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.
Roll out here mister
If you need a little rest
Lay me down in Marbletown
A bone yard is the best
There was a bad bull on the railroad
Tried to put me off his train
Lay me down in Marbletown
'Til the coast is clear again
I can hear them a- hollerin'
'We got a man down here
We got a man down'
I'm gonna flip me a cannonball
That won't stop for anyone
Lay me down in Marbletown
Wait 'til morning comes
I'm gonna roll out here in the tombstones
Wait here on my train
Lay me down in Marbletown
I hope that it don't rain
And I can still hear them hollerin
'We got a man down here
We got a man down'
Roll out here mister
If you need a little rest
Lay me down in Marbletown
A bone yard is the best
If you need a little rest
Lay me down in Marbletown
A bone yard is the best
There was a bad bull on the railroad
Tried to put me off his train
Lay me down in Marbletown
'Til the coast is clear again
I can hear them a- hollerin'
'We got a man down here
We got a man down'
I'm gonna flip me a cannonball
That won't stop for anyone
Lay me down in Marbletown
Wait 'til morning comes
I'm gonna roll out here in the tombstones
Wait here on my train
Lay me down in Marbletown
I hope that it don't rain
And I can still hear them hollerin
'We got a man down here
We got a man down'
Roll out here mister
If you need a little rest
Lay me down in Marbletown
A bone yard is the best
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
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Fortnight
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I can't quite decide if it means he's hiding from a railroad bull (security officer) in a graveyard OR if he was killed by the bull and either doesn't realize it ("I can hear them a- hollerin' We got a man down here") or does is has accepted his fate ("A bone yard is the best").
I think he was killed accidentally by the bull and is subtly accepting his death by pretending he's just hiding for a while out in the graveyard.
OK, now I think he accidentally killed the bull and is hiding out in a cemetery.
It seems to be about vagrants travelling the railroads and sleeping rough among the graves in America, maybe in the early 20th century.
Marbletown is slang for a graveyard, it was (and still is) common for homeless people to sleep rough among the graves, sometimes pushing tombstones off to find a dry place to sleep. Hence the opening line, roll out here mister if you need a little rest - to roll out would signify laying out some kind of bed to sleep on among the tombstones and hoping it doesn't rain.
A "bull" is a name given to guards employed by the railroads to seek out those who would otherwise seek a free ride on a train and throw them off. On finding an illegal traveller on the train you can imagine the bull shouting out, "we got a man down here".
Cannonball is a term given to a non-stop train, because it doesn't stop for anyone, much like a literal cannonball wouldn't, so our imagined protagonist waits his time and rests the night in the graveyard until morning comes when he can seek out an open box car on a train and take his chances once more.