Hi all,

Really old thread but thought I'd share my interpretation of the lyrics having listened to the song quite a lot recently and stumbled across this thread for the exact same reason.

'Are you aching for the blade?
That's okay.
We're insured.'

'Are you aching for the grave?
That's okay.
We're insured.'

- to me, the mention of 'we're insured' directly links to the following lines of the song:

'Daniel's saving Grace,
She's out in deep water,
Hope he's a good swimmer.'

- my interpretation of this is both that Daniel is saving 'Grace' (a person), but also links to the meaning of the term 'saving grace', that the following is one of his redeeming qualities / characteristics.

- 'she's out in deep water, hope he's a good swimmer' is referring to her mental state. Perhaps 'Grace' is facing a time of mental difficulties, and the hope that he's a 'good swimmer' is referring to the hope that he is able to help 'Grace' with her problems to avoid the use of 'blades' or the desire for a 'grave' (I.E. preventing her from committing suicide or similar).

'Daniel plays his ace,
Deep inside his temple,
He knows how to surf her.'

- I quite literally believe that Daniel playing his 'ace' is that he knows how to temporarily prevent these feelings that Grace feels, and him knowing 'deep inside his temple' 'how to surf her', is actually meaning that he knows exactly what to say to Grace in order to temporarily prevent her from taking her life or similar.

'Daniel drinks his weight,
Drinks like Richard Burton,
Dance like John Travolta'

- this to me means that Daniel himself has his own complications in life (resulting in him turning to drink), and in mental health, you'll usually find that those who are able to best assist others in a time of crisis/downfall in their life, are those who are either first hand experiencing the same level of pain at the exact same moment in time or have previously experienced it.

'Daniel's saving Grace,
He was all but drowning,
Now they live like dolphins.'

- again, this refers to his own problems in life through him 'all but drowning', and then now living 'like dolphins' is actually that they have similar problems, and perhaps they are all but stopping each other from taking their own lives through the support they offer each other.

'Getting away with it all messed up,
That's the living.'

- this summarises the whole thing for me. The way in which they're supporting each other and preventing anything drastic like suicide occurring, is actually messed up in a deep, dark way. Daniel knows how to prevent Grace from ending her life, but through the wrong way of ticking the boxes and playing 'his ace', rather than Grace herself actually seeking the support she needs to entirely pull away from the feelings she is facing up to. The fact that Daniel is 'getting away with it all messed up' has now become a way of life, hence 'that's the living'.

Just my interpretation of it all.

We are all messed up and we get away with it. That’s the beauty!

[quote="vag"]What I find difficult to understand are the following lyrics...
<<are you aching for blade,that;s ok.we're insured>>
<<he knows how to surf her>>
<<daniel drinks his weight>>
<<he was all but drowning>>
<<now they live like dolphins>>

I think they where drowning in the drink strugling for air, he let it consume and now he lives in the drink, comes up every now and again and back to the drink

Hope someone can gine me a clue..[/quote]

Ah man, based on the video I have always thought this was about one of two things. For me it is about:

1. Financial traders in New York, trading with peoples money but not worrying about the consequences. "Getting away with it", "that's ok, we're insured"

2. God and churches pushing religion which they know is fake.

[quote="Jabbsy"]the blade is phallic. definitely.[/quote]

You think?

the blade is phallic. definitely.

I liked Jabbsy's and Sigmund Freud's opinions on the matter! Very creative.

Honestly though, I've always thought of it as being about how money has completely corrupted our lifestyle.

"Are you aching for the blade
That's ok. We're insured."

Seems to me like he's saying "if you want to die, then that's fine because I'll still get all the money from life insurance. Also, when he talks about Daniel, I always pictured Daniel and Grace in an actual temple and when he says drinks his weight and plays his ace I picture him gambling and stuff because he's become rich and careless. It's the story of Daniel and Grace living they're lives all wrong and therefore, "getting away with it all messed up."

However, I recently saw the music video which makes me reconsider my opinion.

As a child of 1976 I have always enjoyed James.. As a Thatcher's child the tune is all about the worst excesses of the over indulgent 80s. Boom and bust.. Icarus.. stretching yourself to the financial extremes with nothing to show for it. In fact the same vocabulary of the 2000s or any immortal thinking generation.

[quote="Jocco"]


I don't think it's "he knows how to surf her" but "He knows how to serve her": witness Tim's performance on GAWIT ... Live as he points to his upper left forehead while singing "Deep inside his temple, he knows how to serve her" ...


[/quote]

His forehead is his temple, that's why he points to it. Also, if there is a double meaning then it's suffer / surf her.

Are you aching for the blade?
That's okay, we're insured
Are you aching for the grave?
That's okay, we're insured
(do you want to do risky stuff that'll hurt you? we'll we have insurance, so we don't mind if we do)


Getting away with it, all messed up
Getting away with it, all messed up
That's the living
(have another drink - everyone does it!)

