This is one of my favorite songs on the progress album....Even though it's an electro number...It's surprisingly emotional...The album as a whole is a masked concept from ape to Man, but when you take that mask off and dig a little deeper...The true concept is really about 'progressing' from Immature to Mature in the case of the boys....How they step away from the bitterness and hurt from the past, and 'progress' towards 5 men who forgive each other for all the mistakes of the past, and finally reach that point of acceptance and Love for one another, and make a new beginning on their terms.
So as you can imagine a lot of the lyrics relate to the Band, and you can hear the regrets and pain in some of the songs, and they show that vulnerability to us the audience which endears them more to us, cause we can relate with our own mistakes/failures.
Listening to the album is amazing...As each track plays you can feel the wounds of the past healing with the poignant 'The Flood' and then the frenetic pace of 'SOS'...Moving on to the regret of 'Wait' and then the turbulent/fighting spirit of 'Kidz' and so forth, and all ending in the heartfelt 'Eight Letters'...You hear their relationship break down and fester, and then rebuild itself again through the music...
They're so incredibly talented, and the ones who can't see it need to Wake the hell up cause they're missing out on the most refreshing and enduring Band in recent years that will eventually sit nicely alongside 'The Beatles' with their own legacy.
Back to the song...Breaking it down...some of it is gibberish to throw the listener off kilter and give that paranoid sense to the album like SOS...But then it opens up Into one of their most beautiful melodies/choruses...and when they all sing in unison with their 'magical' Harmonies...It's full of regret and hits you right in the heart with stunning strings.
The most important part of the song is not the 'Cannibals'...'Subliminal' bit...It's underneath what they're really saying:
"(Oh no!)
Turning into cannibals and everything that she wants is made out of minerals
I don't know what I done she only speaks in subliminals
The reception here is lousy and the service is minimal"
Talking about how there was a lack of real communication in the early days of TT...Just 5 lads having a laugh and not really dealing with the bigger issues...Being caught in a strangle hold by their manager/label...Just existing for the band, and every man was really for himself.
"(Oh no!)
I live with an Eskimo I
(Swallowed!) cause we become mechanical and
(Hollow!) I seem to make you miserable so take your tiny chemicals cause I need a miracle"
again talking about how it was difficult having no freedom for themselves...'Eskimo' meaning cold feelings wise, and how alone the boys felt with their own problems, and not being able to confide in each other for fear of affecting the band, or being rejected from the only life they knew....So they just behave 'Mechanical' like Robots....Dancing/singing/smiling/laughing for others.
"Free your soul to me)
Meet me on the corner cause the wall's on fire
(Words can set us free)
Can you make it go away make it stop! Stop!"
looking back and wishing that they could approach each other on that level and unload...Just talk to me as a friend and not a band member....Just prove that you actually give a damn and i don't just make up the numbers...Validate me...'words can set us free' meaning Communication is key to a good relationship... and when that fails or doesn't exist, you just want to make it all Stop and Run away....The pressure..the misery...the pretending...You want it all to end.
"Wait! There's something that I want to say
Something that we hid away
Something that I'd like to change
These words have never left a mouth
We never got to get it out
Communication not allowed
Somethings we don't talk about"
The regret of not saying this to each other...Wanting to change...realizing what they lost when TT was no more...Thinking they've moved on but really leaving a part of themselves with the band and needing that closure especially in Rob's case, and how he never really let go.
"(On no!)
I've fallen off a pedestal and your selected memory is really quite incredible to
(Morrow!)
When you get forgettable I'll try being wonderful yet totally inedible"
Anger towards each other for past faults and not taking responsibility or seeing it at the time...Trying to pretend they're fine but holding grudges towards each other that just build as time goes on.
The verses are steeped in the past...The immature them....with the anger and the blame and Rob's grittier vocals...but the Intro to the chorus and the Chorus itself is the mature them singing in softer unison and wishing it had of been different, and looking back with that regret.
