Lyrics for No Surprises as interpreted by piesupreme

No Surprises Lyrics
A heart that's full up like a landfill
A job that slowly kills you
Bruises that won't heal
You look so tired, unhappy
Bring down the government
They don't, they don't speak for us
I'll take the quiet life
A handshake of carbon monoxide

No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises

Silent
Silent

This is my final fit, my final belly-ache with
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises, please

Such a pretty house, such a pretty garden
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises
No alarms and no surprises, please

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Kilgore
01-09-2002

Rated +3 
"A heart that's full up like a landfill,"

A heart that is filled up with all of the rubbish that this world has to offer; with television characters who aren't real, with being able to afford the next-greatest BMW you've always wanted. So full up and concerned with these things that there's no room left for any real love...



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Kilgore
01-09-2002

Rated 0 
"A heart that's full up like a landfill,"

A heart that is filled up with all of the rubbish that this world has to offer; with television characters who aren't real, with being able to afford the next-greatest BMW you've always wanted. So full up and concerned with these things that there's no room left for any real love...



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bluekitty2
04-13-2002

Rated -2 
whenever i hear this song. i picture the ending of a movie. with a girl who either just took a whole bunch of pills and is lying on a bed with a canary yellow bedspread and the opening of this song plays as the camera spirals away from her up out of the shot (if that makes sense). or all of the above except instead of taking the pills she's just realizing her life.

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1 Reply
turtonhot
05-31-2002

Rated 0 
o...k

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Fufu
06-17-2002

Rated 0 
I've seen a lot of JoveW's comments, I guess we listen to the same music, and I would like to take the time to say he is one messed up son of a b*tch.. But anyway.. This is a good song.

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debaser2002
06-30-2002

Rated 0 
It seems as if it's about suicide to me, someone ' taking a quite life' and the reference to carbon monoxide. Stick the hose on the exhaust and the games up...

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Pixiedust Junkee
07-24-2002

Rated +1 
this song represents suicidal thoughts...he's thinking of fianlly ending it. No alarms no suprises...he doesn't have to deal with the shit that's been going on no more panic attacks from all the bad things that keep going off in his life.
The part where he sings about the pretty house and pretty garden....everything LOOKS perfect...but it'll finally be perfect when he gets rid of the "alarms and suprises" and he can only think of one solution.
i think this song is so sad...the music is floaty in a way...kind of like you're drifting away to you're death....
or i could just be out of my mind...but it's how i see it.

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Stu62_uk
07-24-2002

Rated 0 
it's about a man who has become fed up with the way things are working out for him and is having problems with his girlfriend. has anyone heard the original? it's called no surpirses please (note the please on the end) check it out, the tunes not quite as good but some lyrics are different, which makes it interesting "he was sick of her excuses, to not take off her dress when bleeding in the bathroom"

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battaryacid
08-20-2002

Rated 0 
suicide. did he mean to say "i'll take a quiet DEATH"? i think it should've been played as the end credits for American Beauty, my favorite movie.
when the backups start singing "let me out of here" it sounds like tortured souls screaming in hell. scary.

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Imani110
09-28-2002

Rated +4 
It could be applied to aging baby boomers who used to protest the government (You were so tired, happy, bring down the government, they don't, they don't speak for us) who have resignated themselves to high-stress jobs where they are subjected to heart disease or exposed to dangerous chemicals that are killing them (a job that slowly kills you), eating foods that clog their arteries and smoke and drink so that their body is full of poisons (A heart that's full up like a landfill), and they are slowly coming down with cancer, strokes, and heart attacks (some cancers have symptoms of bruises that don't go away and heart attacks and strokes can be brought on by blood clots blocking blood vessels and don't move), so they deal with businesses that poison the air (I'll take the quiet life, a handshake of carbon monoxide) such as the automobile industry. No longer arguing or protesting (Silent, silent). They may be on their death bed with a terminal disease caused by their lifestyle of the aforementioned or it could be their last time mentioning their dissent before taking in a life of pure acquiescence (This is my final fit, my final bellyache). They trade in the thrill and flavor of their life for the security of assimilation and in exchange for acceptance they get their house in the suburbs complete with a yard and 2.5 children (Such a pretty house, such a pretty garden). And they don't want any stirring up of their past excitement (No alarms and no surprises, please).


