Fought To Fight It: What Do The Lyrics Mean?

[Moonlight_Graham]

Gonna try this out with a few songs on Vancouver and see if there's much response. If there is then i'll make threads for the rest of the songs on "Vancouver".

 

So what do you think this song is about?

 

 

For me, I kinda think it may a song might be being in the perspective of someone on the street with schizophrenia. I might be totally wrong about that, especially because of this part:

 

"This is the office down the hall

That writes the cheques that gets the house

A better half that's made of glass

That's skipping stones and cleans you out"

 

Kinda refers to Matt's divorce experience a bit?

 

Thoughts?

[RileyLewis]

I get the feeling it's about a person who wants to fight to break out of the "system" (whatever that is), but is fighting the urge. So they are fighting the urge to fight out of it. That's the impression I get from the verses.

[Devil On Rollerskates]

I think it has to do with someone wanting to say something, to speak out about an issue, but is being silenced. "You're a nail on the tip of my tongue".

[october]

The first, and still prevalent thing that came to my mind was that it's perhaps about his or someone's ex partner/spouse. Just my opinion of course, but the theme comes up again in Volcanoes, as an example.

 

'Fought to fight it, just to run' - Relationships can be a struggle, and he's saying that someone fought to hold on, to fight only to just run in the end.

 

'You're a nail on the tip of my tongue' - Perhaps an obvious nod of 'you cause me pain' or 'i can't say how i feel/express myself with you here'

 

'miles away from here, where the air in my head gets clear' - Only apart and away from the other person does everything come in to perspective.

 

'A better half that's skipping stones and cleans you out' - Nod to a divorce perhaps.

 

 

 

I also however, always take something immediately away from MG's music, which is always my first indication of it being great. To each his own interpretation.

[Zukiki]

I've found Vancouver as a whole to be his most personal record (even more so than Hospital Music). Cause while each song has it's core meaning, every now and then he'll throw in a really personal line, which changes the context of the song and it's just kinda like, oh wait...we're not really talking about Vancouver at all, are we?

[Gomo]

He doesn't need to be singing about Vancouver specifically in every song or even in half the songs. Vancouver is just symbolic of home in general.

[Moonlight_Graham]

Matt in a recent interview about Vancouver said that not all the songs are about Vancouver. It's just a general theme from some of the songs, and he writes about others seperate things in some things that have little to do with the city.

 

ie: Silent Army in the Trees, has to do about glorification of war. You can connect that to Vancouver and say, well, Matt experienced playing with guns as a kid in a similar way while growing up in a Vancouver suburb. But really, the meaning of the song is about our cultural fascination with war.

[Jarrod]

I kind of thought that A Silent Army In the Trees was about the gang violence that's happening in Vancouver, as well as home invasions.

[RileyLewis]

I think he's said (as I think the lyrics make obvious) that it's more about the glorification of the military. How as kids we play with guns, dress up as soldiers for Halloween. Then when you get to a real war, it's not quite the same thing.

[Moonlight_Graham]

I think he's said (as I think the lyrics make obvious) that it's more about the glorification of the military. How as kids we play with guns, dress up as soldiers for Halloween. Then when you get to a real war, it's not quite the same thing.

 

Exactly. In a blog post about Afghanistan years back before he wrote Silent Army, Matt used an example of how war is glorified in the west by saying he as a kid would play in the forest behind his house w/ toy guns pretending to be heroes, yet his grandfather (who fought in WWII i believe) would tell him growing up how they weren't really heroes, that they were just doing what they had to do.

[foats]

I wish matt would break down some of his song meanings for us. Or at least the less obvious ones. Many artists would rather the listener interpret there own meaning but I don't see Matt as being like that

[Devil On Rollerskates]

I wish matt would break down some of his song meanings for us. Or at least the less obvious ones. Many artists would rather the listener interpret there own meaning but I don't see Matt as being like that

 

Actually, I'm pretty sure I saw in an interview in the MGB days that he does want others to give the songs their own meaning, that if he were to explain what he were thinking when he wrote a song it might be be completely different than what you thought and it would lessen the fan's personal connection to the song. He has made some exceptions though.

[here is no why]

I wish matt would break down some of his song meanings for us. Or at least the less obvious ones. Many artists would rather the listener interpret there own meaning but I don't see Matt as being like that

 

It's definitley the opposite, Matt doesn't want to give his meanings, he'd rather you interpret your own.