He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
So its like this
The drink goes to my head
And then champagne legs
Well lets get out of bed
'cos we are healthy
And we're in love
We work out so we can get fucked up
And there's this place
That i know
And if you've been paid
Then we can go
We can catch a train
And start again
Where no one knows
Our filthy names
Oh you gorgeous slut
Well you can hardly walk
We are both pissed up whores
Watch my tramp mouth talk
You should have paced yourself
'cos now there is none left
Meet me in the off-licence
At a quarter to ten
Do do do do do do, la la, la la la la
The drink goes to my head
And then champagne legs
Well lets get out of bed
'cos we are healthy
And we're in love
We work out so we can get fucked up
And there's this place
That i know
And if you've been paid
Then we can go
We can catch a train
And start again
Where no one knows
Our filthy names
Oh you gorgeous slut
Well you can hardly walk
We are both pissed up whores
Watch my tramp mouth talk
You should have paced yourself
'cos now there is none left
Meet me in the off-licence
At a quarter to ten
Do do do do do do, la la, la la la la
Lyrics submitted by chamacuti
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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.
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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.