The song 'Fortnight' by Taylor Swift and Post Malone tells a story about strong feelings, complicated relationships, and secret wishes. It talks about love, betrayal, and wanting someone who doesn't feel the same. The word 'fortnight' shows short-lived happiness and guilty pleasures, leading to sadness. It shows how messy relationships can be and the results of hiding emotions. “I was supposed to be sent away / But they forgot to come and get me,” she kickstarts the song in the first verse with lines suggesting an admission to a hospital for people with mental illnesses. She goes in the verse admitting her lover is the reason why she is like this. In the chorus, she sings about their time in love and reflects on how he has now settled with someone else. “I took the miracle move-on drug, the effects were temporary / And I love you, it’s ruining my life,” on the second verse she details her struggles to forget about him and the negative effects of her failure. “Thought of callin’ ya, but you won’t pick up / ‘Nother fortnight lost in America,” Post Malone sings in the outro.
I know everything changes
Yeah, it's strange how time marches on
Maybe there'll be some time in the future
Oh, tell me I'm not wrong
Oh, if I could stop time
It would be a frozen moment just around Christmas
When all of mankind reveals its truest potential
And there is sympathy for the suffering
Yes, there is sympathy for those who are suffering
And the world embraces peace and love and mercy
Instead of power and fear
And as sure as I'm standing here
I swear it really does appear that a change comes over us
Yes, some kind of change comes over us
And it's glimpsed for one shining moment
And this change feels like a change that's real
But then it passes along with the season
And then we just go back to the way we were
Yes, we just go back to the way we were
Say it isn't so
Tell me I'm not just a dreamer
I'm talking with a friend and he knows how it ends
He says it's easier, that's just the way we are
That's human nature and that's just the way we are
Oh, say it isn't so!
Yeah, it's strange how time marches on
Maybe there'll be some time in the future
Oh, tell me I'm not wrong
Oh, if I could stop time
It would be a frozen moment just around Christmas
When all of mankind reveals its truest potential
And there is sympathy for the suffering
Yes, there is sympathy for those who are suffering
And the world embraces peace and love and mercy
Instead of power and fear
And as sure as I'm standing here
I swear it really does appear that a change comes over us
Yes, some kind of change comes over us
And it's glimpsed for one shining moment
And this change feels like a change that's real
But then it passes along with the season
And then we just go back to the way we were
Yes, we just go back to the way we were
Say it isn't so
Tell me I'm not just a dreamer
I'm talking with a friend and he knows how it ends
He says it's easier, that's just the way we are
That's human nature and that's just the way we are
Oh, say it isn't so!
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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More Featured Meanings
Fortnight
Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
This is my favorite song. Period. No one I know (even those that love the flaming lips) even like it a little.
Wayne Coyne has the unique ability to say whatever he feels at anytime he wants and it serves to be absolutely endearing and genuine. If he didn't, this song would end up sounding like something crooned by a hack in a starbucks.
What's great about this song is that it reflects what it's like to be someone as optimistic as Coyne, it strikes this perfect balance between extreme happiness at knowing what goodness there is in the world and indescribable sadness at knowing how much we're failing to live up to our potential as human beings to create a world that is as beautiful as possible.
It's strange that this song is about the holiday season, because one of the things I've always liked about the Lips is that they seem pretty atheistic. But this 'A Change at Christmas' isn't religious, it's about the secular aspects of the holiday season. The time of year when the world is at its coldest and bleakest, we decorate things and celebrate humanity with those closest to us. Everyone is nicer to each other around Christmas time, it's the "holiday spirit". We give to charities and have parties and show everyone how much we love them. Wayne is saying that this is "mankind's truest potential", imploring us to think about how much better the world would be if we could just stop time there, maintain that kind of spirit our whole lives. Every year he thinks that the change is a real, permanent one, and every year he is let down and emotionally crushed that it only lasts for one shining moment, and we just go back to the way we were.
The last verse is the most angry, as Wayne speaks with a cynical friend of his. He has a dire view of humanity and says that evil is human nature and there's nothing we can do about it, that's just the way we are. And that genuine voice says in the saddest tone it can muster, "say it isn't so."
I know that I just spent a couple of paragraphs "explaining" a very obvious song, but it means a lot to me. I don't usually respond to sappy songs, they seem unnatural. I usually prefer songs that are kind of cynical or satirical towards gooey "let's all love one another" sentiments, but this song is truly heartbreaking and has made me cry like only the Flips can.
DrMambo, I just created an account on this site just so I could say that your post was really beautiful, and I completely agree. I can barely keep myself from crying when I hear this song. And I know this was a few years ago at this point, but I wanted to say so anyway.
Well said, I agree with complicatedshoes. The post was beautiful and very true. The Flaming Lips are, in my opinion, one of the best bands I've ever heard. I thought these guys were a little weird when I first heard them but after listening to their music for so long now I realized they are one of the most original and talented bands out there. The lyrics are just so amazing in every song, it gets me to think of things I never would have before. Really hope I'm able to see them live in the future
holy crap, what a sweet song! awesome lyrics and awesome music. the lips rock my boat!
I think this is more like a mission statment than a song, I don't know. It is very touching. Listen to this song and then listen to "Eveythings Explodin'" off the Oh My Gawd!! album. It's crazy the changes Wayne and the band have gone through.
This was when they teamed up with that band called Ghosty wasn't it. Great song I must say.
where does this song come from?
It's from the Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell EP.