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"
When john he saw the numbers he lied
Made up the whole thing, failed when he tried
To cash in on his cautious new fame
Always the numbers but never the name
We we hit the numbers we broke
Broken and changed them changed as we spoke
We knew that we would always be down
Hitting the numbers spun way 'round
And somebody beside you
Slipped your head inside the crown
The princes of the paupers
And all the old showstoppers
Till this moment's still unknown
Sirens' songs have tried, too
Yet, she takes you as her own
The princes of the paupers
And all the old showstoppers
Till this moment's still unknown
And when he got the numbers he thought
Thought of his friends who slowed to a halt
Who had questioned to no avail
Some knew the answers, some wouldn't tell
When Gabriel saw the numbers he fell
Fell through the clouds into the great well
But woke up before he hit the ground
No one had noticed still he looked around
And somebody beside you
Slipped your head inside the crown
The princes of the paupers
And all the old showstoppers
Till this moment's still unknown
Sirens' songs have tried, too
Yet, she takes you as her own
The princes of the paupers
And all the old showstoppers
Till this moment's still unknown
With her hand to guide you
You are nothing if not home
The princes of the paupers
And all the old showstoppers
Till this moment's still unknown
Made up the whole thing, failed when he tried
To cash in on his cautious new fame
Always the numbers but never the name
We we hit the numbers we broke
Broken and changed them changed as we spoke
We knew that we would always be down
Hitting the numbers spun way 'round
And somebody beside you
Slipped your head inside the crown
The princes of the paupers
And all the old showstoppers
Till this moment's still unknown
Sirens' songs have tried, too
Yet, she takes you as her own
The princes of the paupers
And all the old showstoppers
Till this moment's still unknown
And when he got the numbers he thought
Thought of his friends who slowed to a halt
Who had questioned to no avail
Some knew the answers, some wouldn't tell
When Gabriel saw the numbers he fell
Fell through the clouds into the great well
But woke up before he hit the ground
No one had noticed still he looked around
And somebody beside you
Slipped your head inside the crown
The princes of the paupers
And all the old showstoppers
Till this moment's still unknown
Sirens' songs have tried, too
Yet, she takes you as her own
The princes of the paupers
And all the old showstoppers
Till this moment's still unknown
With her hand to guide you
You are nothing if not home
The princes of the paupers
And all the old showstoppers
Till this moment's still unknown
Lyrics submitted by Slaveofthelamp
All the Old Showstoppers Lyrics as written by Carl Allan Newman
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I also thought about Neko Case's song when I was listening to this song. This obviously references the book of Revelation in which St. John (NOT, in fact, John the Baptist, which causes much amusement when I listen to Neko's reimagining of the old traditional John Done Saw That Number, the beginning lyrics about John the Baptist was added by Neko...clearly she didn't read up on St. John, but I digress) records many numbers, such as the number of the Beast, and the seven scrolls, etc etc. Essentially, the lyrics are insinuating that St. John invented the things written in the book of Revelation. It sort of gives a sense of not knowing your place in the universe, not knowing what the end will be, and how St. John was just a man who was looking for something to guide him home.
Great song off the new album. As usual for the NPs, the lyrics can be pretty ambiguous. He mentions "numbers" throughout the whole song, which could be referring to the sort of meaningless statistics we're bombarded with from various sources.
I think he's saying that people use numbers to "prove" things and convince people even though they don't really mean anything ("always the numbers but never the name").
Regardless, great, catchy song. Ranks up there with their best :-)
Just something to note, Neko Case has a song called John Saw That Number that she wrote (I think?) by adding her own music to lyrics of a traditional song. I don't know where it comes from but I think you're right about the song being about using statistics to prove anything.
Sorry, I referred to John in the song as St. John, which can be confusing, this is John of Patmos, or John the Divine, which is an entirely different person from John the Baptist or John the Apostle. Just wanted to clear that up.
You're probably right but I thought the song was about generalization, sort of like the first post. "always the numbers but never the name" people using statistics to make assumptions when they could mean absolutely nothing to an individual. Kind of far out, but maybe he became famous for making statistics. Then this "siren" tries to teach him "with her hand to guide you". And all the old showstoppers, maybe refers to jokes about stereotypes. Maybe I'm crazy. Good song though.
The second verse could be the people going against stereotypes, because they brought them down.
funny thing about Neko's song, in the adedd verses she is clearly talking about John The Baptist(the locusts and stuff), but she also says "Oh John The Baptist, Oh John Divine". Maybe it's just a coincidence, or maybe it's supposed to mean something, but i can't think of anything.
OK, maybe I'm crazy but- to me "John" is Carl Newman and "Gabriel" is Dan Bejar - John tries to cash in on fame but Gabriel "falls" because he wants to be more arty and less commercial