it is about the presumption that everything must end ... specifically relationships and life ... how do we deal with that inevitability? ... acceptance of that future without letting it cripple you ... allowing one to savour the now ...
Before I was going off the psychological and philosophical deep end (that is always and indication that you should go to bed), I realized this morning that this theme of course has been used in Just Breathe too. But not with the urgency and symbolism of this song. JB was more straightforward; which made sense, for it was a straightforward, stripped down, get to the basics kind of ballad; this song is not. So not just the lyrics symbolise the theme, it is also symbolized in the music itself.
Ps: I truly wonder how this song intersect with the other songs on the album thematically. More and more I think that this album is about self-realization.
I told someone who asked yesterday that this song is like "Just Breathe on Viagra, having sex with a Journey song." I meant it as a compliment.
everybody wants the most they can possibly get
for the least they could possibly do
Ed says one line that says it all, then the rest of the lyrics and song make total sense:
"Hear the sirens, covering distance in the night. Echoing closer, will they come for me next time"
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I think this one is clearly lyrically about mortality, but also a lot to do with his daughters. Especially the end - the fear goes away bit and the holding you high above bit. Its incredible how many times this can be listened to without it getting old, perfect radio song.
The obvious central themes of the song are love, protection, and inevitable mortality. It could be any relationship but when I listen to this song I hear the relationship between father and child. Having just gone through that stage in my life, your outlook totally changes when you have children. With a small child, protection is never off your mind.
"Before you were here I danced in laughter with the ever after"
As a young adult, you tend to view life with reckless abandon. You were responsible for your life and your life only.
"Its a fragile thing, this life we lead"
Once you have your own child who depends on you for EVERYTHING just to survive, the fragility of human life strikes you. Your child's mortality is a mirror for you own mortality.
"Want you to know that should I go I always loved you"
You start to think about what would happen to your child once you are gone. Will she remember that she was your entire world? Will she know that every minute that she was alive you loved her with all of your heart? That you were willing to change your life for her.
This is especially a concern with older parents who fear their children by passing away before they reach adulthood.
"I study your face, the fear goes away"
This happens to me all the time. I'm holding one of my daughters while she sleeps and we are both totally at peace. You can look down and see your features in her face and you know how special that is. You have helped create a new human and she will continue living after you're gone. Basically after my death my spirit lives on in her.
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I think the sirens are literal sirens. Emergency sirens. Blaring in the night and interrupting sleep.
When the narrator of this here song (we'll call him "Ed") hears the sirens, it leads him to reflect on the fragility of life, how everything we hold near and dear to us can be gone or wrecked or otherwise permanently altered in a heartbeat.
Every morning when we wake up, there are 1,000 ways our lives can come completely unraveled. One false move, and everything goes up in smoke. If we really dwell upon how fragile life is, it would lead to total paralysis.
It is a song, primarily, about fear and how love affects that fear.
What's interesting to me, according to the song, is that love can affect that fear in conflicting ways.
At first, love makes you MORE fearful. Before love, our narrator ("Ed") didn't feel like he had that much to lose. Death was not as scary. "I danced in laughter with the everafter" (MY GAWD, what an awesome line, by the way).
But by the end of the song, love is the thing that chases the fear away. "I study your face, and the fear goes away."
Brilliantly put.... that's exactly how I interpret it as well. Got goosebumps listening to the song earlier!
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Before I was going off the psychological and philosophical deep end (that is always and indication that you should go to bed), I realized this morning that this theme of course has been used in Just Breathe too. But not with the urgency and symbolism of this song. JB was more straightforward; which made sense, for it was a straightforward, stripped down, get to the basics kind of ballad; this song is not. So not just the lyrics symbolise the theme, it is also symbolized in the music itself.
Ps: I truly wonder how this song intersect with the other songs on the album thematically. More and more I think that this album is about self-realization.
I told someone who asked yesterday that this song is like "Just Breathe on Viagra, having sex with a Journey song." I meant it as a compliment.
So after much debate and rum I've settled on my interpretation. I can picture an elderly couple lying next to each other in a bed and the song being told from the point of view of one of the persons. It makes sense to me, at the moment anyway
Comments
If you are some sort of hipster doofus who clings to rigid definitions of what kind of song is "cool" or "uncool" to enjoy, you might not like it.
If you are a normal person with like, a soul, you probably will.
for the least they could possibly do
I told someone who asked yesterday that this song is like "Just Breathe on Viagra, having sex with a Journey song." I meant it as a compliment.
for the least they could possibly do
"Hear the sirens, covering distance in the night. Echoing closer, will they come for me next time"
The obvious central themes of the song are love, protection, and inevitable mortality. It could be any relationship but when I listen to this song I hear the relationship between father and child. Having just gone through that stage in my life, your outlook totally changes when you have children. With a small child, protection is never off your mind.
"Before you were here I danced in laughter with the ever after"
As a young adult, you tend to view life with reckless abandon. You were responsible for your life and your life only.
"Its a fragile thing, this life we lead"
Once you have your own child who depends on you for EVERYTHING just to survive, the fragility of human life strikes you. Your child's mortality is a mirror for you own mortality.
"Want you to know that should I go I always loved you"
You start to think about what would happen to your child once you are gone. Will she remember that she was your entire world? Will she know that every minute that she was alive you loved her with all of your heart? That you were willing to change your life for her.
This is especially a concern with older parents who fear their children by passing away before they reach adulthood.
"I study your face, the fear goes away"
This happens to me all the time. I'm holding one of my daughters while she sleeps and we are both totally at peace. You can look down and see your features in her face and you know how special that is. You have helped create a new human and she will continue living after you're gone. Basically after my death my spirit lives on in her.
Brilliantly put.... that's exactly how I interpret it as well. Got goosebumps listening to the song earlier!