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.
got a pinch of tobacco in my pocket
i’m not gonna roll it no I’m not gonna smoke it
til we’re staring at the stars and the rockets
twinkling in the silvery night
two sips of whiskey in the flask but I’m not gonna drink them
I swear I’ll make it last
til we’re drinking out of the same glass again
and though the sand may be washed by the sea
and the old will be lost in the new
well four will not wait for three
for three never waited for two
and though you will not wait for me
I’ll wait for you
got a polaroid picture in my wallet
I’m not going to tear it no I’m not gonna spoil it
It’s an unspoken heartbreak
a heartbroken handshake i’ll take with me where I go
and three words on the tip of my tongue
not to be spoken nor sung
or whispered to anyone
til I scream them at the top of my lungs again
and though the sand may be washed by the sea
and the old will be lost in the new
well four will not wait for three
for three never waited for two
and though you will not wait for me
I’ll wait for you
I’ll wait for you
and I’ll wait for you
got a pinch of tobacco in my pocket
I’m not gonna roll it no I’m not gonna smoke it
til we’re staring at the stars and the rockets
twinkling in the silvery night
i’m not gonna roll it no I’m not gonna smoke it
til we’re staring at the stars and the rockets
twinkling in the silvery night
two sips of whiskey in the flask but I’m not gonna drink them
I swear I’ll make it last
til we’re drinking out of the same glass again
and though the sand may be washed by the sea
and the old will be lost in the new
well four will not wait for three
for three never waited for two
and though you will not wait for me
I’ll wait for you
got a polaroid picture in my wallet
I’m not going to tear it no I’m not gonna spoil it
It’s an unspoken heartbreak
a heartbroken handshake i’ll take with me where I go
and three words on the tip of my tongue
not to be spoken nor sung
or whispered to anyone
til I scream them at the top of my lungs again
and though the sand may be washed by the sea
and the old will be lost in the new
well four will not wait for three
for three never waited for two
and though you will not wait for me
I’ll wait for you
I’ll wait for you
and I’ll wait for you
got a pinch of tobacco in my pocket
I’m not gonna roll it no I’m not gonna smoke it
til we’re staring at the stars and the rockets
twinkling in the silvery night
Lyrics submitted by hahawht
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More Featured Meanings
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
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.
Midnight
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Midnight” is a song about finding a love that is so true that it provides a calming feeling through every storm. Ed Sheeran reflects on his good fortunes in landing someone with such peace and support and speaks of not fearing the dark days because he knows they’ll all end in the safety nets of her arms.
“Well, good morning there / What a way to start the day / With everything laid bare,” Ed Sheeran sings in the first verse, enthusiastic to be waking up beside his woman. He apologizes for missing her calls in the second verse and promises to return them because for him, speaking to her is the most important thing. “Well, I get lost inside my head / In this chaos, you’re my calm / And I will find my feet again / ‘Cause еven the worst days of my life will always еnd / At midnight in your arms,” sings Ed Sheeran in the chorus, revelling in his good luck.
Somewhere Only We Know
Keane
Keane
Per the FAQ on Keane's website, Keane's drummer Richard Hughes, stated the following:
"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs... It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message... Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."
With the nostalgic sentiment and the overall tone of the song, I think Keane is attempting to express a Portuguese term known as 'saudade', which does not have a direct English translation but roughly means "that which we remember because it is gone."
"And though you will not wait for me, I’ll wait for you"
I think this song is really beautiful and I love it, but it also makes me a bit upset. He is waiting for this woman even though he knows that she might never return to him. And it's incredibly romantic how he's saving his special moments to share with her whenever she gets there. But why is it romantic? Why isn't it helpless and desperate, at best, misguided? Why does this man get to turn his waiting into a beautiful thing when my own wait is so painful and fruitless?
There is beauty in the act of peaceful disobedience, ain't it? After all, the only thing really in Your control (and mine) is choosing a perspective to view the facts out of.<br /> That seems not much and still it can mean the world of a difference for You.<br /> <br /> You are right, there is beauty in the disobedience described through these lyrics: the utterly delusionary waiting out of fate, choosing the impossible option.<br /> <br /> In the end it is not about whether Your choice is realistic or not but whether You make the right choice. <br />
So basically its about a guy who loves a girl sooo much but she doesnt like him back not even a bit it hurts him but he keeps going he loves her sooo much too much and this kinda alludes to a stanza in the song let her go by the sane band "Well you see her when you fall asleep But never to touch and never to keep 'Cause you loved her too much And you dived too deep" hes dived to deep and he keeps waiting for her, waiting for her to say i love you something that hes always wanted from her but no it never comes and by "starin at the stars and rockets twinkling in the silvery night" its like a dream for him a dream that will never come true and the dream is just him and her sitting together staring at the starry night probably just talking...just talking to each other such a simple dream. "The dream is a fulfilment of a wish"-Sigmund Freud
This could be about missing his father, about a close mate or friend, not necessarily a woman. It is very romantic, but if you think of it in terms of someone he could see again, but he doesn't know when...someone he misses desperately in the meantime, it is less hopeless. It's a beautiful expression of his loyalty and willingness to wait for whoever it is.
This could be about missing his father, about a close mate or friend, not necessarily a woman. It is very romantic, but if you think of it in terms of someone he could see again, but he doesn't know when...someone he misses desperately in the meantime, it is less hopeless. It's a beautiful expression of his loyalty and willingness to wait for whoever it is.
I'll wait for you I believe it is love that is waiting for him. It's cool to listen to the song as if it is love writing a song to you. For instance in the chorus it says 4 will not wait for 3 for 3 never waited for 2. 4 is the girl he likes that wont wait for him. 3 is him and 2 is the girl that he never waited for. 4 and 2 are his new and old "lovers" and he wants to wait for a specific person but instead he should just wait for love and not a specific person. Love is telling him that although he will not wait for love, love will wait for him. I'm not exactly positive this is the meaning, but it makes the song really interesting when listening to it with this perspective.