Thursday released their debut album, Waiting, in late 1999 with original guitarist Bill Henderson, who left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Steve Pedulla. The band gained popularity with the release of their second album, Full Collapse, in 2001, and released their third album and major label debut, War All the Time, in 2003, which reached number seven on the US Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. Thursday released their fourth album, A City by the Light Divided, in 2006, and two further albums, Common Existence and No Devolución, before announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2011. In a January 2013 interview, Geoff Rickly confirmed that the band had actually disbanded. However, the band announced a reunion in 2016. Their reunion would conclude with a performance at Saint Vitus in Brooklyn, NY in March 2019.
The band has been considered influential to the post-hardcore music scene in the 2000s, and is credited as one of the key bands to popularize the darker emo sound and screaming vocals which came to prominence at the time.
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm sitting by your side
It rains for hours and the phone is off its hook
Standing on the edge
Casting lots to set me up
Before you knock me down
Off the Summer's edge and drown me
Making up for all the time we lost.
In this house of cards
We're all holding hearts and spades
(One breath. one step could knock it all down)
But you lead with your eyes and you give it away
(Design to cut from the clouds)
When the people you love get lost in the shuffle
You let it go and then you fold
So we stay on the open road
We drive for hours and still no end in sight at all
Driving in your car
Miss the stop sign
Fall in love
Just to get knocked down
Pull your punches and burn with your cigarettes
Pulled like a punch and burnt like a cigarette
Forever
The lyrics of Thursday's "Standing On The Edge Of Summer" convey a sense of recklessness and desperation as the singer feels stuck in a situation that he can't control. The first stanza of the song paints a picture of the singer being in a room with someone, possibly the person he's in a relationship with, as it rains heavily outside. The phone is off, which suggests that he's disconnected from the world and focused solely on his feelings. The line "Standing on the edge" can be interpreted as a metaphor for the singer being at the threshold of losing control and drowning in his emotions, which is a constant theme throughout the song.
As the lyrics progress, the singer talks about how he and his partner are betting on their own lives, trying to make up for lost time. He likens their situation to being in a house of cards, where one wrong move can lead to everything crumbling down. Despite this, the singer talks about how his partner leads with her eyes, suggesting that she's not afraid to take risks, while he tries to hold back and protect himself. The line "When the people you love get lost in the shuffle, you let it go and then you fold" reinforces this idea of the singer feeling like he's losing control.
The final stanza of the song talks about the singer and his partner driving aimlessly with no end in sight. They miss a stop sign and fall in love, only to get knocked down again as they continue to pull their punches and burn with their cigarettes. The final line "Pulled like a punch and burnt like a cigarette, forever" indicates that the singer is aware that he's stuck in this cycle and doesn't know how to break free from it.
Line by Line Meaning
In this room
I am present in this closed space.
I'm sitting by your side
I am with someone who is next to me.
It rains for hours and the phone is off its hook
It has been raining without interruption while the telephone is disconnected.
Standing on the edge
I stand precariously close to the boundary.
Casting lots to set me up
I am taking a risk of random probability to help me win.
Before you knock me down
Before someone pushes me to a disadvantage.
Off the Summer's edge and drown me
To fall off the edge of summer is to fall steeply into despair and feel overwhelmed.
We're betting on our own lives
We are placing bets on ourselves.
Making up for all the time we lost.
We are trying to recover the period of life that we wasted before.
In this house of cards
We are in a precarious balance.
We're all holding hearts and spades
We are all embracing our emotions and stress.
(One breath. one step could knock it all down)
It might crumble in one swift moment.
But you lead with your eyes and you give it away
You lead the way with your vision, hence all is given away.
(Design to cut from the clouds)
Intended to remove from the heavenly place or position.
When the people you love get lost in the shuffle
When the ones you adore are struggling.
You let it go and then you fold
You allow the problem to go and submit to it.
So we stay on the open road
We continue to travel down a path that is unbounded and unexplored.
We drive for hours and still no end in sight at all
Despite driving for an extended period, the destination is yet to be seen.
Driving in your car
Operating a vehicle for transportation.
Miss the stop sign
Not noticing the sign to stop.
Fall in love
Immersed into the act of loving someone romantically.
Just to get knocked down
Only to experience a painful circumstance.
Pull your punches and burn with your cigarettes
Holding back and smoking a cigarette because of emotional turbulence within oneself.
Pulled like a punch and burnt like a cigarette
Emotionally hurt in a manner similar to being punched or burnt by a cigarette.
Forever
Always or eternally.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Geoffrey Rickly, Robert III Keeley, Steven Pedulla, Thomas Rule, Timothy Payne
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind