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.
Nightshade, a pretty flower
You drink the poison and we count the hours
You black out, holding my hand
I dream of letting go but I just can't
Come clean, dark thing
You can breathe the air again and i'll care again
Come clean, dark thing
Look up to the sky again and i'll try again
Come clean, dark thing
You can breathe the air again
And stop pretending
Dark sky, you're barely breathing
You're still alive but you're already grieving
A headstone, look at what you've become
You see the sadness at the center of everyone
Come clean, dark thing
You can breathe the air again and you'll care again
Come clean, dark thing
Look into the sky again and you'll try again
Come clean, dark thing
You can breathe the air again
And stop pretending
How we sleep, how we lie
How we learn to say goodbye
You are safe here, you are right here
You could promise you could try
All your love, all your life
All your days of wasted time
Come clean, dark thing
You can breathe the air again
And stop pretending
If you say that you want me, too
You drink the poison and we count the hours
You black out, holding my hand
I dream of letting go but I just can't
Come clean, dark thing
You can breathe the air again and i'll care again
Come clean, dark thing
Look up to the sky again and i'll try again
Come clean, dark thing
You can breathe the air again
And stop pretending
Dark sky, you're barely breathing
You're still alive but you're already grieving
A headstone, look at what you've become
You see the sadness at the center of everyone
Come clean, dark thing
You can breathe the air again and you'll care again
Come clean, dark thing
Look into the sky again and you'll try again
Come clean, dark thing
You can breathe the air again
And stop pretending
How we sleep, how we lie
How we learn to say goodbye
You are safe here, you are right here
You could promise you could try
All your love, all your life
All your days of wasted time
Come clean, dark thing
You can breathe the air again
And stop pretending
If you say that you want me, too
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
Come Clean, Dark Thing Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
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This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Three interpretations come to mind: a friend experimenting with the nightshade flower while a friend watches over them, a suicidal friend, or coming back from a poisoned relationship.
"Deadly nightshade" was occasionally used as a recreational drug. Because it is considered extremely dangerous and risky for overdose, the friend is watching over and observing what the other friend is experiencing.
A darker interpretation is a friend has given up and "drank the poison." The other friend doesn't want to see the friend die but doesn't want to leave them alone to die. Maybe they called for help, and the friend was saved: "you can breathe the air again and stop pretending.
I like to think the deadly nightshade poison was an event and souring of a relationship. The relationship looks dead and out for the count. They're waiting for the last breaths, grieving at a headstone, and seeing the negative. The relationship and hope is still there if someone will just make the move. In my head, they came back together, and made beautiful songs and performed for us together. The lyrics don't provide that closure but maybe the fact that the song exists does.
It's easy to think that one or the other in a relationship is the dark thing that needs to come clean, but maybe the dark thing is the bad parts of the relationship and coming clean is just coming to terms with what happened and that no one was any more at fault than another.