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.
"Baby," he says, "You are like the clean white page and I the pen.
The innocence I find between your girlish thighs is like
The fountain of youth to my old bones."
And she replies, "Daddy's little girl's a precocious child
I love to please, I'll do anything that you ask of me
Eager to fulfill all of Daddy's needs."
"Baby, he says, "I can never love older girls like I love you.
You're easier to please and you never give me grief
'Cause you accept everything I say and do."
And she replies, "I'm in no position to make demands.
I have no past, no one else has done to me what you do.
I've got no one else to compare you to."
"And as you grow older
Try to look sixteen all your life,
Old women grow bitter
Don't let that happen to you."
"And why is it charming,
Pretending I'm younger than my years?
Why can't I grow up with dignity
set me free?"
"Baby," he says, "Now that you're older I feel our love has died.
Once upon a time you never criticised me.
Oh, I much preferred you as a child."
And I reply, "Everything you said to me was a lie.
I know your kind, you just want a daughter without the wife.
You don't need a girlfriend you need a life."
The innocence I find between your girlish thighs is like
The fountain of youth to my old bones."
And she replies, "Daddy's little girl's a precocious child
I love to please, I'll do anything that you ask of me
Eager to fulfill all of Daddy's needs."
"Baby, he says, "I can never love older girls like I love you.
You're easier to please and you never give me grief
'Cause you accept everything I say and do."
And she replies, "I'm in no position to make demands.
I have no past, no one else has done to me what you do.
I've got no one else to compare you to."
"And as you grow older
Try to look sixteen all your life,
Old women grow bitter
Don't let that happen to you."
"And why is it charming,
Pretending I'm younger than my years?
Why can't I grow up with dignity
set me free?"
"Baby," he says, "Now that you're older I feel our love has died.
Once upon a time you never criticised me.
Oh, I much preferred you as a child."
And I reply, "Everything you said to me was a lie.
I know your kind, you just want a daughter without the wife.
You don't need a girlfriend you need a life."
Lyrics submitted by nicole
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Just A Little Lovin'
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/

Plastic Bag
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“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
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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.

Zombie
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Cranberries, The
"Zombie" is about the ethno-political conflict in Ireland. This is obvious if you know anything of the singer (Dolores O'Riordan)'s Irish heritage and understood the "1916" Easter Rising reference.
"Another head hangs lowly
Child is slowly taken
And the violence caused such silence
Who are we mistaken
-
Another mother's breaking
Heart is taking over"
Laments the Warrington bomb attacks in which two children were fatally injured on March 23rd, 1993. Twelve year old Tim Parry was taken off life support with permission from his mother after five days in the hospital, virtually braindead.
"But you see it's not me
It's not my family"
References how people who are not directly involved with the violence feel about it. They are "zombies" without sympathy who refuse to take action while others suffer.
I don't think it's about "about a father molesting his young daughter" or pedophilia ("Try to look sixteen all your life"--pedophilia refers to sexual attraction to pre-pubescents, and sixteen is at or above the age of sexual consent in many jurisdictions). I think instead it is about a man who dates a succession of much younger women because he can manipulate them, and they don't have enough life experience to see through he sh*% and stand up for themselves ("Once upon a time you never criticised me").
Also, is it maybe "Try to ACT sixteen all your life" instead of "Try to look sixteen all your life"? After all, the next line is "Old women grow bitter". not something like 'Old women get wrinkled'.
It doesn't necessarily have to be about pedophilia (but could be). I always thought it was about guys approaching middle age that want to date high school girls. It goes through all the reasons why they do this. They don't have the experience that leads to wisdom, cynicism, and equal defense. It also hits on the sexism there is against being an older woman with life experience. Growing older and gaining insight happens no matter how much the man tries to find a young an inexperienced woman...she grows wiser anyway and outsmarts him in the end.
I like songs like this that are happy sounding but filled with tension.
why is this my life?
Whoa, I hope this isn't your life. I hope this isn't anyone's life. If I'm not mistaken this song is about a father molesting his young daughter, who doesn't know any better until the last verse.
^ Ugh, I never thought of that... the last verse throws it off a bit though...
well Obviously this references pedophilia. I would also say this is between a man and his child, even though the child has "grown" he wants her to pretend to be younger than she is, but she wants to grow. Thus ending their "Relationship." "I know your kind, you just want a daughter without the wife. " This line confuses me though, sometimes i interpret the lyrics as a man and his wife
How come nobody ever talks about the pedophilia references in "Kiss Chase"?
ANyone know what the bg dialog is towards the end of the song? May have to break out Audacity for this one...
In an interview Miki stated this was about the Rolling Stone Bill Wyman and a lover he had that was around 17 or 18 at the time. Supposedly despite being more than half his age, he dumped her for "being too old."