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.
Old man time, Wisdom and Rhyme.
Seeker of reason, reaper of time.
Born to a spell he walks the beaten path
To hell, rusty shackles of time burden his mind,
Once on his side time turns to defy.
In a flash of the lightening he's come and gone.
The clock strikes the hour, he climbs to the belfry,
As he's done a thousand hours before.
Many dark years, not a vacant hour through
War and fear had the bell been ever strayed,
Hypnotized rhythmic pendulum synchronized
With the beat of the old mans heart.
Man or machine he's living a dream,
Forever the clock lives so does he.
Faces below fade with seasons of long ago,
Forever awake in his brass bed.
Who holds the key.
It's all a mater of time, is there reason
Or Rhyme - is there?
Traveler in time another left
Behind - you are
Tangled in the web of time you've
Swallowed the pill of illusion.
Writings so clear on the wall you
Waste in seclusion.
Mirror reflects the mark of the crowfoot.
In his eyes now he realize.
Nearing his hour he climbs to the belfry
As he's done a thousand hours before.
Moon of blaze is in the sky.
West wind he whispers why.
Sacrifice living for life his perpetual vice.
Lonely wind blows through his empty soul.
He crys a river of tears on the clock below.
Nothing forever and time will tell.
His tears rust the clock and he dies as well.
Seeker of reason, reaper of time.
Born to a spell he walks the beaten path
To hell, rusty shackles of time burden his mind,
Once on his side time turns to defy.
In a flash of the lightening he's come and gone.
The clock strikes the hour, he climbs to the belfry,
As he's done a thousand hours before.
Many dark years, not a vacant hour through
War and fear had the bell been ever strayed,
Hypnotized rhythmic pendulum synchronized
With the beat of the old mans heart.
Man or machine he's living a dream,
Forever the clock lives so does he.
Faces below fade with seasons of long ago,
Forever awake in his brass bed.
Who holds the key.
It's all a mater of time, is there reason
Or Rhyme - is there?
Traveler in time another left
Behind - you are
Tangled in the web of time you've
Swallowed the pill of illusion.
Writings so clear on the wall you
Waste in seclusion.
Mirror reflects the mark of the crowfoot.
In his eyes now he realize.
Nearing his hour he climbs to the belfry
As he's done a thousand hours before.
Moon of blaze is in the sky.
West wind he whispers why.
Sacrifice living for life his perpetual vice.
Lonely wind blows through his empty soul.
He crys a river of tears on the clock below.
Nothing forever and time will tell.
His tears rust the clock and he dies as well.
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
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,
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.