Toad is the former band of now solo arist Glen Phillips. A self-professed voratious reader and Buddhist, Phillips wove a number of complex themes into Toad’s later songs. This one is from their last album together, Coil, which contains some really beautiful lyrical content, particularly the song Rings. But, this one always makes me happy, so I went with it.
Why I like these lyrics:
In these lyrics, Phillips paints a picture of elimination. Tears for Fears wrote “They make no mention of the beauty of decay,” in their anthem to letting go, “Break It Down Again.” In much the same way, Toad and Phillips give a royal sendoff to all the things in one’s life that no longer have a place. I love the idea of a shredded calendar raining down like confetti from a parade. There is such joy in the idea of getting rid of the “lies that justify the pain” – in letting go of those things that we think make us happy but just serve to weigh us down.
Favorite Line:
Tear up the calendar you’ve bought
And throw the pieces to the sky
Confetti falling down like rain
Like a parade to usher in your life
—
Take your cautionary tales
Take your incremental gain
And all the sychophantic games
And throw ’em all away
Burn your tv in your yard
And gather ’round it with your friends
And warm your hands upon the fire
And start again
Take the story you’ve been told
The lies that justify the pain
The guilt the weighs upon your soul
And throw ’em all away
Tear up the calendar you’ve bought
And throw the pieces to the sky
Confetti falling down like rain
Like a parade to usher in your life
Take the dreams that should have died
The ones that kept you lying awake
When you should’ve been all right
And throw ’em all away
With the time I waste on the life I never had
I could’ve turned myself into a better man
’cause there ain’t nothing you can buy
And there is nothing you can save
To fill the whole inside your heart
So throw it all away
Won’t fill the whole inside your heart
Help me empty out this house
The wool I’ve gathered all these days
And thought I couldn’t do without
And throw it all away