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 seed of the devil lives on in men
Verses 4 5 6 chapters 8 9 10
The Landlords and the ranters with their foot on your neck
Oh I love the Union and Glory Hallelujah!
Line of the woman
Rising over reason
Out of the slaughter
Over & over
Through the eye of the needle
The width of a circle
They'll be building up the temple
On the backs of the people
Sign of the profit
Oh I love the Union and Glory Hallelujah!
All that march through history must still mean somnething to you
Roar reason roar in power again
They'll be selling out the women like they sold out the men
Heart of the Lion
The plunder & the killing
Over & over
We just tried to stay sober
The sword is sharp the arrows swift the witnesses all seeking
So shake & shake for all your worth from innocence to experience
The Queen of Holland went to meet Red Ken
With the Ranters and the Quakers and the Fabians
William Blake, William Morris, Tony Benn
The Levellers and the Diggers and the Muggletonians
Verses 4 5 6 chapters 8 9 10
The Landlords and the ranters with their foot on your neck
Oh I love the Union and Glory Hallelujah!
Line of the woman
Rising over reason
Out of the slaughter
Over & over
Through the eye of the needle
The width of a circle
They'll be building up the temple
On the backs of the people
Sign of the profit
Oh I love the Union and Glory Hallelujah!
All that march through history must still mean somnething to you
Roar reason roar in power again
They'll be selling out the women like they sold out the men
Heart of the Lion
The plunder & the killing
Over & over
We just tried to stay sober
The sword is sharp the arrows swift the witnesses all seeking
So shake & shake for all your worth from innocence to experience
The Queen of Holland went to meet Red Ken
With the Ranters and the Quakers and the Fabians
William Blake, William Morris, Tony Benn
The Levellers and the Diggers and the Muggletonians
Lyrics submitted by TheIntimindator27
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
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
The song refers to various historical figures and groups from English left-wing, anarchist and Utopian movements.
"Red Ken" is Ken Livingstone, a Labour politician and former Mayor of London.
Tony Benn, also known as Anthony Wedgwood-Benn, is another idealistic 20th-century politician from the Labour Party.
William Blake is a British poet, whose works included a poem called "Jerusalem" (later set to music as a very popular hymn) with its vision of the Kingdom of God, i.e. Jerusalem, built "in England's green and pleasant land".
William Morris was a late nineteenth-century utopian, artist and libertarian socialist.
The Fabian Society was a British socialist movement, advocating gradualist rather than revolutionary reform. Tony Benn was a Fabian.
Muggletonians, Ranters and Quakers were religious sects with an emphasis on a personal relationship with God, with pacifist and egalitarian ideals. Only the Quakers still exist.
The Levellers and the Diggers were two early Utopian anarchist movements, who claimed common ownership of the land, and were heavily repressed by landowners and vested interests.
"Oh I love the Union" may be a reference to trade unionism; it could also be a reference to Britain as a whole, as created by the Act of Union that joined England and Scotland.
The 'olde trip to Jerusalem' is presumably therefore any movement to create an ideal society in England, the song focusing here particularly on groups or individuals whose visions stressed socialism, anarchism, pacifism and egalitarianism as key features of such a society.