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.
killing time
the t.v.'s on
with a bottle of shit
buried needle
The record player's
forgotten not to spin,
so, you're feeling useless?
Well, the bidding starts
at $19.95.
And while the survey says
'cheers and applause'
another hour dies.
Jacking off again.
40 oz in the fridge.
Have these dreams put to sleep.
So call me up
and tell me something.
I'm dying to believe.
I dunno.
I don't care.
I just sit and stare now.
I don't think.
I just listen to the drone of this old being.
(I just listen to the voice of this machine)
Friday night,
steppin out
and talkin to the same
"So, how's your family?"
"How was school?"
Conversation strain.
Force endurance
from this class.
It's 11:45.
Two more hours
lumber past and
I feel like I tried.
Fucking off again.
Talking to this bitch,
She hates me. I hate her.
So shut me up
and take me somewhere.
I'm dying to leave.
the t.v.'s on
with a bottle of shit
buried needle
The record player's
forgotten not to spin,
so, you're feeling useless?
Well, the bidding starts
at $19.95.
And while the survey says
'cheers and applause'
another hour dies.
Jacking off again.
40 oz in the fridge.
Have these dreams put to sleep.
So call me up
and tell me something.
I'm dying to believe.
I dunno.
I don't care.
I just sit and stare now.
I don't think.
I just listen to the drone of this old being.
(I just listen to the voice of this machine)
Friday night,
steppin out
and talkin to the same
"So, how's your family?"
"How was school?"
Conversation strain.
Force endurance
from this class.
It's 11:45.
Two more hours
lumber past and
I feel like I tried.
Fucking off again.
Talking to this bitch,
She hates me. I hate her.
So shut me up
and take me somewhere.
I'm dying to leave.
Lyrics submitted by AllStarMe
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Page
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Very simple yet very poignant lyrics. Pretty much sums up how I felt from age 22 to 25, especially this verse:
"Friday night, steppin out and talkin to the same "So, how's your family?" "How was school?" Conversation strain.
Boredom, television, alcohol, losing faith...Everything about these lyrics reminds me of why I love this band.
The sigh is also fucking perfect!
This song is about a day in Brendan's life.
This song like a lot of other lawrence arms songs concentrates on feeling empty cos your doing the same stuff over and over. And in the end you just wanna escape with someone
i believe 6am m-f on TNT
when i came here and didn't log in, there was this ad below this song:
"Music from "The OC" The season that changes everything! Thursday, 8/7c. Learn more"
shit like that is the reason songs like this get written
Wow, that is so true. It's about having a shallow and empty life, being surrounded by shallow and empty people in a shallow and empty society and dying to get out.
Pensacola:wings of fire is a sit.commedy or similar...isn't it? anyway this is a fucking good song,expecially second verse,you know,conversation strain.... i think brendan (or chris) is a fucking genius!
Pensacola Wings of Gold was a late 90s syndicated show; an hour long drama about US fighter pilots (think Top Gun the TV Show). The only notable thing about the show, in retrospect given how it's fallen off the face of the Earth with no DVD or reruns on television since it went off the air, is that Kenny Johnson (of The Shield, Saving Grace, and Sons of Anarchy fame) had his first big break as an actor on the show. He played one of the main fighter pilots in the second season before leaving the series. <br /> <br /> For context purposes, the show is what one would watch if you were bored out of your head and basically just flipping through the channels looking for something, anything (in this case, P:WOG was a syndicated show and as such aired at random times, either in the after noon or after midnight) to serve as background noise while bored.
The sigh in the middle of this song is one of my favorite musical moments ever.
"Pretty much sums up how I felt from age 22 to 25, especially this verse:"
Agreed. This was my life. Not so much anymore.
So no one has commented on this in 3 years, but I just have to say that if the lyric is truly "force endurance from this class" and not "force endurance from this glass" I'll be pretty disheartened.