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.
Mary walks
Down to the water's edge
And there she hangs her head
To find herself faded
A shadow of what she once was
She said, "how long have I been sleeping?
And why do I feel so old?
Why do I feel so cold?
My heart is saying one thing
But my body won't let go"
With trembling hands, she reaches up
A stranger's flesh is offered
And I would be the last to know
I would be the last to let it show
I would be the last to go
Take her hand
She will lead you through the fire
Oh and give you back hope
And hope that you won't take too much
Respecting what is left
She cradled us
Oh, she held us in her arms
Unselfish in her suffering, she could not understand
That no one seemed to have the time
To cherish what was given
Oh, and I would be the last to know
And I would be the last to let it show
I would be the last to go
Mary walks
Oh, and I would be the last to know
And I would be the last to let it show
I would be the last to go
Down to the water's edge
And there she hangs her head
To find herself faded
A shadow of what she once was
She said, "how long have I been sleeping?
And why do I feel so old?
Why do I feel so cold?
My heart is saying one thing
But my body won't let go"
With trembling hands, she reaches up
A stranger's flesh is offered
And I would be the last to know
I would be the last to let it show
I would be the last to go
Take her hand
She will lead you through the fire
Oh and give you back hope
And hope that you won't take too much
Respecting what is left
She cradled us
Oh, she held us in her arms
Unselfish in her suffering, she could not understand
That no one seemed to have the time
To cherish what was given
Oh, and I would be the last to know
And I would be the last to let it show
I would be the last to go
Mary walks
Oh, and I would be the last to know
And I would be the last to let it show
I would be the last to go
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Thursday
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
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
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.
To me it is a story of awakening. It has nothing to do with Mary Magdoline other than to make reference to her as the representation of the divine feminine spirit perhaps.
Mary - this is her name identity, her flesh. She realizes her life has not gone as she hoped and she hangs her head - classic body language for sadness, defeat etc.
"To find herself faded a shadow of what she once was" Perhaps a shadow of her childhood self (because kids are so full of light and close to source) or it may even go deeper spiritually to reference how she is in her shadow-self and is not the light of spirit she came in as. .
"How long have I been sleeping and why do I feel so old"
A reference to time passing and her aging body, and perhaps also because when you are in a depressed state you really feel weighed down and old, tired, sad all the time.
"My heart is saying one thing but my body won't let go" This is the struggle during the time of awakening, to try and follow your heart and how the body and mind have built up so much resistance to that idea that it is really hard to let go.
"She reaches up a stranger's flesh is offered" This is about looking up to find yourself in moments of depression and crisis, the "stranger" is simply her spirit touching her and in that moment spirit is a stranger.
All the last to know reference stuff, to me, is about her body and physical self not yet understanding how her spirit is already there....she is just the last to know about it, to realize it, to appreciate it.
Now the tone changes. "Take her hand she will lead you through the fire" - this is about how the spirit will guide a person back to who they truly are, through all the BS that has piled on them through life.
"Hope you won't take too much, respecting what is left, she cradled us", again a tone change and I believe this speaks to mother earth itself as a massively creative life form that has given and given only to be abused and uncherished by humanity. Yet mother earth is still unselfish in her suffering and ever loving - there to heal us from the damage we have caused ourselves and to her. She has unconditional love for us.
So with all this EPIC stuff going on around Mary and her awakening, she is the last to know. Her mind, her physical self, is the last to let it all go and trust.
"Mary Walks" - she is now an embodiment of the divine feminine and she walks this earth...
This is a story of divine feminine awakening my friends, much more akin to Sarah McLachlan.
@JGarden Intuitively interpreted and eloquently summarised IMO!
@JGarden ... this is such a beautiful and inspiring interpretation of this song.. and so in line with my own feelings .. even tho i couldnt find the words you so beautifully wrote here . . Id like to share it in a post with the song .. ill of course credit you for your words and just wanted to ask first .. ????????