This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
They close your eyes, and the doctor says it's too late
You wonder why your life passes before you
In the dark, you slip into a coma
You crash the car, you've gone too far
Policemen flash, they want credentials
You go too fast, but you're not careful
So you drive back home, in confusion, alone
She's a man, but when you get down to it
She says "Sure you can", you'll make love to her
She says "My place or yours?", drinks are poured
They'll keep you dance forever, so you dance together
To make a move now seems essential
Someone stares at you; the propagator has potential
To replace the other who just rediscovered another
'Cause you think you might need a lover
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
It can lead to another
What's going on tonight? You think you might discover
So you pour a drink, and start to think about another
You get the sack when you turn up late
You think: Get this pressure off my back
With the deadlines missed, your boss gets pissed
You fail your test, you're so depressed
And the job begins to suffer
And the job begins to suffer
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
It can lead to another
And the job begins to suffer for the love you have lost
'Cause you care such a lot about the job you've got
You couldn't care less, you're in such a mess
And life's tougher
And you're feeling older; perhaps it's colder with her mother
Then your lover says she's moving out and moving back in
You've got a job, you like the job
But isn't it funny how one thing leads to another?
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another
Oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
It can lead to another
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another
Oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
You wonder why your life passes before you
In the dark, you slip into a coma
You crash the car, you've gone too far
Policemen flash, they want credentials
You go too fast, but you're not careful
So you drive back home, in confusion, alone
She's a man, but when you get down to it
She says "Sure you can", you'll make love to her
She says "My place or yours?", drinks are poured
They'll keep you dance forever, so you dance together
To make a move now seems essential
Someone stares at you; the propagator has potential
To replace the other who just rediscovered another
'Cause you think you might need a lover
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
It can lead to another
What's going on tonight? You think you might discover
So you pour a drink, and start to think about another
You get the sack when you turn up late
You think: Get this pressure off my back
With the deadlines missed, your boss gets pissed
You fail your test, you're so depressed
And the job begins to suffer
And the job begins to suffer
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
It can lead to another
And the job begins to suffer for the love you have lost
'Cause you care such a lot about the job you've got
You couldn't care less, you're in such a mess
And life's tougher
And you're feeling older; perhaps it's colder with her mother
Then your lover says she's moving out and moving back in
You've got a job, you like the job
But isn't it funny how one thing leads to another?
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another
Oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
It can lead to another
And oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another
Oh, my god, look, you have just discovered
The way that one thing can lead to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
Oh yeah, oh yeah
One thing leads to another, yeah
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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.
Punchline
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Head > Heels
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Page
Ed Sheeran
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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.
Fantastic song. Very underated. The relentless retro-active story of a man who looses his job, and his girlfreind because of it goes to the bar and gets smashed, hit on by a man, and in confusion drives home drunk and dies in a crash.
Yes, I agree that it's brilliant and very underrated - a fantastic and fast-moving PSB rap. I only realised when I was listening to this earlier that it's describes everything backwards, from the guy passing out in hospital to earlier when he's been sacked from his job - genius. It's a sort of funny but really sad story at the same time. The only thing I don't like about it is the chorus - it gets a bit repetitive.