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.
Break me on the thirty-seventh hour
Tout me, doubt me, show me all of your power
I will watch you rise on my back from the ground
Friend or foe? I don't know, do you like what you've found?
Because I will one day shine with you
I'll shine on a faithful few
Ah
Ah
Oh, show me low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white
Brush my cause aside with little trouble
Oh my God, I think I'm hearing double
I will watch you rise on my back from afar
Friend or foe? I don't know, now you're up in the stars
But I will one day shine with you
I'll shine on a faithful few
Ah
Ah
Oh, show me low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white
Oh, show me low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white
Oh, show me low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white
Tout me, doubt me, show me all of your power
I will watch you rise on my back from the ground
Friend or foe? I don't know, do you like what you've found?
Because I will one day shine with you
I'll shine on a faithful few
Ah
Ah
Oh, show me low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white
Brush my cause aside with little trouble
Oh my God, I think I'm hearing double
I will watch you rise on my back from afar
Friend or foe? I don't know, now you're up in the stars
But I will one day shine with you
I'll shine on a faithful few
Ah
Ah
Oh, show me low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white
Oh, show me low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white
Oh, show me low quotations
Have you earned your stripes?
Fabricate salvation
Lord, I know your type
I've known you all my life
I was always wrong, you all in white
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
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"
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
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.
If I was to interview the Vaccines one of my questions would be what is the meaning behind these lyrics because All in White is my favourite Vaccines song... Out of the whole album, these were the lyrics that interested me the most. At first they seem random but with what I saw above in respect to Justin Young's comments about the song, I've been drawing some connections.
I think the song is about a girl that Young loved but she was in a relationship with one of his friends and he is very jealous of this guy. In the first verse, the lyrics breaking him at the '37th hour' and 'show me all of your power' relate to the girl being very beautiful.
"I will watch you rise on my back from the ground Friend or foe? I don't know Do you like what you've found?"
I think this part of the verse that is repeated throughout relates to the friend who is in the relationship. The friend is rising above Young to get this girl as if it is some sort of competition and the friend has almost cheated using Young's back to win her. Of course, this is all how he sees it and not what really happens suggesting envy towards his friend. It also leaves Young to question whether the guy is a 'Friend or foe' but he doesn't know.
In terms of the chorus, I think Young is judging himself a little. He wants to be thrown low quotations, to find a solution to his problem and lose the feelings he has. But he sees the girl again and the feelings swamp him once more and the reference to 'All in White' suggests that Young continues to see this girl as a sort of angel, when really deep down he knows that she's a bit of a whore.
From the official album version:
"Break me on the 37th hour, Tout me, doubt me, show me all of your power. I will watch you rise on my back from the ground, Friend or foe, I don't know what you found.
Because, I will one day shine with you, I'll shine on a faithful few. Ahhh Ahhh
Oh, show me low quotations, Have you earned your stripes? Fabricate salvation, Lord, I know your type; I've known you all my life. I was always wrong. You; all in white.
Brush my cause aside with little trouble. Oh my god I think I'm hearing double. I will watch you rise on my back from afar. Friend or foe, I don't know, now they're up in the stars. But, I will one day shine with you, I'll shine on a faithful few. Ahhh Ahhh
Oh show me low quotations, Have you earned your stripes? Fabricate salvation, Lord, I know your type; I've known you all my life. I was always wrong. You; all in white.
Oh, show me low quotations, Have you earned your stripes? Fabricate salvation, Lord, I know your type; I've known you all my life. I was always wrong. You; all in white.
Oh, show me low quotations, Have you earned your stripes? Fabricate salvation, Lord, I know your type; I've known you all my life. I was always wrong. You; all in white."
Thank you for posting this!
"This is about jealousy and about victimising yourself. In retrospect, though, it says more about me than it does about other people."
@lucas11794 Justin at NME
I think some of the above lyrics may be incorrect.
Instead of "I'll shine on a papal view" I think he says "I'll shine on a faithful few" (sometimes he says "you faithful few")
Instead of "show me long quotations" I think it's "show me low quotations"
Instead of "Help you and your strides" It's "Have you earned your stripes?"
I can't quite hear the "little trouble" part but it sounds a lot like "Brush my cause of silent little trouble"
Instead of "Oh my god I begged for a big bubble" It's "Oh my god I think I'm hearing double"
Instead of "Friend, I don't know if you'll like what you've found." It's "Friend or foe, I don't know, do you like what you found?"
The title line confuses me, it sounds exactly like "I was always wrong you all in white" but it makes no sense! I wondered if it was "I was always around you all in white" but it doesn't always sound like that.
If we agree on the lyrics maybe we can now figure out what they actually mean! ;) I would love to know!
Also the lyrics seemed to have morphed in their live show. On the youtube clip of the Sheffield show in Sept 2010 he sang: "I will watch you rise on my back from afar, Friend or foe, I don't know that you're up in the stars"
but in recent clips he has changed it to the other line "I will watch you rise on my back from the ground"
Break me on the thirty-seventh hour Tout me, doubt me, show me all of your power I will watch you rise on my back from the ground Friend or foe? I don't know Do you like what you've found?
I will one day shine with you I'll shine on a faithful few
Show we 'low quotations Have you earned your stripes? Fabricate salvation Lord, I know your type I've known you all my life I was always wrong, you all in white
Brush my cause aside with little trouble Oh my god, I think I'm hearing double I will watch you rise on my back from afar Friend or foe? I don't know now you're up in the stars
But I will one day shine with you
I'll shine on a faithful few
Show we 'low quotations Have you earned your stripes? Fabricate salvation Lord, I know your type I've known you all my life I was always wrong, you all in white
Show we 'low quotations Have you earned your stripes? Fabricate salvation Lord, i know your type I've known you all my life I was always wrong, you all in white Show we 'low quotations Have you earned your stripes? Fabricate salvation Lord, I know your type I've known you all my life I was always wrong, you all in white
Alright, lyrics updated. Thanks for your help everyone!
Justin (Vaccines' singer) said this about the song: "This is about jealousy and about victimising yourself. In retrospect, though, it says more about me than it does about other people." (source: its-all-indie.blogspot.com/2011/06/single-review-vaccines-all-in-white.html)
He also said: "This is a song I had for a long time and we started playing it because we all like it. Hopefully its euphony." (source: craveonline.com/music/articles/168591-advance-vaccines-full-album-stream)
WHAT A TUUUUNNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THEM IN EDINBURGH!
I'm not religious but what I originally thought about this song was that it was someone turning his back on his faith. "Show me low quotations" Could be related to quotes from the bible "Have you earned you stripes?" Could be about having to live a christian lifestyle and earning your entrance to heaven. The rest of the chorus is quite self explanatory. Also he says "you all in white". Jesus is generally pictured in white and white is seen as a pure, holy colour.