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.
You can't fight a war with nobody to fight back
But if we get to digging to the bottom of the stack
We'll sell it to the youth and you never know, maybe
You'll get back home and you'll see your baby, oh
We'll just act like we care
All we're needing is a reason, it don't need to be clear
Singing songs to the news, it can play to their fears
Someone's got to die and you don't have to love him
But the military's still got more in its budget, oh
We always need more next year
No one cares about the waves
At the bottom of the ocean
And at the bottom of the ocean
It's always blue
No one will remember
'Cause nothing lasts forever
And everybody's looking
For somebody to use
When you don't bring them home and the war hasn't ended
There's still money there and that money needs spending
The powers that be, we got to do what we do
If they never know it then they'll never feel used, oh
Like I often do
To all the pretty girls out there looking for heartache
Crying, "All I wanted is to be your baby"
And all the pretty girls out there living with heartache
Crying 'cause they're never going to see their baby, oh
We just act like we care
No one cares about the waves
At the bottom of the ocean
And at the bottom of the ocean
It's always blue
No one will remember
'Cause nothing lasts forever
And everybody's looking
For somebody to use
No one will remember
'Cause nothing lasts forever
The world is always changing
And it's always blue
And it's always blue
But if we get to digging to the bottom of the stack
We'll sell it to the youth and you never know, maybe
You'll get back home and you'll see your baby, oh
We'll just act like we care
All we're needing is a reason, it don't need to be clear
Singing songs to the news, it can play to their fears
Someone's got to die and you don't have to love him
But the military's still got more in its budget, oh
We always need more next year
No one cares about the waves
At the bottom of the ocean
And at the bottom of the ocean
It's always blue
No one will remember
'Cause nothing lasts forever
And everybody's looking
For somebody to use
When you don't bring them home and the war hasn't ended
There's still money there and that money needs spending
The powers that be, we got to do what we do
If they never know it then they'll never feel used, oh
Like I often do
To all the pretty girls out there looking for heartache
Crying, "All I wanted is to be your baby"
And all the pretty girls out there living with heartache
Crying 'cause they're never going to see their baby, oh
We just act like we care
No one cares about the waves
At the bottom of the ocean
And at the bottom of the ocean
It's always blue
No one will remember
'Cause nothing lasts forever
And everybody's looking
For somebody to use
No one will remember
'Cause nothing lasts forever
The world is always changing
And it's always blue
And it's always blue
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I think everyone's right about the obvious cynicism and how most of the verses are aimed at politicians who send people off to squabble over petty differences, simply because it perpetuates the military-industrial complex and drives the economy.
But I interpret the chorus as the speaker trying to reassure himself by engaging in some escapism and a large-scale, bird's-eye view of things. Sure, everybody's always looking for someone to use. But in the scheme of things--on a geological scale--none of this matters. Life as a whole on this planet will keep on, far from the silly tiffs that serve as an excuse for politicians to start wars. Those squabbles won't last forever, because nothing lasts forever---except life, insulated from all of these "waves" (all of this human insanity) on the bottom of the ocean. Nature outlasts all of this pettiness, and the world stays blue.