It was with these timeless inspirations in mind that Cohen created The Color by Yellowbirds, his “solo” debut. Double-speed auto-harp glissandos, glowing backwards pedal-steel, bubbling echo and fuzz guitars coalesce into a warm wall of sound. As existential lyrical themes emerge, delivered nonchalantly over psyched-out aural landscapes, the picture emerges of a dust-blown, 4th dimensional Future West. This is Cohen’s quixotic world where “only the purist tones can be heard.”
Stop Tonight
Yellowbirds Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The stars are surely shining somewhere.
And I've been cooped up in here all day.
You've been cooped up all day elsewhere.
All of this time,
I've been waiting for something
as if something was waiting for me.
I've been putting my faith in
making believe.
But all my pitiful ways
Stop tonight.
Stop tonight.
The lyrics to the Yellowbirds' song "Stop Tonight" convey a sense of restlessness and a desire to escape from the mundane routine of life. The singer urges his lover to join him in going out for the evening, noting that the stars are shining somewhere and signaling a sense of possibility and adventure. He acknowledges that they have both been "cooped up" all day, which implies a sense of confinement or limitation, but - importantly - in different places. This suggests a yearning for connection and shared experience, as well as a sense that something is missing from their lives.
The chorus of the song is particularly poignant, as it suggests a turning point or a moment of reckoning for the singer. He has been "waiting for something" and "putting [his] faith in making believe," which suggests a reliance on fantasy or escapism to cope with the disappointments of reality. However, he realizes that his "pitiful ways" must stop tonight - that he cannot continue to live in a dream world forever. This realization may be spurred by his lover's presence and the prospect of spending time together under the stars, which represents a chance for real connection and engagement with the world around them.
Overall, "Stop Tonight" is a powerful reflection on the human desire for adventure and connection, as well as the struggle to reconcile our dreams with reality. Its lyrics convey a sense of hope and possibility, even as they acknowledge the limitations and disappointments of life.
Line by Line Meaning
Hey Baby, let's go out tonight.
I am asking you to go out with me tonight and have some fun.
The stars are surely shining somewhere.
There must be a place where the stars are shining brightly, and we should go there to enjoy the night sky.
And I've been cooped up in here all day.
I have been stuck inside all day, and it's time to get out and do something different.
You've been cooped up all day elsewhere.
I know you have also been inside all day, but somewhere else, so we should both go out and have some fun together.
All of this time, I've been waiting for something as if something was waiting for me.
I have been waiting for something to happen in my life, as though it is waiting for me, but it hasn't yet.
All of this time I've been putting my faith in making believe.
To cope with the waiting, I have been pretending or making believe in certain things to keep me going.
But all my pitiful ways stop tonight.
Tonight, I am ready to put an end to my depressing and pitiful ways, and start to live my life again with hope.
Stop tonight.
I am saying this again to emphasize how ready I am to let go of the negativity and start anew.
Contributed by Claire R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Kevlar Shanahan
There's been a lot of good stuff coming out of Texas. This, thanks to Sam Cohen, this is some of it.
While too young to have lived through what I perceive to be the influences of their (his) sound, they (he) definitely has captured the feel of an era and brought it to the contemporary scene.
Thank you Sam.
Arthin M
awesome! really helps my energy :)
Bluzian74
beautiful.
天照
So underrated
Daniel Cronin
Does anyone know the guitar chords? Thanks.
Apollo Barretto
Very underrated
Carl Nagel
oota
Jcbcbv Gbvbc
😂👎