I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
It's another world we live in here so radical and clean
Every Saturday we protest things out on the campus green
And we came from far to find this place where hearts and minds are free
And we walk together on the grass in peaceful anarchy
Where the things we've amassed are undeniably surpassed
By the value of our goals and how high we can reach
So when no one can pass Professor Leon Siegel's class
It's okay because we still absorb the great things he can teach
We send our greetings from the terrarium
That earthy college paradise where kids can work and play
But you know that when we leave from this terrarium
We're told that we are going to save the world someday
It's another world we live in 'midst the placid greenery
We can talk about disaster and admire the scenery
When we cannot find an answer to our Nicaraguan war
We can order out for pizza and deliver it some more
But while nothing much gets done and what we do just looks like fun
You must remember what we do is more important than it sounds
For when a case is well done in Constitution 101
We know that bigger trials are possible to win on bigger grounds
We extend our greetings from the terrarium
That earthy college paradise where kids can work and play
But you know that when we leave from this terrarium
We're told that we are going to save the world someday
There's a fear that you will sell your dreams for stock and cut your hair
As you throw your graduation cap up in the real world air
Then you see a man in uniform approaching your best friend
As he shakes the woman's hand he says "We need a few good men"
And it really breaks your heart to know she majored in Greek art
And now your pacifistic friend asks for his card just like a queen
Yeah, but then you'll watch her smile and start to shred that little card apart
And the small white pieces flutter down like doves upon the green
We still get greetings from the terrarium
That earthy college paradise that we all loved and ran
And you know that now that we're gone from the terrarium
We may not save the world but we know that we'll do the best we can
Every Saturday we protest things out on the campus green
And we came from far to find this place where hearts and minds are free
And we walk together on the grass in peaceful anarchy
Where the things we've amassed are undeniably surpassed
By the value of our goals and how high we can reach
So when no one can pass Professor Leon Siegel's class
It's okay because we still absorb the great things he can teach
We send our greetings from the terrarium
That earthy college paradise where kids can work and play
But you know that when we leave from this terrarium
We're told that we are going to save the world someday
It's another world we live in 'midst the placid greenery
We can talk about disaster and admire the scenery
When we cannot find an answer to our Nicaraguan war
We can order out for pizza and deliver it some more
But while nothing much gets done and what we do just looks like fun
You must remember what we do is more important than it sounds
For when a case is well done in Constitution 101
We know that bigger trials are possible to win on bigger grounds
We extend our greetings from the terrarium
That earthy college paradise where kids can work and play
But you know that when we leave from this terrarium
We're told that we are going to save the world someday
There's a fear that you will sell your dreams for stock and cut your hair
As you throw your graduation cap up in the real world air
Then you see a man in uniform approaching your best friend
As he shakes the woman's hand he says "We need a few good men"
And it really breaks your heart to know she majored in Greek art
And now your pacifistic friend asks for his card just like a queen
Yeah, but then you'll watch her smile and start to shred that little card apart
And the small white pieces flutter down like doves upon the green
We still get greetings from the terrarium
That earthy college paradise that we all loved and ran
And you know that now that we're gone from the terrarium
We may not save the world but we know that we'll do the best we can
Lyrics submitted by aur0ra
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
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.
Another Love
Tom Odell
Tom Odell
I think the meaning is pretty clear. This person got really burned in a previous relationship, and because of this is unable to love and show care in his present one, even though he so badly wants to. It's lovely song, and very sad. You can really feel how defeated and frustrated he is with himself.
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."
It's about going to a liberal college and learning all you can to save the world someday while joking around and doing all those fun college things. I love the part in the end where the army person tries to recruit the speaker's friend but she tears his business card apart. Really beautiful coming of age song.