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.
Awakened by the sunlight
Victimized by last light
Memories flashing through my head
Was I just born or am I dead?
Yesterday's forgotten, the morning after
I can taste you, I can hear your laughter
Fading in the distance
Recollections drifting
Bloodstains on my tattered clothes
Each minute the fear grows
If I could just lay down to rest
I'm tired of searching for myself
If I am dead, how can I feel such love?
If I am dead, why am I dreaming?
If I am dead, where do I go from here?
If I am dead, why does this pain feel so good?
Is this my blood dried upon my face?
Or is it the love of someone else?
It tastes so sweet, just like you used to
So rescue me my love, splice us together
I remember loving you so much
But where are you and where's your fatal touch?
When I closed my eyes, was it my siesta?
Did I encounter a darkness stronger than sleep?
If I am dead, how can I feel such love?
If I am dead, why am I dreaming?
If I am dead, where do I go from here?
If I am dead, why does this pain feel so good?
I am thirsty for my sleep
There are no answers anyway
Victimized by last light
Memories flashing through my head
Was I just born or am I dead?
Yesterday's forgotten, the morning after
I can taste you, I can hear your laughter
Fading in the distance
Recollections drifting
Bloodstains on my tattered clothes
Each minute the fear grows
If I could just lay down to rest
I'm tired of searching for myself
If I am dead, how can I feel such love?
If I am dead, why am I dreaming?
If I am dead, where do I go from here?
If I am dead, why does this pain feel so good?
Is this my blood dried upon my face?
Or is it the love of someone else?
It tastes so sweet, just like you used to
So rescue me my love, splice us together
I remember loving you so much
But where are you and where's your fatal touch?
When I closed my eyes, was it my siesta?
Did I encounter a darkness stronger than sleep?
If I am dead, how can I feel such love?
If I am dead, why am I dreaming?
If I am dead, where do I go from here?
If I am dead, why does this pain feel so good?
I am thirsty for my sleep
There are no answers anyway
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
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.
This song is about a 1987 film called Siesta starring Ellen Barkin
@sueb – I second that. The film title is even mentioned in the lyrics.
I don't know what Patton's meaning of this song, but I'll tell you what it means to me. I think it's about a person who is so jaded that they simply don't care anymore. They are unsure of how they became this way, so they spend the 'morning after' trying to figure it out. What confuses the subject is that they know they are jaded and thick-skinned, but they still are able to love. Seems like the only thing that keeps this person emotionally human is the fact that he/she has loved before, and is capable of loving again.
I've always thought the song was about a woman seduced and raped by her lover ("bloodstains on my tattered clothes"), perhaps by someone she knew or loved ("I remember loving you so much"). That the "memories" and "recollections" are hazy and unclear may signify she was drugged or drunk, or that she's trying to repress the memory, with only partial success. The idea of being drugged is especially strong in "did I encounter a darkness stronger than sleep"; or perhaps he beat her unconscious before or while violating her. Her talk about "is this my blood dried upon my face, or is it the love of someone else" seems to ask whether it was her blood or her lover's; if her lover's, then he raped her. The implication is that it is indeed her lover's ("It tastes so sweet just like you used to") She seems to hope some stranger raped her, as she hopes her love will rescue her. The difficult part is that Patton seems to imply that she secretly or guiltily liked it ("why does this pain feel so good" "how can I feel such love"); perhaps he is being darkly sarcastic.
It could be a song about waking up after dying and not knowing what happened or what to do next, with no clue of what emotions or sensations still apply to you so you don't know if your feelings mean you're still alive or not. Waking up this way, his loved one may have been one of the first things he thought of, not knowing if she is okay or if she was actually the one that murdered him. "Did I encounter a darkness stronger than sleep?"
I always envisioned this scene while listening to this song: the morning after a wild rampage by a recently converted werewolf! Think about it...the tattered clothes, blood, no recollection of the prior night's events...
This song is actually quite the same as 'surprise youre dead' as in its about waking up as a vampire. you could say surprise your dead is the prequel as its sung from the point of view of the biter and this song is from the point of view of the bitten. darkness stronger then sleep being undeath, youre fatal touch etc, was i just born or am i dead being self explanitory. many clues lead to the same conclusion
If you listen to New And Improved Song (Introduce Yourself) the bassline, drums and guitar are almost exactly the same.
The Morning after a killing spree
This song, as many others in the FnM/Tomahawk catalog, is about being a vampire.
I always thought this song was about becoming a vampire