The song 'Fortnight' by Taylor Swift and Post Malone tells a story about strong feelings, complicated relationships, and secret wishes. It talks about love, betrayal, and wanting someone who doesn't feel the same. The word 'fortnight' shows short-lived happiness and guilty pleasures, leading to sadness. It shows how messy relationships can be and the results of hiding emotions. “I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me,” she kickstarts the song in the first verse with lines suggesting an admission to a hospital for people with mental illnesses. She goes in the verse admitting her lover is the reason why she is like this. In the chorus, she sings about their time in love and reflects on how he has now settled with someone else. “I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary / And I love you, it’s ruining my life,” on the second verse she details her struggles to forget about him and the negative effects of her failure. “Thought of callin’ ya, but you won’t pick up / ‘Nother fortnight lost in America,” Post Malone sings in the outro.
Well it was on this Monday morning
And the day be calm and fine
A harbor grace excursion
With the boys who had the time
And just before the sailor
Took the gangway from the pier
I saw some fellow haul me wife
Aboard as a volunteer
[Chorus]
Oh me, oh my, I heard me old wife cry
Oh me, oh my, I think I'm gonna die!
Oh me, oh my, I heard me old wife say,
"I wish I'd never taken this excursion around the bay"
We had fourteen hundred souls aboard, oh what a splendid sight!
Left strong and regimental to make our spirits bright
And meself being in the double, when a funny things they'd say
They choke themselves from laughing when they'd see us in the bay
[Chorus]
Me wife she got no better, she turned a sickly green
I fed her cake and candy, fat pork and kerosene
Castor Oil and sugar of candy, I rubbed pure oil on her face
And I said she'll be a dandy when we reaches Harbor Grace!
[Chorus]
My wife she got no better, my wife me darling dear
The screeches from her trolley could hear in Carbonear
I tried every place in Harbor Grace,
Tried every store and shop,
To get her something for a cure or take her to the hop
[Chorus]
She died below the brandy's as we were coming back
We buried her in the ocean, wrapped up in a Union Jack
So now I am a single man, in search of a pretty face
And the woman that says she'll have me, I'm off for Harbor Grace!
[Chorus]
And the day be calm and fine
A harbor grace excursion
With the boys who had the time
And just before the sailor
Took the gangway from the pier
I saw some fellow haul me wife
Aboard as a volunteer
[Chorus]
Oh me, oh my, I heard me old wife cry
Oh me, oh my, I think I'm gonna die!
Oh me, oh my, I heard me old wife say,
"I wish I'd never taken this excursion around the bay"
We had fourteen hundred souls aboard, oh what a splendid sight!
Left strong and regimental to make our spirits bright
And meself being in the double, when a funny things they'd say
They choke themselves from laughing when they'd see us in the bay
[Chorus]
Me wife she got no better, she turned a sickly green
I fed her cake and candy, fat pork and kerosene
Castor Oil and sugar of candy, I rubbed pure oil on her face
And I said she'll be a dandy when we reaches Harbor Grace!
[Chorus]
My wife she got no better, my wife me darling dear
The screeches from her trolley could hear in Carbonear
I tried every place in Harbor Grace,
Tried every store and shop,
To get her something for a cure or take her to the hop
[Chorus]
She died below the brandy's as we were coming back
We buried her in the ocean, wrapped up in a Union Jack
So now I am a single man, in search of a pretty face
And the woman that says she'll have me, I'm off for Harbor Grace!
[Chorus]
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings, edited by Phrogz
Excursion Around the Bay Lyrics as written by Alan Thomas Doyle Trad
Lyrics © LEAN GROUND MUSIC LTD., Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
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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.
No Surprises
Radiohead
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
The song is told in story form, but there is more "meaning" beyond what is said. It is a coded warning to wives to let their men go out and party without them. … The song is about an excursion to Harbour Grace, which Wikipedia describes as "essentially an all-day party attended by hundreds of people, in which they would all travel together by train or boat and then do activities at the destination. Excursions were often characterized by excessive drinking and rowdy behaviour." … First verse: The singer is going out on a booze cruise. He didn't expect his wife to come along, but she seems to have been forced onto the ship. (Let's not speculate about what the "volunteer" work entailed; perhaps this was simply serving drinks.) … 2nd verse: He's having a good time (no mention of his wife). … 3rd verse: His wife is sick, and what does he do? He feeds her "cake and candy, fat pork and kerosene, castor oil and sugar of candy". Most of these things would make a sick person feel even worse, while kerosene has even worse, poisonous effects. Either the singer is a true idiot, or he is not actually trying to make his wife feel better. … 4th verse: They get to the party destination, and his wife's "screeches" can be heard far away. The singer goes to the shops to find a cure, or to "take her to the hop". He wants to go to the dance, he wants to find some way to get her there. Taking a person so sick they're screeching to a dance does not seem like it would help them feel better. … 5th verse: The wife dies (I think from alcohol poisoning, "beneath the brandies"). She's immediately buried at sea, despite it being a short journey. The singer does not mourn, but immediately is "in search of a pretty face". Further, he says "And the woman that says she'll have me, I'm off for Harbor Grace!" My interpretation of this line is "If I end up married again, I'll be leaving for the party town." Either he's planning to temporarily get away from his new wife, or (even more darkly) he's hoping for the same outcome again. … The singer was going on a party boat, makes his already-ill wife more sick to the point that she dies, and he's off to find another woman (who had better not get in the way of his partying). His wife declares, repeatedly, "I wish I'd never taken this excursion around the bay". … I love the song, the melodies and harmonies in the chorus, but I think it's not as lighthearted as it sounds.