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.
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She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
She was your woman, but she was my girl
That would make her ours
Mmmm hmmm
I met a girl
She had another
but I didn't know
The music was hella banging
on the stereo
A latte later, she said Yes
Grabbed me by the hands, much respect
Bounce to bounce came with what I came to get,
(yeah this is how the story goes) mmm?
Chorus
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
She was your woman, but she was my girl
That would make her ours
Mmmm hmmm
Next thing I know, she's with my sister
Talking to my mother, about the other
Is my girlie at home
Or is she with another
Another another another another
Tell me if you've seen him my brutha
A menage-a-three's not hard to see till then
Don't try to put me on hold
Shut up the situation
Like a Springer episode
Shut the door baby
Don't say a word
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
That would make her ours
Mmmm hmmmmm
she's ours mmmm hmmmmm
Dark blue skies
over deep waters
You're drowning in a world of blue
Never taking time to separate the two
Both of 'em goin' crazy over you
One's your lover, the other's your man
Put them together
they wouldn't understand
She's mine
but you can have her
She's yours
I already had her
She's mine?
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
That would make her ours
Mmmm hmmmmm
she's ours mmmm hmmmmm
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
That would make her ours
Mmmm hmmmmm
she's ours mmmm hmmmmm
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
She was your woman, but she was my girl
That would make her ours
Mmmm hmmm
I met a girl
She had another
but I didn't know
The music was hella banging
on the stereo
A latte later, she said Yes
Grabbed me by the hands, much respect
Bounce to bounce came with what I came to get,
(yeah this is how the story goes) mmm?
Chorus
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
She was your woman, but she was my girl
That would make her ours
Mmmm hmmm
Next thing I know, she's with my sister
Talking to my mother, about the other
Is my girlie at home
Or is she with another
Another another another another
Tell me if you've seen him my brutha
A menage-a-three's not hard to see till then
Don't try to put me on hold
Shut up the situation
Like a Springer episode
Shut the door baby
Don't say a word
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
That would make her ours
Mmmm hmmmmm
she's ours mmmm hmmmmm
Dark blue skies
over deep waters
You're drowning in a world of blue
Never taking time to separate the two
Both of 'em goin' crazy over you
One's your lover, the other's your man
Put them together
they wouldn't understand
She's mine
but you can have her
She's yours
I already had her
She's mine?
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
That would make her ours
Mmmm hmmmmm
she's ours mmmm hmmmmm
She was your woman, but she was my girl
One on one, the queen of two worlds
That would make her ours
Mmmm hmmmmm
she's ours mmmm hmmmmm
Lyrics submitted by Mopnugget
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No Surprises
Radiohead
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Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Trouble Breathing
Alkaline Trio
Alkaline Trio
While the obvious connections with suicide or alcoholism could be drawn easily, more subtly this song could be about someone who views the world through a negative lens constantly and how as much as the writer tries to show the beauty in the world, this person refuses to see it. It's one or another between the rope and the bottle. There is no good option for this person. They can't see it. Skiba sings it in a kind of exasperated way like He's tired of hearing this negative view constantly and just allowing that person to continue feeling the way they feel knowing he can't do anything about it. You can hear it when he says maybe you're a vampire.
Somewhere Only We Know
Keane
Keane
Per the FAQ on Keane's website, Keane's drummer Richard Hughes, stated the following:
"We've been asked whether "Somewhere Only We Know" is about a specific place, and Tim has been saying that, for him, or us as individuals, it might be about a geographical space, or a feeling; it can mean something individual to each person, and they can interpret it to a memory of theirs... It's perhaps more of a theme rather than a specific message... Feelings that may be universal, without necessarily being totally specific to us, or a place, or a time..."
With the nostalgic sentiment and the overall tone of the song, I think Keane is attempting to express a Portuguese term known as 'saudade', which does not have a direct English translation but roughly means "that which we remember because it is gone."
Sunglasses at Night
Corey Hart
Corey Hart
In the 1980s, sunglasses were a common fashion for people who wanted to adopt a "tough guy" persona (note all the cop shows from that era -- Simon & Simon, Miami Vice, etc. -- where the lead characters wore shades). So I think this song is about a guy who wears shades as a way of hiding his insecurity after learning that his girlfriend is cheating on him. He's trying to pretend that he's a "tough guy" to hide the fact that his girlfriend's affair is disturbing him.
i was in a similar situation. the guy was my friend and i thought he and my best friend were in love...but i loved my guy friend. it was very sad.
He was your man, but he was my boy One on one, the king of two worlds He was your man, but he was my boy That would make him ours Mmmm hmmm
These are easily the worst lyrics of any Sugar Ray song. Ugh, it just makes me sick to hear the line "shut the door, baby, don't say a word." Like a HORRIBLE case of deja vu...