This is one of my favorite songs on the progress album....Even though it's an electro number...It's surprisingly emotional...The album as a whole is a masked concept from ape to Man, but when you take that mask off and dig a little deeper...The true concept is really about 'progressing' from Immature to Mature in the case of the boys....How they step away from the bitterness and hurt from the past, and 'progress' towards 5 men who forgive each other for all the mistakes of the past, and finally reach that point of acceptance and Love for one another, and make a new beginning on their terms.
So as you can imagine a lot of the lyrics relate to the Band, and you can hear the regrets and pain in some of the songs, and they show that vulnerability to us the audience which endears them more to us, cause we can relate with our own mistakes/failures.
Listening to the album is amazing...As each track plays you can feel the wounds of the past healing with the poignant 'The Flood' and then the frenetic pace of 'SOS'...Moving on to the regret of 'Wait' and then the turbulent/fighting spirit of 'Kidz' and so forth, and all ending in the heartfelt 'Eight Letters'...You hear their relationship break down and fester, and then rebuild itself again through the music...
They're so incredibly talented, and the ones who can't see it need to Wake the hell up cause they're missing out on the most refreshing and enduring Band in recent years that will eventually sit nicely alongside 'The Beatles' with their own legacy.
Back to the song...Breaking it down...some of it is gibberish to throw the listener off kilter and give that paranoid sense to the album like SOS...But then it opens up Into one of their most beautiful melodies/choruses...and when they all sing in unison with their 'magical' Harmonies...It's full of regret and hits you right in the heart with stunning strings.
The most important part of the song is not the 'Cannibals'...'Subliminal' bit...It's underneath what they're really saying:
"(Oh no!) Turning into cannibals and everything that she wants is made out of minerals I don't know what I done she only speaks in subliminals The reception here is lousy and the service is minimal"
Talking about how there was a lack of real communication in the early days of TT...Just 5 lads having a laugh and not really dealing with the bigger issues...Being caught in a strangle hold by their manager/label...Just existing for the band, and every man was really for himself.
"(Oh no!) I live with an Eskimo I (Swallowed!) cause we become mechanical and (Hollow!) I seem to make you miserable so take your tiny chemicals cause I need a miracle"
again talking about how it was difficult having no freedom for themselves...'Eskimo' meaning cold feelings wise, and how alone the boys felt with their own problems, and not being able to confide in each other for fear of affecting the band, or being rejected from the only life they knew....So they just behave 'Mechanical' like Robots....Dancing/singing/smiling/laughing for others.
"Free your soul to me) Meet me on the corner cause the wall's on fire (Words can set us free) Can you make it go away make it stop! Stop!"
looking back and wishing that they could approach each other on that level and unload...Just talk to me as a friend and not a band member....Just prove that you actually give a damn and i don't just make up the numbers...Validate me...'words can set us free' meaning Communication is key to a good relationship... and when that fails or doesn't exist, you just want to make it all Stop and Run away....The pressure..the misery...the pretending...You want it all to end.
"Wait! There's something that I want to say Something that we hid away Something that I'd like to change These words have never left a mouth We never got to get it out Communication not allowed Somethings we don't talk about"
The regret of not saying this to each other...Wanting to change...realizing what they lost when TT was no more...Thinking they've moved on but really leaving a part of themselves with the band and needing that closure especially in Rob's case, and how he never really let go.
"(On no!) I've fallen off a pedestal and your selected memory is really quite incredible to (Morrow!) When you get forgettable I'll try being wonderful yet totally inedible"
Anger towards each other for past faults and not taking responsibility or seeing it at the time...Trying to pretend they're fine but holding grudges towards each other that just build as time goes on.
The verses are steeped in the past...The immature them....with the anger and the blame and Rob's grittier vocals...but the Intro to the chorus and the Chorus itself is the mature them singing in softer unison and wishing it had of been different, and looking back with that regret.