So, I came looking for the Eve 6 version of this song since I've had their new album on repeat the last few days. I didn't even realize The Sugi Tap had put out a recording (and it was looking at the lyrics for it! hahaha) till I started looking at the dates of the previous comments. Apparently this is a very important song for the band, and I have a few thoughts on the meaning. :) The lyrics that Max changed for the Eve 6 version on "Speak In Code" are--
A hymn and a secret love
Beneath the bleacher...
Wham, bam, fold the hand
Pick up the pieces.
Your mood is always manic and I do suppose
This masquerade's become a habit.
Here's the band's commentary about this song that goes along with it on Spotify:
MAX: It's a song about losing your way and it's one of those songs, I thought I was writing about someone else, and then I sorta realized that it was about me. And, um, I think... I don't know, it's an important song for the record. It's honest and earnest, and it's a good way to end the record, I think.
Tony: It's a really good bookend to the record. This song sort of kept us going for year or two there-
Max: It did.
Tony: We always had a special place in our hearts for it and we played it live a few times, and you know, the people that heard it seemed to really respond to it. So that kind of kept this process going as we were getting the band started again and this song was a big part of that. And it's really good that it made it all this way and onto the record, and sorta represents that little bit, sorta the climb back into this thing that is Eve 6.
Max: Definitely.
Jon: Basket, base, and footballs. Let's go play.
Tony: Yeah and it shows how into sports we are! [he sounds sarcastic...?]
[all laugh]
Max: This song helped make believers out of people that ended up being part of team Eve 6, 2.7
Jon: It's a good team, we're happy about our team.
Max: And it is a good team. And it's one of those songs that's really fun to play live: there's something cathartic about it. Our diehard fans know all the words to it and it's a special moment live, for sure.
How cool is that??! I might be totally wrong, but it seems to me like this could have been written about Jon and the band's break-up, and then in the ended it was the very song that brought them back together?? (not sure when that switch would have happened where Max realized he was writing about himself?! obviously they were all burned out, but I wonder how much conflict there was between the 3 of them that was involved?? Is Max directing the song at Jon and being angry) From the press I've read it seems like he came back on board when he saw they still had an audience...he's the "people" who were made into believers by the fans' love of the song...? :-D
As far as the song's meaning itself, Max is singing about the difference between how other people see you, and what's going on inside your head. They have this theme a lot in their songs. At first describing the situation, how there's this facade of being the one with the perfect genetics, whose mother thinks so highly of them, yet they're "disconnected" and full of malice and insecurity: their life's falling apart. Before he goes into the chorus, he says "let me do the talking," and then the chorus is him urging the person in the song to mend what's wrong with them self or their life. It's like he's saying 'Now I'm gonna tell you what you need to do.'
He's kinda calling the person out about their life falling apart cuz they're trying to deny or hide it, and then urges them to let it go and move on. I think it's significant that they changed the one line, "When you hear this song you'll have a tantrum," to "This masquerade's become a habit." It changes the tone of the whole song--in the Sugi Tap version, it's like he's still blaming the person, but then the reworked Eve 6 version has changed to him having the attitude of having gotten over it, and acknowledges it might not be entirely the person's fault. Somehow they got caught up in being malicious or fake (the "masquerade"), but it's only a bad habit, so don't beat yourself up... just give up the masquerade, you can pick up the pieces! The song has taken on a whole different significance for them along their journey to getting back together. They've moved on from this bad situation, and it's cathartic to sing the song now.
I'm not sure what the part "with a hymn and a secret hid beneath a broken heart" means. There's some reference to religion in other songs, but are they religious? Maybe the hymn part is just saying to have faith? Hymn comes from the Greek word meaning ode or song of praise... so, a meaningful happy song? no clue what he means haha. I think the whole verse is just him saying no one's perfect, but can you cut your losses, stop dwelling on the past, and move on with life.
