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Twenty Seven Strangers Lyrics
The bus was late
And forced us all to congregate
Twenty-seven strangers
Made to stand and wait
The time went by
The sun went down
A baby cried
I just stood in line
But there is no cue
No stage hand saying what to do
And you are me
And I am you
The bus it came
And everybody loaded in
Twenty-seven strangers
In a moving can
The fluorescent light
Doubled everyone inside
The baby's face reflected
In the shopfronts in the sky
But faces change
And rules they all get rearranged
And photographs
All fade away
The bus broke down
At the graveyard on the edge of town
Twenty-seven strangers
Separate without a sound
So I walked home
Just feeling nothing on my own
Noticing that tree of yours
I've been watching it grow
So that's why I'm late
My dearest one what can I say
And tomorrow it could be the same
When I do it all again
And forced us all to congregate
Twenty-seven strangers
Made to stand and wait
The sun went down
A baby cried
I just stood in line
No stage hand saying what to do
And you are me
And I am you
And everybody loaded in
Twenty-seven strangers
In a moving can
Doubled everyone inside
The baby's face reflected
In the shopfronts in the sky
And rules they all get rearranged
And photographs
All fade away
At the graveyard on the edge of town
Twenty-seven strangers
Separate without a sound
Just feeling nothing on my own
Noticing that tree of yours
I've been watching it grow
My dearest one what can I say
And tomorrow it could be the same
When I do it all again
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It's "Rooms all get rearranged" not "rules". This song is enchanting, but I wouldn't call it mundane.
He's observing the cycle of life, with all the expected and unexpected intertwined. It's almost "strange" to think about...
He's surrounded by only strangers, and finds it ironic that we're all connected "You are me/And I am you", yet we go on about our separate lives, each so important to us as we bounce along, separate but together in this world. We create places for ourselves, snap photographs, fall in love, and eventually all these things fade, & others come in to rearrange.
There is no script, you can't really say what tomorrow will bring, and the circle of life continues-symbolized by the tree growing at the cemetery.
...I could say a whole lot more but I tried to keep it brief. :)
shlaybe - absolutely, and I didn't even make that connection before you wrote that! It's pretty clear to me now, the fact that the bus breaks down at the graveyard could mean that there the twenty seven strangers separate - meaning they die? I think that really makes sense, the beginning of the song, they're all waiting for the bus and the bus-ride is their lives and they get off at the graveyard at the end.
shlaybe - absolutely, and I didn't even make that connection before you wrote that! It's pretty clear to me now, the fact that the bus breaks down at the graveyard could mean that there the twenty seven strangers separate - meaning they die? I think that really makes sense, the beginning of the song, they're all waiting for the bus and the bus-ride is their lives and they get off at the graveyard at the end.
Such a lovely song, so simple, and yet so full of meaning!
Such a lovely song, so simple, and yet so full of meaning!
Pretty great song and musician. Really regret not seeing him play in Boston when I had the chance.
It seems this song is about someone having a crap day and them explaining it to someone.
Just saw them live in Manchester.... enchanting is the best descriptive for this band. Its a story of a simple day yet its brought to life and leaves you wanting to know more. Somthing their music does so well!
Just found out about this group! Great song, love the story-telling!
I can't help but think that this song is just a bad excuse for being late, which perhaps is a perpetual problem for him. He's just trying to hard here. "The bus was late." Yeah, that would cause tardiness, but "the bus broke down..." too. That's really stretching it.
I love the details he adds like "a baby cries," "Fluorescent lights doubled everyone in sight," and "Noticing that tree of yours", but I feel like those details are merely added as slight of hand to get his partner to really believe his ridiculous story this time. Then, to prepare the partner for future lateness, he warns that "Tomorrow it could be the same..."
This guy's just not the punctual type, but he tells a great story.
Yeah its the completely mundane story of this song that makes it so enchanting... Its just a guy like any other making excuses to his girlfriend about why he's so late, i love it!!