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1 Reply
jhienkleson
03-12-2003

Rated +1 
I think it's about a guy who is fed up with trying to make a difference in the world, and is also having problems with his girlfriend. He wants to just settle into a peaceful life where he can forget about all of his problems and just relax and live.

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lefttheretodrown
03-13-2003

Rated +1 
i think it's about the decadence of romantic literature from a nihilistic post-modernist perspective.

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2 Replies
Daisy13
03-15-2003

Rated 0 
Wow... nice job Imani110!

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Daisy13
03-15-2003

Rated 0 
Wow...nice job Imani110!

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Surfpico
03-15-2003

Rated 0 
Grrrreat song.

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dmac858
04-14-2003

Rated 0 
sweet video too, thom's chilling in a glass helmet that gets filled with water and then emptied while he's singing

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letmebe
04-17-2003

Rated 0 
This song represents how you feel when you just don't give a shit and you've had a terrible day. Imagine a sleep deprived middle aged tired looking man walking down a street, watching calamity after calamity befall him and he walks and stares on indifferently.

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iamaweirdo
04-24-2003

Rated 0 
Its about settling for the monotony of everyday life. 'Such a pretty house, such a pretty garden' is about settling down to a normal life, in a normal house, with a normal 'nine to five' job like a million other people. And yes it is about feeling fed up with this kind of life but realising it would be too hard to try and change it because you have no influence - the government 'don't speak for us'. The song itself is the narrator's 'final bellyache' - his final act of defiance against the way of life he has resigned himself to. He is saying 'ok maybe this life i have chosen is boring but what else is there? At least i'm safe from stressful situations (alarms and surprises) and i'm safe.'

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Orgy Pordgy
05-01-2003

Rated +1 
This song is a representation of mankind's longing to escape the responsibilities of a competitive society. The individual Thom croons about is most likely a corporate cog with regrets about his job. He is driven to suicidal intentions and feels that his paradise can only be reached in heaven.

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kida0002
05-11-2003

Rated 0 
one of those songs that are easy to listen to in the morning or sometimes even late

if anyone hasnt seen the video for this they are missing out

thom holds his breath under water on camera...pretty cool

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Max_Wayne
06-12-2003

Rated 0 
There are a number of possible meanings for this song, all depending on your perspective.

My current favourite theory is that the song is about a man on the brink, under pressure, high-stress job, etc, who is close to nervous breakdown.

His mind is turmoil, until he finally tips over the edge, into madness.

'This is my final fit' could refer to a strait-jacket.

'Such a pretty house.......garden' may well be the response of a mind so overloaded it's reverted to a childlike state in order to defend itself.

Alternatively, it's a suicide note, but I doubt it somehow. That's too simple for old TW.

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Hot Rod Hero
06-13-2003

Rated 0 
I compare the feeling in this song to that of a person right before they die in a car accident, although, I suppose it could be anything that kills.

Seriously, I also see a suicide connection. When I hear this song, I somehow feel like doing it, and I can't explain why. It just makes me feel suicidal for some odd reason that really, really perplexes me.

Think about it. The beginning is the reason. The middle is the action. The end is death. The song, when it slows down in the end, is like emotional death.

God, I'm pitiful.

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hobart
06-16-2003

Rated 0 
this song is actually really scary. The singer has been broken by the routines and meaningless of daily life, and is now ready to give up. The scary part of this is that a government whose subjects are people like this is politically stable. Someone like this is so depressed that they won't and can't revolt. I think the point throm is making is that a normal life does wear you down until you become a depressed suicidal drone who is too tired and lazy to "bring down the government." I think trom is warning us that if we keep accepting these meaningless existences, the government will continue to grow more powerful until it reaches the state described in the song.

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periwinklebyday
07-01-2003

Rated 0 
Sick of routine, sick of being normal, rebelling, going against everything you've ever known and found true, hating how you feel now, after thinking everything was great, self-disappointment in what you've discovered in you, the last time you ever care. Despair bringing you down, dying of a broken heart because you let you think about things you never resolved or lived when you were younger or when you should've. Regret all you have to show is a house and garden, but they're so lovely- you just wish you had more emotions, more loves, more sex, but you're too old for that sort of frivolous activity, so no more fun, no more risks, no alarms, and no suprises.

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st341thn1nj4
07-05-2003

Rated 0 
i think killgore has a good interpritation for this song. thom is upset with the world as it is.

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