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.
When she goes, she's gone
If she stays, she stays here
The girl does what she wants to do
She knows what she wants to do
And I know I'm fakin' it
I'm not really makin' it
I'm such a dubious soul
And a walk in the garden
Wears me down
Tangled in the fallen vines
Pickin' up the punchlines
I've just been fakin' it
Not really makin' it
Is there any danger?
No, not not really
Just lean on me
Takin' time to treat your friendly neighbors honestly
I've just been fakin' it (fakin' it)
I'm not really makin' it
This feeling of fakin' it
I still haven't shaken it
Prior to this lifetime
I surely was a tailor
Look at me
I own the tailor's face and hands
I am the tailor's face and hands and
I know I'm fakin' it (fakin' it)
I'm not really makin' it
This feeling of fakin' it
I still haven't shaken it (shaken it)
I know I'm fakin' it
I'm not really makin' it
If she stays, she stays here
The girl does what she wants to do
She knows what she wants to do
And I know I'm fakin' it
I'm not really makin' it
I'm such a dubious soul
And a walk in the garden
Wears me down
Tangled in the fallen vines
Pickin' up the punchlines
I've just been fakin' it
Not really makin' it
Is there any danger?
No, not not really
Just lean on me
Takin' time to treat your friendly neighbors honestly
I've just been fakin' it (fakin' it)
I'm not really makin' it
This feeling of fakin' it
I still haven't shaken it
Prior to this lifetime
I surely was a tailor
Look at me
I own the tailor's face and hands
I am the tailor's face and hands and
I know I'm fakin' it (fakin' it)
I'm not really makin' it
This feeling of fakin' it
I still haven't shaken it (shaken it)
I know I'm fakin' it
I'm not really makin' it
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
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How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
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.
This is one of my fave songs from the album. I took the effort to learn to play/sing it on guitar; maybe I'll brush it up! The hero of this song is Simon's "Walter Mitty," albeit with a different tack. Simon is more than a Thurber; he's a Joyce. He's a master at capturing people's inner dialogs; this song is the lament of a feign man. He's failing at romance, and tries to convince himself he's granting the object of his affections her freedom. He's ill at ease in the natural world (garden). He has "bulwark" fantasies, interlaced with good-ol'-joe salt-o'-the-earth fantasies. He finally resorts to a past-life fantasy. Is it real? Or is this just "higher and deeper?" is the very act of scrabbling to escape reality by indulging fantasies this fellow's trap?