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.
I could hear you coming so I hid by the couch.
You were talking so loudly, I don't know what about.
But you were drunker than high school, self-conscious and sweet.
I never ever felt so cool disguised in your sheets.
But I'm a constant headache, a tooth out of line.
They try to make you regret it, you tell them, no not this time.
I'm just a constant headache, a dead friend's advice.
You'll hang me up, unfinished with the better part of me no longer mine.
And then you finally found me, pretending to sleep.
You said such nice things about me, I felt guilty and cheap.
You took two steps to the kitchen, just stared at the sink.
I couldn't hold back a smile, I still wish I could have seen
You having sex in the morning, your love was foreign to me.
It made me think maybe human's not such a bad thing to be.
But I just laid there in protest, entirely fucked.
It's such a stubborn reminder one perfect night's not enough.
It's just a constant headache, a tooth out of line.
They try to make you regret it, you tell them, no not this time.
It's just a constant headache, a dead friend's advice.
You'll hang me up, unfinished with the better part of me no longer mine.
You were talking so loudly, I don't know what about.
But you were drunker than high school, self-conscious and sweet.
I never ever felt so cool disguised in your sheets.
But I'm a constant headache, a tooth out of line.
They try to make you regret it, you tell them, no not this time.
I'm just a constant headache, a dead friend's advice.
You'll hang me up, unfinished with the better part of me no longer mine.
And then you finally found me, pretending to sleep.
You said such nice things about me, I felt guilty and cheap.
You took two steps to the kitchen, just stared at the sink.
I couldn't hold back a smile, I still wish I could have seen
You having sex in the morning, your love was foreign to me.
It made me think maybe human's not such a bad thing to be.
But I just laid there in protest, entirely fucked.
It's such a stubborn reminder one perfect night's not enough.
It's just a constant headache, a tooth out of line.
They try to make you regret it, you tell them, no not this time.
It's just a constant headache, a dead friend's advice.
You'll hang me up, unfinished with the better part of me no longer mine.
Lyrics submitted by WeAreScientists, edited by nopeno1455, toonarmy53, kurtsseahorse
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@[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.
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
Sexual/romantic relationship between young people. Girl's friends don't like the guy and so this makes him feel like shit about their relationship, he's reluctant to be with her and enjoy spending time with her. Her friends are such a drag on the otherwise great thing they have together.
I highly doubt this was the intention but I couldn't help thinking of it this way. What if the lyrics we're meant to be taken from the point of view of a pet, like a pet dog specifically? It sounds silly but the whole first verse could relate to a dog's owners coming home from the bar being noisy so he/she hides behind the couch, like animals do. And the title "Constant Headache" may even refer to a dog who just seems to be in everybody's way, an annoyance maybe, but to sleep and have the owners praise the pet anyway.."you said such nice things about me, I felt guilty and cheap."
Also, most noticeably, "your love was foreign to me (human love/interaction), it made me think maybe human's not such a bad thing to be."
Again, the lyrical content is most likely not anything close but it does make sense and definitely a fun way to look at it.
@spiritofjosh I glossed right over this because I thought it was silly and then I went back to read the lyrics. I was trying to figure out exactly what was going on, but I'm freaking out right now because the more I read the more it makes sense he's a dog. I was on the idea that there was a one night stand etc etc, but "'you' having sex in the morning, your love was foreign to me" implies he's never been with her. The main setting is an evening party where the narrator is found pretending to sleep, hiding behind a couch, etc. All the while his owners are being nice to him because, well, he's a dog. I am so angry at you.
mobile.twitter.com/JoyceManor/status/592067435454304256<br />
@spiritofjosh Josh, you blew my mind. 0% that was the artists intention, lol, but your interpretation, in all seriousness, makes complete logical sense to me. What you said actually lends the song a deeper more universal, cross-species meaning in a way (which is impressive bc I really loved this song and what it represents to me already). The beauty of art lies in its subjective nature; the eye of the beholder. Maybe you were feeling some sort of connection with dogs when you were pondering this song. Either way, some call you a genius, others call you a mad man. I call you friend, and a smart lad haha take care and be well, and same to everyone else on this page.
I feel like the song is about a couple who love each other but the guy is not in love with her so a relationship in that sense is not working. The girl notices how the guy feels, although she’s in love with him, he’s not in love with her. She says nice things and her love is foreign because he doesn’t love her although he wants to. He wants to be able to love her and he gets these moments where he sees himself being able to, but in the bigger picture he can’t. Even if things between them are good and they have good moments it doesn’t mean that love is automatically there. By him not feeling love towards her he feels inhuman, which is why he says that her love makes him feel like “maybe being a human is not such a bad thing to be.”
This song is obviously about sex and a young relationship about serious love that at one point may have been good at one point, but is now corrupt and neither partners are happy, however they still continue with their spiraling relationship.
So. To my understanding and from my million times listening to this song: the song is about two people getting really drunk and having sex with each other, a one night stand essentially, and he wakes up in the morning hungover with a headache and he likes the girl he had sex with but he probably can't have her for some reason probably because she just wanted a one night thing, that's why he's fucked. He gets feelings and grows attached and even though a lot of feelings of guilt and regret come from one night stand, he doesn't feel any of that (even though he knows he should) because he actually likes her. YOURE WELCOME