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.
Sketch it
Witness the relentless, the manhunt is tensing
The Tek left behind was printless
Narcs and Homicide, Feds and armoured rides
Hell se-la-cia, I'm vest up, armed to die
Forever will, Glock shots, shoots to kill
So what the deal; violate, feel the steel
The cleverest, so whoever slips
I'm roaming and holding, terrorists born with this, getting on with this
Making moves while you fake moves, you and your fronting crews
Dressed pawning jewels, living in 6-2's
But now it's on, the end justifies the means
Lye smoke and cream, is all I fiend
It's in my genes, I float through the streets and seen
In a tinted European and 50 coupe, it's green
Nothing in between, me and my team, we ill too
Respects due, oh I feel for you
We got this locked now, pure official, white crystal
The hype'll get you before the snipe from the pistol
It's potent, just one whiff'll have you floating
Hot and soaking, while I'm sellin y'alls is smoking
Forever shining, but strictly thru diamond's prominent
And dining with wealthy, old dime bitches rich as from cosignin
And Gold and American, Visa Charge-card, hold while I'm rolling
Affiliated with hoes that is just boning
So knowledge me, and analyse all of my qualities
You've crossed all apologies, my lifetime policy
Plus playing for keeps in these New York streets
It get deep, so hold heat, and try and control your sleep
Cause umm, the life I live is deeper than the Mississippi Rivers
Me and my niggas only drivin what a ride give us
Puffing lye, getting high til we die
So fuck it, whatever nigga try, violate and fry
Witness the relentless, the manhunt is tensing
The Tek left behind was printless
Narcs and Homicide, Feds and armoured rides
Hell se-la-cia, I'm vest up, armed to die
Forever will, Glock shots, shoots to kill
So what the deal; violate, feel the steel
The cleverest, so whoever slips
I'm roaming and holding, terrorists born with this, getting on with this
Making moves while you fake moves, you and your fronting crews
Dressed pawning jewels, living in 6-2's
But now it's on, the end justifies the means
Lye smoke and cream, is all I fiend
It's in my genes, I float through the streets and seen
In a tinted European and 50 coupe, it's green
Nothing in between, me and my team, we ill too
Respects due, oh I feel for you
We got this locked now, pure official, white crystal
The hype'll get you before the snipe from the pistol
It's potent, just one whiff'll have you floating
Hot and soaking, while I'm sellin y'alls is smoking
Forever shining, but strictly thru diamond's prominent
And dining with wealthy, old dime bitches rich as from cosignin
And Gold and American, Visa Charge-card, hold while I'm rolling
Affiliated with hoes that is just boning
So knowledge me, and analyse all of my qualities
You've crossed all apologies, my lifetime policy
Plus playing for keeps in these New York streets
It get deep, so hold heat, and try and control your sleep
Cause umm, the life I live is deeper than the Mississippi Rivers
Me and my niggas only drivin what a ride give us
Puffing lye, getting high til we die
So fuck it, whatever nigga try, violate and fry
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
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More Featured Meanings
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“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.
Somewhere Only We Know
Keane
Keane
Per the FAQ on Keane's website, Keane's drummer Richard Hughes, stated the following:
"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs... It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message... Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."
With the nostalgic sentiment and the overall tone of the song, I think Keane is attempting to express a Portuguese term known as 'saudade', which does not have a direct English translation but roughly means "that which we remember because it is gone."
System
Mel And Kim
Mel And Kim
Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning.
This song captivates me still, after 50+ years. Takes me to the deep South and the poverty of some who lived thru truly hard times. And the powerful spirit of a poor young girl being abandoned to her future with only a red dress and her wits to keep her alive.
She not only stayed alive, she turned her hard beginnings around, became self sufficient, successful and someone with respect for herself. She didn't let the naysayers and judgers stop her. She's the one sitting in the drivers seat at the end.
So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started.
There is a huge difference between a singer who simply belts out a song that is on a page in front of them, and someone who can convey an entire experience with their voice. Telling not just a story with words, but taking you inside it and making you feel like you are there, with their interpretation.