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.
Fair play to you
Killarney's lakes are so blue
And the architecture I'm taking in with my mind
So fine
Tell me of Poe
Oscar Wilde and Thoreau
Let your midnight and your daytime turn into love of life
It's a very fine line
But you've got the mind child
To carry on
When it's just about to be
Carried on
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And you say "Geronimo"
There's only one meadow's way to go
And you say "Geronimo"
A paperback book
As we walk down the street
Fill my mind with tales of mystery, mystery
And imagination
Forever fair
And I'm touching your hair
I wish we could be dreamers
In this dream, oh
Let it dream
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And you say "Geronimo"
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And you say "Geronimo"
Fair play to you
Killarney's lakes are so blue
High-ho silver, tit for tat
And I love you for that
High-ho silver, tit for tat
And I love you for that, love you for that, love you for that
High-ho silver, tit for tat, tit for tat
And I love you for that
High-ho silver, tit for tat, hah!
Yeah, yeah
And I love you for that
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And I, and I say "Geronimo"
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And we say "Geronimo"
Geronimo
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And we say Geronimo
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And we say Geronimo
Fair play to you
Killarney's lakes are so blue
And the architecture I'm taking in with my mind
So fine
Tell me of Poe
Oscar Wilde and Thoreau
Let your midnight and your daytime turn into love of life
It's a very fine line
But you've got the mind child
To carry on
When it's just about to be
Carried on
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And you say "Geronimo"
There's only one meadow's way to go
And you say "Geronimo"
A paperback book
As we walk down the street
Fill my mind with tales of mystery, mystery
And imagination
Forever fair
And I'm touching your hair
I wish we could be dreamers
In this dream, oh
Let it dream
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And you say "Geronimo"
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And you say "Geronimo"
Fair play to you
Killarney's lakes are so blue
High-ho silver, tit for tat
And I love you for that
High-ho silver, tit for tat
And I love you for that, love you for that, love you for that
High-ho silver, tit for tat, tit for tat
And I love you for that
High-ho silver, tit for tat, hah!
Yeah, yeah
And I love you for that
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And I, and I say "Geronimo"
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And we say "Geronimo"
Geronimo
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And we say Geronimo
And there's only one meadow's way to go
And we say Geronimo
Fair play to you
Lyrics submitted by yuri_sucupira
Fair Play Lyrics as written by Van Morrison
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
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”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
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."
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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.
i really hope this song isn't about a couple having inventive sex. it's definitely about walking. van morrison kinda loves singing about walking. other than that it just sounds like he's remembering walks he's had w/ someone, and singing lil phrases these two traded between each other 'geronimo' 'hi-ho silver' 'fair play to you'. i'm pretty sure i read somewhere that 'fair play to you' is something he and a friend of his would say to each other, can't remember why. and i'm assuming 'tit for tat and i love you for that' is him describing their relationship? like saying we give n take equally between each other, and i love you/us for being able to do that. iono. this is all sounding dumb now i just wanted to say this song punches me in the face in a good way and i hope its not just about kinky sex
It's not about what that nitwit pervo dave said. You're closer. It's a gorgeous song about two people talking great literature while taking in the glory of nature, which are two of Morrison's great loves. He says the place he wants to go is only one meadow's walk away, and his companion says, 'Geronimo', which colloquially means 'Let's go!'. It was originally, supposedly, like a war cry for the chief's men as they charged into battle, so it's still used sorta in that way.
I agree with twee!, it's about walking, but I think it's about walking with a child and enjoying their childish exclamations: "High-ho Silver!", "tit-for-tat", "Geronimo!",etc.
"Forever fair And I'm touching your hair I wish we could be dreamers In this dream, oh Let it dream"
Van's aware that the child's fair hair will grow darker as he/she ages and just wishes the walk could be held unchanging, as in a dream.
In this song, "Geronimo" has nothing to do with the above comment calling it " a particular and peculiar sexual move involving leaping onto your partner". In fact, it refers to San Geronimo Valley in Marin County, near the town of Fairfax, where, according to Marin Magazine, "songwriter Van Morrison called home in the ’70s—his parents even owned a record store in town for many years".
The song is all about Van coming to terms with his divorce from Janet and accepting that he was to blame for it.
From 1971-1973, The Morrisons lived in San Geronimo, California, on Meadow Way. There's no #1 Meadow way, or at least not anymore.
Fair play to you is about the time Van's wife Janet took Vans only rock star indulgence, a silver Mercedes, packed all her things in it, as well as Shana, their daughter whom Van adored and left him - not to speak to him again until 1994. "Fair Play To You" says Van, because he deserved it (he was a dark, angry man in the early mid 70's due to him resenting the impositions of fame and resenting that he wasn't as famous as he thought his talent and hard work should have made him). He wronged her through hubris, she took his symbol of hubris. Tit for tat.
The simplest explanation is usually right. :-)
@seb1158631 That sounds like it is the best answer and makes sense. Thanks!
This song is about taking a stroll through the countryside with a beautiful fair headed women. Geronimo is about a particular and peculiar sexual move involving leaping onto your partner. As they walk toward their abode, which is only one meadow away, they discuss this and who is going to be doing the leaping and who is going to be leaped upon. High-ho Silver is their name for an alternative move, they argue it out and in a game of wits Geronimo is the one they settle for as the fair headed lady comes on top. Fair play to her!
I mean woman in the singular - hard to type straight after a couple of Bowmores
@Daveyesdave You're a clueless. It's a gorgeous song about two people talking great literature while taking in the glory of nature, which are two of Morrison's great loves.
@Daveyesdave Aye Johnny, you are on to me, you have called my bluff and busted my mechanism, laying it bare to the elements, to rust in profane negligence exposed to the elements of derision. My interpretation of this song was simply crass and completely incorrect.