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.
If it wasn't for the bass, I wouldn't need these hearing aids.
If it wasn't for mistakes, I probably wouldn't be here today.
10 years ago I was 22.
20 years ago I was 12.
30 years ago I was 2.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
I was zero when I came out my momma, and now everybody knows.
In the before life, I was undead.
I was home schooled, there were no rules.
But I gave it all up, just for the chance to go public.
A celestial scarecrow dancing with the puppets.
A tug in my gut, I'm carrying the world in my stomach.
I'm a surrogate mother-fucker the girls love it.
Birth the suffix and cut the visible string.
Controls much more than a physical thing.
I was born into it, and before I knew it.
I saw the students of poor gettin' hauled off to war.
The law of Judas in the land of the king's tax.
Partaking the Eucharist, than demand your kick-backs.
Spiritual wrist slap, please pass the sacrament.
Ask if big bad black Jesus was African.
Selling a click track, call it a soul-plat.
It's all in how you package it.
The power of a magic trick.
Immaculate concepts, lost in the land of the cross.
I'm standing off with a man of the cloth.
He knows the ins and out's and all I wants the outs.
Hes selling real estate for some place in the clouds.
But I'm not investing in intellectual property.
Inventing gender-bending technology.
Because maybe everybody needs to just become a sexual oddity.
Leaving birth to the test tubes and death to the lottery.
There's no one stopping me, I've gotta be self-regulating.
Wealth was escalating, but my poverty was entertaining.
I'm debating, the value of a caste system.
I'm cash backed for wars and wars funded by my tax income.
I find my part of the problem in part of me.
There's always been a difference between what I am and what I wanna be.
It's either Jihadist freak or Jesus seamster.
I heard god is cumming and shes a screamer.
I couldn't understand what she was telling me.
Why everyone thinks that their their own worst enemy.
I followed the manual and I swallowed the skeleton key.
And it unlocked the hell in me.
(So this is my gift to god!)
Rippin' at my dick like a tourniquet, syphilis!
(This is my gift to god!)
I'm jumpin' out the cake, naked with a shank.
(This is my gift to god!)
Unwrap the package confetti made of maggots.
(This is my gift)
You call that talent? here's your image back, you can have it.
10 years ago I was 22.
20 years ago I was 12.
30 years ago I was 2.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
I was zero when I came out my momma, and now everybody knows.
I was zero when I came out my momma, and now everybody knows.
If it wasn't for the bass, I wouldn't need these hearing aids.
If it wasn't for mistakes, I probably wouldn't be here today.
If it wasn't for mistakes, I probably wouldn't be here today.
If it wasn't for mistakes, I probably wouldn't be here today.
10 years ago I was 22.
20 years ago I was 12.
30 years ago I was 2.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
I was zero when I came out my momma, and now everybody knows.
In the before life, I was undead.
I was home schooled, there were no rules.
But I gave it all up, just for the chance to go public.
A celestial scarecrow dancing with the puppets.
A tug in my gut, I'm carrying the world in my stomach.
I'm a surrogate mother-fucker the girls love it.
Birth the suffix and cut the visible string.
Controls much more than a physical thing.
I was born into it, and before I knew it.
I saw the students of poor gettin' hauled off to war.
The law of Judas in the land of the king's tax.
Partaking the Eucharist, than demand your kick-backs.
Spiritual wrist slap, please pass the sacrament.
Ask if big bad black Jesus was African.
Selling a click track, call it a soul-plat.
It's all in how you package it.
The power of a magic trick.
Immaculate concepts, lost in the land of the cross.
I'm standing off with a man of the cloth.
He knows the ins and out's and all I wants the outs.
Hes selling real estate for some place in the clouds.
But I'm not investing in intellectual property.
Inventing gender-bending technology.
Because maybe everybody needs to just become a sexual oddity.
Leaving birth to the test tubes and death to the lottery.
There's no one stopping me, I've gotta be self-regulating.
Wealth was escalating, but my poverty was entertaining.
I'm debating, the value of a caste system.
I'm cash backed for wars and wars funded by my tax income.
I find my part of the problem in part of me.
There's always been a difference between what I am and what I wanna be.
It's either Jihadist freak or Jesus seamster.
I heard god is cumming and shes a screamer.
I couldn't understand what she was telling me.
Why everyone thinks that their their own worst enemy.
I followed the manual and I swallowed the skeleton key.
And it unlocked the hell in me.
(So this is my gift to god!)
Rippin' at my dick like a tourniquet, syphilis!
(This is my gift to god!)
I'm jumpin' out the cake, naked with a shank.
(This is my gift to god!)
Unwrap the package confetti made of maggots.
(This is my gift)
You call that talent? here's your image back, you can have it.
10 years ago I was 22.
20 years ago I was 12.
30 years ago I was 2.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
When I came out my momma I was zero.
I was zero when I came out my momma, and now everybody knows.
I was zero when I came out my momma, and now everybody knows.
If it wasn't for the bass, I wouldn't need these hearing aids.
If it wasn't for mistakes, I probably wouldn't be here today.
If it wasn't for mistakes, I probably wouldn't be here today.
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
I Was Zero Lyrics as written by Gordon William Patriarca Brian Deck
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, Red Brick Music Publishing, ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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