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.
I was walkin'
Walkin' down the Jericho road
And every mile that I traveled showed
And I'm walkin' down the Jericho road
I just kept on walkin'
Walkin' down the Jericho road
And the sun set red over fields of gold
And I'm walkin' down the Jericho road
Well Joshua fit the battle, that's how the story goes
And the walls come a-tumb-a-lin' down I know
But I'm still walkin'
Walkin' down the Jericho road
I met my mother walkin' down the Jericho road
Tears in her eyes and her head hung low
And she was walkin' down the Jericho road
I met my father walkin' down the Jericho road
His back bent over from a heavy load
And he was walkin' down the Jericho road
I said "papa, don't you know me? Won't you lay your burden down?"
He just shook his head and told me "son, you better turn around"
And he kept on walkin'
Walkin' down the Jericho road
I met my brother walkin' down the Jericho road
And his hands were bloody but his face was clean
And he was walkin' down the Jericho road
I met my sister walkin' down the Jericho road
With a babe in her arms that I'd never seen
And she was walkin' down the Jericho road
She said "It's just a little orphan child I found along the way
I'll raise him as my own and he'll forgive us all someday"
And she kept on walkin'
Walkin' down the Jericho road
I met my mother
I met my father
I met my brother
I met my sister
Walkin' down the Jericho road
And every mile that I traveled showed
And I'm walkin' down the Jericho road
I just kept on walkin'
Walkin' down the Jericho road
And the sun set red over fields of gold
And I'm walkin' down the Jericho road
Well Joshua fit the battle, that's how the story goes
And the walls come a-tumb-a-lin' down I know
But I'm still walkin'
Walkin' down the Jericho road
I met my mother walkin' down the Jericho road
Tears in her eyes and her head hung low
And she was walkin' down the Jericho road
I met my father walkin' down the Jericho road
His back bent over from a heavy load
And he was walkin' down the Jericho road
I said "papa, don't you know me? Won't you lay your burden down?"
He just shook his head and told me "son, you better turn around"
And he kept on walkin'
Walkin' down the Jericho road
I met my brother walkin' down the Jericho road
And his hands were bloody but his face was clean
And he was walkin' down the Jericho road
I met my sister walkin' down the Jericho road
With a babe in her arms that I'd never seen
And she was walkin' down the Jericho road
She said "It's just a little orphan child I found along the way
I'll raise him as my own and he'll forgive us all someday"
And she kept on walkin'
Walkin' down the Jericho road
I met my mother
I met my father
I met my brother
I met my sister
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Jericho Road Lyrics as written by Steve Earle
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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