We're getting away with it, all messed up
Getting away with it, all messed up
That's called living
(you ain't living unless you be fucccckkkkked up)

Daniel's saving Grace
She's out in deep water
I hope he's a good swimmer
Daniel's saving Grace
Deep inside his temple
He knows how to serve her
<<Daniel plays his ace deep inside his temple>>
(Daniel would be a crazy loser, but he got the chick, so it's all good)


Getting away with it, all messed up
Getting away with it, all messed up
That's the living
We're getting away with it, all messed up
Getting away with it, all messed up
That's the living

Daniel drinks his weight
Drinks like Richard Burton
Dance like John Travolta now
Daniel's saving Grace
She was all but drowning
Now they live like dolphins
(Daniel and his chick are lushes, but that's okay, they have each other)

Getting away with it, all messed up
Getting away with it, all messed up
That's the living
We're getting away with it, all messed up
Getting away with it, all messed up
That's the living

Getting away with it, all messed up
Getting away with it, all messed up
That's the living
Getting away with it, all messed up
Getting away with it, all messed up
That's the living

Oh, we're getting away with it, all messed up
Getting away with it, all messed up
That's the living
Yeah, that's called living

[quote="Cityed"][quote="vag"]What I find difficult to understand are the following lyrics...
<<are you aching for blade,that;s ok.we're insured>>
<<he knows how to surf her>>
<<daniel drinks his weight>>
<<he was all but drowning>>
<<now they live like dolphins>>


Hope someone can gine me a clue..[/quote]

Here's some other thoughts; plus, I think there's some misunderstanding/mistranslation of those lyrics; If I'm wrong, I apologize in advance ...

The lines "we're insured" sounds like a pointed reference to a conversation between bandmates ... Oh, you feel you need to off yourself but you can't be so selfish because then we couldn't finish the album? You think that's the ONLY reason we care about you? Fine, go ahead. We're insured.


I don't think it's "he knows how to surf her" but "He knows how to serve her": witness Tim's performance on GAWIT ... Live as he points to his upper left forehead while singing "Deep inside his temple, he knows how to serve her" ...

Finally, I believe the lyrics are:


Daniel saving Grace
She was all but drowning
Now they live like dolphins ....

I believe its a continuation of the theme of the song, that there are at least two people seeking redemption from SOMETHING, and one ends up helping the other survive; they may not have been so innocent throughout the process, maybe they're still stretching the envelope, but they've gotten through, they survived, i.e., got away with it, even if they WERE still all messed up.

Just my twin pennies.[/quote]

aching for the blade is a reference to substance abuse as the whole song is with references to drowning in drugs, drinks like Richard Burton. This is after all just modem life

[quote="It's good but not right"][quote="Grand master cookie"]Although to some people it may so like:
I've been getting away with it, all messed up
Being British I can assure you all that the lyrics actually read: I've been getting away with it, all my life!
All messed up is not something the British people generally use in their conversations or dialogue, If we do use the term messed up then generally we would use it in a different Context[/quote]

A rather spectacular fail![/quote]

i think the term the kids of today are using is EPIC FAIL!!!

[quote="Grand master cookie"]Although to some people it may so like:
I've been getting away with it, all messed up
Being British I can assure you all that the lyrics actually read: I've been getting away with it, all my life!
All messed up is not something the British people generally use in their conversations or dialogue, If we do use the term messed up then generally we would use it in a different Context[/quote]

A rather spectacular fail!

Oh dear Grand master cookie,
I think you may have the wrong song and band, as your lyrics seem to refer to Electonic's Getting Away With It.
Try listening to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmMWREzmDF4


[quote="Grand master cookie"]Although to some people it may so like:
I've been getting away with it, all messed up
Being British I can assure you all that the lyrics actually read: I've been getting away with it, all my life!
All messed up is not something the British people generally use in their conversations or dialogue, If we do use the term messed up then generally we would use it in a different Context[/quote]

Although to some people it may so like:
I've been getting away with it, all messed up
Being British I can assure you all that the lyrics actually read: I've been getting away with it, all my life!
All messed up is not something the British people generally use in their conversations or dialogue, If we do use the term messed up then generally we would use it in a different Context

[size=150][color=yellow]The song was originally called "Daniel's Saving Grace"

With that title, it focused on Daniel's strength to overcome risky obstacles and still get the girl.

Now, the title implies that we are all on drugs and still living our lives despite[/size] our maladies.[/color]

[quote="vag"]What I find difficult to understand are the following lyrics...
<<are you aching for blade,that;s ok.we're insured>>
<<he knows how to surf her>>
<<daniel drinks his weight>>
<<he was all but drowning>>
<<now they live like dolphins>>


Hope someone can gine me a clue..[/quote]

Here's some other thoughts; plus, I think there's some misunderstanding/mistranslation of those lyrics; If I'm wrong, I apologize in advance ...

The lines "we're insured" sounds like a pointed reference to a conversation between bandmates ... Oh, you feel you need to off yourself but you can't be so selfish because then we couldn't finish the album? You think that's the ONLY reason we care about you? Fine, go ahead. We're insured.


I don't think it's "he knows how to surf her" but "He knows how to serve her": witness Tim's performance on GAWIT ... Live as he points to his upper left forehead while singing "Deep inside his temple, he knows how to serve her" ...

Finally, I believe the lyrics are:


Daniel saving Grace
She was all but drowning
Now they live like dolphins ....

I believe its a continuation of the theme of the song, that there are at least two people seeking redemption from SOMETHING, and one ends up helping the other survive; they may not have been so innocent throughout the process, maybe they're still stretching the envelope, but they've gotten through, they survived, i.e., got away with it, even if they WERE still all messed up.

Just my twin pennies.

Though he sings now they live 'like' dolphins. maybe grace was like a dolphin out in deep water and thought he was saving her. ' Deep inside his temple he knows how to surf her'. so did grace save him?

Or they've died and come back as dolphins!!!!!

I like that he decides against drowning to live a more perceptive life like a dolphin