, I've got to get on it. First train home, I've got to get on it. First Train home.

So what? You've had one too many. <-- I do admit I drink heavily and used it a lot to cope during the months she fell ill before she died. So what? I'm not that much fun to be with. <-- no shit. So what? You've gone silly hatter <-- Yup. Lost my mind in those months... but so what. So what? I didn't want to come here, anyway. <-- She is very religious and I really could almost see her saying this. She didn't ask to be born. Let her stay "up there" instead of dealing with the cruel world.

What matters you, doesn't matter, matter to me. <-- I'm leaving anyway. You can't keep me here What matters to me, doesn't matter, matter to you. <-- I need to go, even though you want to hold on to me. What matters to you, doesn't matter, matter to them. <-- The doctors are more concerned with the nature of her condition ..they see this every day. What matters to them, doesn't change anything. <-- What matters in terms of medicine and science won't ever change that I'm about to leave

Got to get on it. First train home. Got to get on it. First train home.

First train home I've got to get on it (I've got to get on it) To catch, to catch, catch-catch, catch. (First train home) First train home I've got to get on it First train home. (First train home) Got to, Got to, Got to, Got to, Get, Get, Get, Get, Out, Out, Out, Out, Now, Now, Now, Now.

...and there you have it. I love you. Rest in peace.

Being in college, this song has become all too real to me lately. I think this song is about the way someone has become bored with all the rituals of people who party. She finds herself among all these people who "yammer on" - she finds them obnoxious and annoying. Being in a place where she has no desire to be & feels as if the time is passing so slowly- she becomes non-social, clamming up to hold herself together. Being around all of the people her age, she realizes that she is beginning to think differently than they are.

"So what? You've had one too many. So what? I'm not that much fun to be with. So what? You've got a silly hat on. So what? I didn't want to come here, anyway"..Those lines emphasize the way the others must find her so uninteresting/boring...but it doesn't matter to her anymore-she doesn't want to be there anyways. Unlike everyone that surrounds her, she is ready to move on with her life.."I want to get on with getting on with things. I want to run in fields, paint the kitchen, and love someone And I can't do any of that here, can I?" ...she has to get away, get on the first train home because she doesn't find any satisfaction in being where she is or participating in their wasted pastimes anymore.

However, i haven't come to understand the line "your vinyl on lamanent"....

This song is just stunningly beautiful. I think it's about that moment that you realize that you can't be with someone anymore, and all you want is to get away.

Thanks! I missed that accidentally... Five minutes after the song came out I wrote the lyrics all out and submitted this all over. haha. :P

Is it just me, or does it sound like "So what? You've got a silly hat on"?

Also, it seems to me that it might be "Got to, got to, got to, got to" at the end... And that would make the whole phrase "Got to get out now", which I think makes more sense.