I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Hey friends when will you get here?
Hey friends I need to hear voices
I don't care what you talk about
Hey friends I just need to hear voices
Could you bring the manual?
Bring the repair manual?
Something has really gone wrong here, here
Something has really really gone wrong
I'm the king of the animals
I'm the king of the trees and animals
Self-crowned king of the trees and the animals
I'm a king so give me a crown
I am an animal
Give me an animal crown
Hey friends when will you get here?
Hey friends this is my kingdom
This is a tree
This is an animal
Ask any one of them
And they daren't deny it
Ask any one of them
And they daren't deny it
No don't you dare deny it
This is my tree
This is my animal
But something has really gone wrong
I'm the king of the animals
I'm the king of the trees and animals
Self-crowned king of the trees and the animals
I'm a king so give me a crown
I am an animal
Give me an animal crown
I am an animal, oh give me an animal crown...
I'm in love with a narcissist
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with my nemesis
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with a narcissist
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with my pharmacist
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with a narcissist
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with my analyst
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with my nemesis
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with a narcissist
And I know for the mirror told me
Hey friends when will you get here?
Hey friends I need to hear voices
I don't care what you talk about
Hey friends I just need to hear voices
Something has really really gone wrong
Hey friends I need to hear voices
I don't care what you talk about
Hey friends I just need to hear voices
Could you bring the manual?
Bring the repair manual?
Something has really gone wrong here, here
Something has really really gone wrong
I'm the king of the animals
I'm the king of the trees and animals
Self-crowned king of the trees and the animals
I'm a king so give me a crown
I am an animal
Give me an animal crown
Hey friends when will you get here?
Hey friends this is my kingdom
This is a tree
This is an animal
Ask any one of them
And they daren't deny it
Ask any one of them
And they daren't deny it
No don't you dare deny it
This is my tree
This is my animal
But something has really gone wrong
I'm the king of the animals
I'm the king of the trees and animals
Self-crowned king of the trees and the animals
I'm a king so give me a crown
I am an animal
Give me an animal crown
I am an animal, oh give me an animal crown...
I'm in love with a narcissist
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with my nemesis
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with a narcissist
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with my pharmacist
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with a narcissist
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with my analyst
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with my nemesis
And I know for the mirror told me
I'm in love with a narcissist
And I know for the mirror told me
Hey friends when will you get here?
Hey friends I need to hear voices
I don't care what you talk about
Hey friends I just need to hear voices
Something has really really gone wrong
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More Featured Meanings
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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.
This reminds me a lot of false bravado or false confidence. This person has established himself king of pretty much everything, but despite how narcissistic and confident he is, he seems uneasy without any supporters or friends. Therefore, even though he is completely absorbed into himself, he is still weak on the inside, needing others to affirm his status.
"Hey friends, when will you get here? Hey friends, I need to hear voices. I don't care what you talk about. Hey friends, I just need to hear voices."
A peek inside the brain of a megalomaniac.
I got something completely different from it so I guess I'll add my two scents.
my interpretation is that the song is about the relationship between humans and the rest of the animals. "Hey friends when will you get here? Hey friends I need to hear voices" is about how humans are so "ahead" of other animals that we have no one to talk to but ourselves. "Something has really gone wrong" could be about man made extinctions or the eviroment and we have no one to ask for help but ourselves. "Self-crowned king of the trees and the animals" humans log which animals hunt which, and naturally we put ourselves at the top of that list. "This is a tree, This is an animal, Ask any one of them, And they daren't deny it" humans "decided" which life forms are fauna and which are flora, and obviously if you ask one of them it will be unable to deny it. "I'm in love with a narcissist, And I know for the mirror told me" again, no one except humans can talk, so we just talk to ourselves, fall in love with ourselves, medicate ourselves etc.
I might be way of but I'd love some feedback :)
Pretty much what essanay thinks. This person (could be the singer) Has made himself the head or alpha of his world but he realizes he's nothing without his yes men. He's spent too much time on his own talking to himself, looking at himself, questioning who he is and he's starting to not believe in his own self importance anymore. His peers or underlings are the ones that give him his self belief and he's realized he's nothing without them. He needs to be lost in his own lie because without it there is no meaning. Better happy and deluded.