This Canadian alternative rock band has a lot of tear-triggering songs.
- "Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel
", which plays a tune that sounds like it belongs on a cheerful carnival calliope, but whose lyrics tell the story of a car crash and the futile attempts to save the titular driver whose love is the "last thing on my mind". The narrator? Ed Robertson's brother, who died in a motorcycle accident.- In the same vein, "Am I The Only One" and "Leave". The former was originally going to be about Ed's (at the time) fiancée, but changed.
- "War On Drugs" is an absolutely devastating depiction of losing someone to clinical depression, which Steven Page himself lives with."She likes to sleep with the radio on
So she can dream of her favourite song
The one that no one has ever sung
Since she was small"- And the third verse. You can just hear the bitterness is Steven's voice when he sings that last lyric.
Near where I live there's a viaduct
Where people jump when they're out of luck
Raining down on the cars and trucks below
They've put a net there to catch their fall
Like it'll stop anyone at all
What they don't know is when nature calls... you go.
They say that Jesus and mental health
Are just for those who can help themselves
But what good is that when you live in hell on Earth?
When the very fear that makes you want to die
Is just the same as what keeps you alive
It's way more trouble than some suicide is worth...- The final verse drops An Aesop that is gut-wrenching about how the stigma towards mental illness is literally killing those who live with it.
Hard to admit I fought the war on drugs
My hands were tied and the phone was bugged
Another died and the world just shrugged it off - "Celebrity" is somewhat of a downer, too. The narrator talks about his goal in life, and then (presumably) achieves it and realizes how horribly hollow being a celebrity is.
- Then there is "What A Good Boy".
- For a song about a window washer who's afraid of heights, "When I Fall" does a great job at cueing the waterworks.I look straight in the mirror
Watch it come clearer
I look like a painter
Behind all the grease
But painting's creating
And I'm just erasing
A crystal clear canvas
Is my masterpiece. - Common consensus on singing along to "Break Your Heart" is impossible because of two things.
- The Incredibly Long Note
- The inevitable tears.
- "Off The Hook" is heartbreaking for anyone who's ever had trust issues.
- The lyric "And so it seems your saving grace was only saving face," is particularly devastating since it can be interpreted one of three ways: either a). the victim knows deep down that their relationship is dead and is only continuing because they enjoy the image of it, b). one or both of them believes that sweeping the whole thing under the rug will save their relationship, but all it does it keep up appearances or c). both.
- The way that the lyrics are all in the second person make it sound as if the victim is fully aware of the gaslighting going on and are shaming themselves for putting up with it.
- Thankfully, the last chorus turns triumphant when the person being cheated on has finally had enough.
- "Pinch Me" does a great job capturing the sombre mood of feeling unfulfilled even when everything is perfectly fine (or, alternatively, going listlessly through your day in the wake of a tragedy that hasn't entirely sunk in yet).Pinch me, pinch me, 'cause I'm still asleep
Please, God, tell me that I'm still asleep. - "Jane" is a pretty straightforward song about about someone missing his ex-girlfriend, but still has some pretty effective lines.I wrote a letter.
She should have got it yesterday.
That life could be better by being together
Is what I cannot explain to Jane. - "Call And Answer." At the end of an otherwise heartwarming song about healing a rift with your true companion, the last verse reminds them that forgiveness isn't always promised, and he has no choice but to cut this person out of his life if they can't prove that they've learned from their mistake. Steven's delivery is appropriately bitter. Anyone who's had a longterm partner continually return to hurtful behavior after promising they won't knows exactly what Steve is singing about:But I'm warning you, don't ever do
Those crazy, messed-up things that you do
If you ever do
I promise you I'll be the first to crucify you
Now it's time to prove that you've come back here to rebuild- The band closed their last show with Steven Page on vocals with this song. That Page's last song as a member of the band is one about blowing your last chance after years of working through a rocky relationship adds a crushing level of poignancy.
- Watching the performance in question, you can tell that Steven knows exactly what he's singing about. The humility in his face is so real.
- Most of "I Live With It Every Day" has strong Lyrical Dissonance to limit its emotional effect, but when the bridge hits...The love I put away
Like games that children play
The hearts you choose to break
Like cars dumped in the lake
The laugh lines on your face
The life I won't embrace
The cold house I won't leave
The guests I won't receive. - "God Forbid" talks about confronting your darkest fears and the difficulties in doing so, in what is probably the saddest song from the four-man era.God forbid you and I
Ever find better words to describe
How we can't run and hide
From the fears in the back of our minds
And I know that it's not how we live
But we still say "God forbid"- And at the end, Ed makes the song hit even harder.
Though I do not believe he exists
I still say "God forbid"
