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.
I knew this girl when I was young
She took her spikes from everyone
One night she swallowed up the lake
That's how you sing amazing grace
Amazing grace
Amazing grace
It sounds like razors in my ears
That bell's been ringing now for years
Someday I'll give it all away
That's how you sing amazing grace
Amazing grace
Amazing grace
Oh, can you hear that sweet sweet sound
Yeah, I was lost but now I'm found
Sometimes there's nothing left to save
That's how you sing amazing grace
Amazing grace
Amazing grace
That's how you sing amazing grace
She took her spikes from everyone
One night she swallowed up the lake
That's how you sing amazing grace
Amazing grace
Amazing grace
It sounds like razors in my ears
That bell's been ringing now for years
Someday I'll give it all away
That's how you sing amazing grace
Amazing grace
Amazing grace
Oh, can you hear that sweet sweet sound
Yeah, I was lost but now I'm found
Sometimes there's nothing left to save
That's how you sing amazing grace
Amazing grace
Amazing grace
That's how you sing amazing grace
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This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
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.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
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In regards to the second verse: I think that it might be a reference to a few of the original lyrics from Amazing Grace: "Amazing grace / how sweet the sound / that saved a wretch like me". In this case, that "sweet sound" of grace is "like razors" in the listener's ears. He hears the sounds of redemption, but because he is so wedded to his vice, the thought of being redeemed is painful to him.
hauntingly beautiful. it personally reminds me of a few friends and the futile pursuit of happiness through drugs...
amen
this song makes a mess of me but i could listen to it all day. its meaning is probably as the other posters have said, but i can't help but be reminded of my friend who committed suicide a few months ago.
Such an amazing song!! All of their lyrics touch me in some way. Wish they weren't as famous as they are now. I was able to see them twice in Iowa, sitting on the floor the entire show and getting to go up and ask questions afterwards. Just memories I will never forget, just like this song. Alan and Mimi are the kindest musicians I have met in years.
oh god, it's so trite to have a beautiful somg about heroin, but Alan does it so well, it's not trite at all anymore.
this song destroys me.
I made a fanvid out of this song about Jack Harkness from 'Doctor Who', about his painful past and the fact that he can't die, about the fact that something he wants to. I had to listen to this song over 96 times to complete the vid, I still love it and listen to it every chance I get. Now that is saying something. Gorgeous song.
This song comes from the deepest, darkest place. It's a minimal universe, ever expanding. The hymn Amazing Grace is about salvation and the song lifts several lines directly from it, but the song adds more depth to the meaning of the term.
"Amazing grace" here is the achievement of a transcendence from normal Earthy experience to something profoundly beautiful. In the first verse the girl achieves this by having the high of all highs (always thought it was "Swallowed up the land..."). The spike reference in the first verses obviously relates to heroin, but I think the subject of the song goes beyond that.
The second verse is much harder to interpret. It seems to be about someone who has been suffering from tinnitus for years; perhaps when the time comes when the incessant ringing finally stops is when the transcendence will take place. The "give it all away" line suggests that this may be attained by suicide.
The last verse quotes from the hymn and to me seems to describe the actual "Amazing grace" being experienced, whatever led to it. It seems to be a shareable experience ("Can you hear..."?), perhaps falling in love (some say that falling in love with someone is like returning "home" - I was lost but now I'm found). I always heard it as "Sometimes there's nothing left to say" which to me relates simply to the comfortable silence enjoyed by lovers.
Amazing song.
its amazing how cold and desolate this sounds, like a dreary wnter night. i live in this song
First verse: a description of the addiction and suicide/accidental death of a friend Second verse: Anger at God, the friend, and the world - the hymn "Amazing Grace" was sung at her funeral was saccharine and provided no comfort Third verse: As worthless as he feels, he feels his god's grace and forgiveness