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.
Near Banbridge Town in the County Down
One morning last July
A boreen green came a sweet colleen
And she smiled as she passed me by
She looked so sweet from her two bare feet
To the sheen of her nut brown hair
Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself
For to see I was really there
From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay and
From Galway to Dublin Town
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
As she onward sped, sure I scratched my head
And I looked with a feelin' rare
And I says, says I, to a passer-by
"Whose the maid with the nut brown hair?"
He smiled at me and he says's, says's he
"That's the gem of Ireland's crown
Young Rosie McCann from the banks of a Bann
She's the star of the County Down"
From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay and
From Galway to Dublin Town
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
At the Harvest Fair she'll be surely there
I'll dress in my Sunday clothes
My shoes shone bright and my hat cocked
Right for a smile from my nut brown rose
No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke
Till my plough turns rust colored brown
Till a smiling bride, by my own fireside
Sits the star of the County Down
From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay and
From Galway to Dublin Town
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay and
From Galway to Dublin Town
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
One morning last July
A boreen green came a sweet colleen
And she smiled as she passed me by
She looked so sweet from her two bare feet
To the sheen of her nut brown hair
Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself
For to see I was really there
From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay and
From Galway to Dublin Town
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
As she onward sped, sure I scratched my head
And I looked with a feelin' rare
And I says, says I, to a passer-by
"Whose the maid with the nut brown hair?"
He smiled at me and he says's, says's he
"That's the gem of Ireland's crown
Young Rosie McCann from the banks of a Bann
She's the star of the County Down"
From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay and
From Galway to Dublin Town
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
At the Harvest Fair she'll be surely there
I'll dress in my Sunday clothes
My shoes shone bright and my hat cocked
Right for a smile from my nut brown rose
No pipe I'll smoke, no horse I'll yoke
Till my plough turns rust colored brown
Till a smiling bride, by my own fireside
Sits the star of the County Down
From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay and
From Galway to Dublin Town
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
From Bantry Bay down to Derry Quay and
From Galway to Dublin Town
No maid I've seen like the brown colleen
That I met in the County Down
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
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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.