Total genius. Of course, as Vervus22 says, sometimes Max puts in personal references that mean nothing to anyone but him, so who knows if anyone could truly "decode" the whole thing :P
So, I came looking for the Eve 6 version of this song since I've had their new album on repeat the last few days. I didn't even realize The Sugi Tap had put out a recording (and it was looking at the lyrics for it! hahaha) till I started looking at the dates of the previous comments. Apparently this is a very important song for the band, and I have a few thoughts on the meaning. :) The lyrics that Max changed for the Eve 6 version on "Speak In Code" are--
A hymn and a secret love Beneath the bleacher... Wham, bam, fold the hand Pick up the pieces.
Your mood is always manic and I do suppose This masquerade's become a habit.
Here's the band's commentary about this song that goes along with it on Spotify: MAX: It's a song about losing your way and it's one of those songs, I thought I was writing about someone else, and then I sorta realized that it was about me. And, um, I think... I don't know, it's an important song for the record. It's honest and earnest, and it's a good way to end the record, I think. Tony: It's a really good bookend to the record. This song sort of kept us going for year or two there- Max: It did. Tony: We always had a special place in our hearts for it and we played it live a few times, and you know, the people that heard it seemed to really respond to it. So that kind of kept this process going as we were getting the band started again and this song was a big part of that. And it's really good that it made it all this way and onto the record, and sorta represents that little bit, sorta the climb back into this thing that is Eve 6. Max: Definitely. Jon: Basket, base, and footballs. Let's go play. Tony: Yeah and it shows how into sports we are! [he sounds sarcastic...?] [all laugh] Max: This song helped make believers out of people that ended up being part of team Eve 6, 2.7 Jon: It's a good team, we're happy about our team. Max: And it is a good team. And it's one of those songs that's really fun to play live: there's something cathartic about it. Our diehard fans know all the words to it and it's a special moment live, for sure.
How cool is that??! I might be totally wrong, but it seems to me like this could have been written about Jon and the band's break-up, and then in the ended it was the very song that brought them back together?? (not sure when that switch would have happened where Max realized he was writing about himself?! obviously they were all burned out, but I wonder how much conflict there was between the 3 of them that was involved?? Is Max directing the song at Jon and being angry) From the press I've read it seems like he came back on board when he saw they still had an audience...he's the "people" who were made into believers by the fans' love of the song...? :-D
As far as the song's meaning itself, Max is singing about the difference between how other people see you, and what's going on inside your head. They have this theme a lot in their songs. At first describing the situation, how there's this facade of being the one with the perfect genetics, whose mother thinks so highly of them, yet they're "disconnected" and full of malice and insecurity: their life's falling apart. Before he goes into the chorus, he says "let me do the talking," and then the chorus is him urging the person in the song to mend what's wrong with them self or their life. It's like he's saying 'Now I'm gonna tell you what you need to do.'
He's kinda calling the person out about their life falling apart cuz they're trying to deny or hide it, and then urges them to let it go and move on. I think it's significant that they changed the one line, "When you hear this song you'll have a tantrum," to "This masquerade's become a habit." It changes the tone of the whole song--in the Sugi Tap version, it's like he's still blaming the person, but then the reworked Eve 6 version has changed to him having the attitude of having gotten over it, and acknowledges it might not be entirely the person's fault. Somehow they got caught up in being malicious or fake (the "masquerade"), but it's only a bad habit, so don't beat yourself up... just give up the masquerade, you can pick up the pieces! The song has taken on a whole different significance for them along their journey to getting back together. They've moved on from this bad situation, and it's cathartic to sing the song now.
I'm not sure what the part "with a hymn and a secret hid beneath a broken heart" means. There's some reference to religion in other songs, but are they religious? Maybe the hymn part is just saying to have faith? Hymn comes from the Greek word meaning ode or song of praise... so, a meaningful happy song? no clue what he means haha. I think the whole verse is just him saying no one's perfect, but can you cut your losses, stop dwelling on the past, and move on with life.
Total genius. Of course, as Vervus22 says, sometimes Max puts in personal references that mean nothing to anyone but him, so who knows if anyone could truly "decode" the whole thing :P