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.
You cast your spell over me
Don't know where to turn to anymore
I see your face
Every morning when I wake up
Every night when I go to bed
You're here with me
Somehow, don't know how
I can feel you right now
So close, so real
Show me
Show me your colours
Show me
Don't break this spell I'm in
Please don't break my heart
Show me
Show me your colours, baby
Tell me who you really are
I know you want what I want
Far away, but still within our reach
Do you dare?
Are you brave enough to show me
What your heart really wants to
I say your name to myself out loud
Wanna have you all around
Like a cover for the cold on the outside
Making love in the candlelight
Show me
Show me your colours
Show me
Don't break this spell I'm in
Please don't break my heart
Show me
Show me your colours, baby
Tell me who you really are
Baby
Don't tell me I mean nothing
After all you did
Baby, don't you tell me
Tell me I mean nothing
Tell me I mean nothing to you
Please show me now
Show me
Show me your colours
Show me
Don't break this spell I'm in
Please don't break my heart
Show me
Show me your colours, baby
Tell me who you really are
Show me
Show me your colours
Show me
Don't break this spell I'm in
Please don't break my heart
Show me
Show me your colours, baby
Tell me who you really are
I'm not allowed to adore you
The way you know I really want
But I do
Even though it's been a nightmare
To pretend that it's all, alright
It's not the easiest thing to avoid
Damage is already done
I'm in love
With you
Don't know where to turn to anymore
I see your face
Every morning when I wake up
Every night when I go to bed
You're here with me
Somehow, don't know how
I can feel you right now
So close, so real
Show me
Show me your colours
Show me
Don't break this spell I'm in
Please don't break my heart
Show me
Show me your colours, baby
Tell me who you really are
I know you want what I want
Far away, but still within our reach
Do you dare?
Are you brave enough to show me
What your heart really wants to
I say your name to myself out loud
Wanna have you all around
Like a cover for the cold on the outside
Making love in the candlelight
Show me
Show me your colours
Show me
Don't break this spell I'm in
Please don't break my heart
Show me
Show me your colours, baby
Tell me who you really are
Baby
Don't tell me I mean nothing
After all you did
Baby, don't you tell me
Tell me I mean nothing
Tell me I mean nothing to you
Please show me now
Show me
Show me your colours
Show me
Don't break this spell I'm in
Please don't break my heart
Show me
Show me your colours, baby
Tell me who you really are
Show me
Show me your colours
Show me
Don't break this spell I'm in
Please don't break my heart
Show me
Show me your colours, baby
Tell me who you really are
I'm not allowed to adore you
The way you know I really want
But I do
Even though it's been a nightmare
To pretend that it's all, alright
It's not the easiest thing to avoid
Damage is already done
I'm in love
With you
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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.
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Great version of a great song,
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.
I love this song. I think it describes perfectly what I am going through right now. You fall in love with people, but they have difficulties to open up to you, and the more they are hiding from themselves (keeping secrets, lying, etc), the distance between you and those people increases. Little by little, you are losing them. Problem is, you've already fallen for them, and you just want them to open up to you but they won't and choose to leave you instead. It is difficult to accept the fact they broke your heart by avoiding the situation and pretend you never existed "Don't tell me I mean nothing". It's like falling in love with a stranger. You are trying to forget, but it is hard.