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"
I been thinking about you. I been meaning to tell you
Sit down with me, let's have a drink
Back when the War ended your great grandfather hand-wrote letters of apology to all of those families of the men who crewed that U-boat
Haunted 'til his death by that long night off the coast
Your other great granddad came back from Arnhem transformed into a damaged and violent man
Never spoke of the slaughter he witnessed firsthand
Oh, this is the world I brought you into man
All remorse, no rebel. A shell of my former shell
Sit down with me and have a drink
What have we here?
The dreaded failed imagineer?
His private dismay on public display
Son, do not be alarmed by your old man's tears
"Hey old man it's ok. Every dog has his day. Sit down with me let's have a drink"
I been thinking about you. I been meaning to tell you
Sit down with me, let's have a drink
Sit down with me, let's have a drink
Back when the War ended your great grandfather hand-wrote letters of apology to all of those families of the men who crewed that U-boat
Haunted 'til his death by that long night off the coast
Your other great granddad came back from Arnhem transformed into a damaged and violent man
Never spoke of the slaughter he witnessed firsthand
Oh, this is the world I brought you into man
All remorse, no rebel. A shell of my former shell
Sit down with me and have a drink
What have we here?
The dreaded failed imagineer?
His private dismay on public display
Son, do not be alarmed by your old man's tears
"Hey old man it's ok. Every dog has his day. Sit down with me let's have a drink"
I been thinking about you. I been meaning to tell you
Sit down with me, let's have a drink
Lyrics submitted by psionicz
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Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
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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.
Amazing
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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.
One of the themes of this album is Chris reflecting on his life of activism and social justice, and dealing with the reality that so little has changed and what that means for his kids' future.
In this song, Chris imagines a conversation with his son sometime in the future. "Sit down with me, let's have a drink." His son is old enough to have a drink with his dad--age 16-21 or somewhere in there; about the same age Chris was when he formed Propagandhi and really began to understand how messed up the world is.
Imagineers work for Disney Parks to create these fantasy environments where everyone is happy, nothing is wrong, and guests can imagine that the world is perfect. In this scenario, Chris is a "Failed Imagineer." This could mean a few things:
In any event, it's time they had a talk. "I been thinking about you. I been meaning to tell you." Here's a bit of an explanation of why society is so destructive, and a bit about our family history.
Both of your great-grandfathers went to war. One came back "haunted," trying to come to terms with what he had done. the other came back "damaged and violent" but unwilling to open up and talk about it to anyone.
"Oh, this is the world I brought you into man."
Chris tried to fight for a more equitable society, or raise his son to see the positivity rather than the negativity, or to break free from his past. But at this point he is a failed imagineer, a shell of his former self, no longer a rebel, but remorseful at what could have been. He's tried to keep it in like his great granddad, but " His private dismay on public display."
His son reassures him "Hey old man it's ok. Every dog has his day." Generations pass, life goes on.
@ciakov Good explanation. I believe the meaning behind the "failed imagineer" line is that society expects us to be imagineers for our children, projecting an image of perfection and harmony as you said. So he is referring to himself as a "failed imagineer" because he is telling his son the truth. He is being honest and putting his "private dismay on public display", even openly weeping about it ("Son, do not be alarmed by your old man's tears") rather than putting on a fake smile and pretending that everything is okay.