Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Long dinner with some friends
Way out way out in Portmore
Servants of the pharaoh
Slip in through an open door
All business
Bearing knives and zip-guns
So get on the floor now every last one
Every last one
The heat drifts across the land
If I forget you, Israel
Let me forget my right hand
And on the floor Michael James Williams
Feels his fingers start to freeze
And the whole scene is like a movie
Paramedics on their knees
Try try your whole life
To be righteous and be good
Wind up on your own floor
Choking on blood
The heat drifts across the land
If I forget you Israel
Let me forget my right hand
And the house still smells like onions
When the ambulance arrives
Gabriel in postal blue
Loads up the car and drives to Spanish town
About three miles away
Where will the wicked run to on that last day?
The heat drifts across the land
If I forget you Israel
Let me forget my right hand
Way out way out in Portmore
Servants of the pharaoh
Slip in through an open door
All business
Bearing knives and zip-guns
So get on the floor now every last one
Every last one
The heat drifts across the land
If I forget you, Israel
Let me forget my right hand
And on the floor Michael James Williams
Feels his fingers start to freeze
And the whole scene is like a movie
Paramedics on their knees
Try try your whole life
To be righteous and be good
Wind up on your own floor
Choking on blood
The heat drifts across the land
If I forget you Israel
Let me forget my right hand
And the house still smells like onions
When the ambulance arrives
Gabriel in postal blue
Loads up the car and drives to Spanish town
About three miles away
Where will the wicked run to on that last day?
The heat drifts across the land
If I forget you Israel
Let me forget my right hand
Lyrics submitted by mdon06, edited by WhiteChalkBaph
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I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
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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.
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
The song is indeed about Michael James Williams (a.k.a. Prince Fari I) and the day he was murdered, but like most of the songs on Heretic Pride and in Darnielle's oeuvre, it references some larger concepts in life. It's about Good dwelling in a land of Evil, that is, how good people suffer despite their efforts.
The verses straightforwardly outline the murder of Prince Fari I, but also include several mentions of the theme (e.g. "Try you whole life to be righteous and good..." and "Where will the wicked run...") emphasizing the tragedy and injustice of the act. The murderers referred to as "servants of the pharaoh" (a well-known enemy of the Israelites) sets up the complex biblical parallel that runs throughout the song.
The line about "forgetting Israel..." is a reference to Psalms 137:5, written when the Israelites felt they were unjustly in Babylonian captivity, trapped among wickedness. In the psalm, the author swears that if he were to forsake the holy city (i.e. metaphorically forsake his God and his spiritual oaths) then he might as well forget how to play his songs, work the fields, and lose every the ability to do every action that sustains his life. He proclaims his innocence and devotion amidst his and his people's suffering, much like how Darnielle imagines Williams must have felt on his violent deathbed, bleeding and choking on his own blood, slain in a world where good people suffer evil and often get no justice.
These ideas are further complicated when you consider that the subjects' innocence is only proposed and maintained by the subjects themselves. That is, from another point of view, the Israelites killed as many Babylonians as vice versa and had them captive at different points. And who's to say that Prince Fari I wasn't involved in something that never came to light? Violent deaths like that, after all, are more often than not a result of bad friends, bad vices, and worse decisions.
In any case, the song is clear in its recognition that the suffering and violence, regardless of origin, is a tragedy. Nobody deserves to die like that, least of all those with passion for something greater than their own hand.
This seems like a pretty straightforward song about Michael James Williams a.k.a. Prince Far I, a reggae artist who was murdered in Sept 15, 1983. The song definitely has a reggae feel to it regardless of its subject matter.
john darnielle and jeffery lewis made a comic explaining each song on the new album, you can look at it here:
thejeffreylewissite.com/Mt-Goats-Press-Kit-08.html