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.
A soft sound
To the way she wears her hair down
Covering up her face
Oh what a let down
I don't seem to be having any effect now
Falling all over the place
But you're losing your words
We're speaking in bodies
Avoiding me and talking 'bout you
But you're losing your turn
I guess I'll never learn
Cause I stay another hour or two
For crying out loud, settle down
You know I can't be found with you
We get back to my house
Your arms, my mouth
Now I just stop myself around you
A small town
Dictating all the people we get around
What a familiar face
Do you get what I mean now?
I'm so fixated on the girl with the soft sound
And hair all over the place
But you're sure that I'd learn
I'm pushing through bodies
Avoiding me and walking around you
But you're cold and I burn
I guess I'll never learn
Cause I stay another hour or two
For crying out loud, settle down!
You know I can't be found with you
We get back to my house
Your arms, my mouth
Now I just stop myself around you
A soft sound
To the way she wears her hair down
Covering up her face
Oh what a let down,
I don't seem to be having any effect now
Falling all over the place
But you're losing your words
We're speaking in bodies
Avoiding me and talking 'bout you
But you're losing your turn
I guess I'll never learn
Cause I stay another hour or two
For crying out loud, settle down!
You know I can't be found with you
We get back to my house
Your arms, my mouth
Now I just stop myself around you
For crying out loud
To the way she wears her hair down
Covering up her face
Oh what a let down
I don't seem to be having any effect now
Falling all over the place
But you're losing your words
We're speaking in bodies
Avoiding me and talking 'bout you
But you're losing your turn
I guess I'll never learn
Cause I stay another hour or two
For crying out loud, settle down
You know I can't be found with you
We get back to my house
Your arms, my mouth
Now I just stop myself around you
A small town
Dictating all the people we get around
What a familiar face
Do you get what I mean now?
I'm so fixated on the girl with the soft sound
And hair all over the place
But you're sure that I'd learn
I'm pushing through bodies
Avoiding me and walking around you
But you're cold and I burn
I guess I'll never learn
Cause I stay another hour or two
For crying out loud, settle down!
You know I can't be found with you
We get back to my house
Your arms, my mouth
Now I just stop myself around you
A soft sound
To the way she wears her hair down
Covering up her face
Oh what a let down,
I don't seem to be having any effect now
Falling all over the place
But you're losing your words
We're speaking in bodies
Avoiding me and talking 'bout you
But you're losing your turn
I guess I'll never learn
Cause I stay another hour or two
For crying out loud, settle down!
You know I can't be found with you
We get back to my house
Your arms, my mouth
Now I just stop myself around you
For crying out loud
Lyrics submitted by deadkidsean, edited by marchs
Settle Down Lyrics as written by Adam Brian Thomas Hann Ross Stewart Macdonald
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
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.
I think this song is about a girl who is ashamed to be dating Matthew.
"A soft sound To the way she wears her hair down Covering up her face Oh what a let down I don't seem to be having any effect now Falling all over the place"
He is head-over-heels about her and she just wants to hide her face when they're out in public. Usually things are great between them, but he doesn't "seem to be having any effect now" that they're out in public.
"But you're losing your words We're speaking in bodies Avoiding me and talking 'bout you"
He feels sort of used for sexual purposes. She doesn't really talk to him anymore and they're only 'speaking in bodies.'
"But you're losing your turn I guess I'll never learn Cause I stay another hour or two"
Despite her cold nature towards him, he can't help himself and sticks around.
"For crying out loud, settle down! You know I can't be found with you"
This strikes me as something he thinks she feels. An attitude from her that he shouldn't be upset because he should know that it's not socially acceptable to be dating him.
"We get back to my house Your arms, my mouth Now I just stop myself around you"
But when they're away from the public eye, she's all over him.
"A small town Dictating all the people we get around What a familiar face Do you get what I mean now? I'm so fixated on the girl with the soft sound And hair all over the place"
Just hammering home the point. They live in a small town where anyone could recognize them and she doesn't want word getting around that she's with him.
"But you're sure that I'd learn I'm pushing through bodies Avoiding me and walking around you But you're cold and I burn I guess I'll never learn Cause I stay another hour or two"
He continue to pursue a relationship despite her cold disposition and avoidance in public.