Some will say it’s not even funny
And there you stand, not even trying
They say it is in line with the aging
Sometimes noise is just your mind
But the lesson is vague and the lightning
Shows a deer with her mind on the moor
And now something with the sun is just different
Since they shook the earth in 1904
As I lower down I hear it’s a message

And it’s 1902 telling people to get out
If there was a just a way I could tell them
It’s been long, but you are right
The singing is slow and so quiet
Like the sound when you sweep off the floor
And now something with the dirt is just different
Since they shook the earth in 1904
When the night is young
But the bridge is up

Something passing by our shore
The only one you can tell it to
Is the only one that will know
As one rock was made to go through my window
Here is something so strange and something louder than before
You’re living with no light or direction but damn precise
And now you know
That believing is hard but you go now
And you feel what you drag across the floor

And now something in these trails is just different
Since they shook the earth in 1904
Some will say it’s not even healthy
But body is young and mind is sure
That at least something is alright with your thinking
Because they shook the earth in 1904.



Lyrics submitted by Kashika, edited by Xamnam, sarahmarks

Track duration: 04:00

"1904" as written by Kristian Matsson

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


1904 song meanings
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14 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment:Amazing song by an amazing artist and I don't mean to be a dick, but doesn't he sing "something with these trails ARE just different" as opposed to "is just different"? Only the latter is grammatically correct though, right?
    Flag Mezmerizeon November 28, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Harry Martinson was born in 1904.
    Please, read his poems and you'll understand.
    Flag younameiton October 16, 2012   Link
  • +3
    General Comment:In an interview with Dutch music magazine ´Oor´, Matsson said there was an earthquake in Sweden and Norway in 1904. Which makes sense, Matsson being Swedish, not American/San Fransiscan. It was the biggest to hit Scandinavia in ages. It is known as the Oslofjord earthquake. There is only a wikipedia-page about it in Norwegian, Swedish and Dutch. So I guess most of you will have to use some kind of translator. Not that hard to do nowadays, I think.
    sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/…

    He did not go into the meaning of the song as a whole, though, saying he likes to leave his songs open for interpretation. The song is about more than just the earthquake itself, I take. Maybe taking the earthquake as some metaphore for an incident after which everything is or seems different.
    Flag Schinkenon September 13, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:I can't claim this is the meaning of the song, but I will point out that in 1904 the U.S. started on the Panama Canal. 1902 is when the U.S. Senate voted to pursue building the canal. The canal was a monumental engineering feat, breaking many records. It changed worldwide shipping. You could say it changed the world. It was also a killer. Building it was brutal. The abuse of laborers and locals was horrific.
    Flag fogllamaon July 28, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:@ Jeff; is that a tsunami warning device? When I googled 1904 earthquake, it led me to the Douliu (Japanese island) earthquake which was one of the first to be monitored and recorded by a seismograph. Interesting!
    Flag driftingdreameron July 24, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The SF earthquake was in 18 April 1906, so it can't be that.
    Flag roguelibon July 24, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I love this song and the entire album in general. I think that Kristian is an absolute musical genius, one of the best artists I've ever listened to. When i first listened to the album, it was like, whoa, this is different but still amazing. The sound is a lot fuller, but instead of making the simplicity of his earlier songs go away, it just adds variety to his music. You can still hear that classic Kristian Matsson style, which i love, even though there's more instrumental variety.

    First verse of 1904 makes me sad, reminds me of an old person everyone thinks is going crazy. Like how "sometimes noise is just your mind." Its as if someone's being told it's not funny, but they're actually serious, not trying to be funny. They are being told as they get older their mind isn't working the same as it did when they were younger (in line with the aging) It just makes me sad to think about it, an older person being treated like they're insane when really they are thinking about the past, or whatever this person is doing.
    1904 earthquake theory is interesting, never thought of that but it makes sense.
    Flag likealionon July 15, 2012   Link
  • -3
    General Comment:FYI..."1904" refers to the great earthquake that hit San Fran in the year 1904.
    Flagged expeditionarymanon July 02, 2012   Link
  • -3
    General Comment:FYI..."1904" refers to the great earthquake that hit San Fran in the year 1904.
    Flag expeditionarymanon July 02, 2012   Link
  • -2
    General Comment:Is this not the best song ever??
    After I first heard it (yesterday), I have been listening to it and thinking about it.
    I came to the point where I settled on the thought that
    this is a 'coming of age' song about rapturous sex in apartment 1904.
    Flag winslowazon June 28, 2012   Link

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