I'm Done with the World (& It's Done with Me)

Album: Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1 (2019)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This atmospheric ballad originated with some chords that Foals guitarist Jimmy Smith came up with. Smith, who was in Germany at the time, sent them to the band's vocalist Yannis Philippakis.

    Some days later, Philippakis woke up hung over. It was late October and the leaves were turning in the trees. As the singer wandered into the garden of the house he lives in with his girlfriend, he noticed there was a wounded fox on top of his shed. "There's something about that day I won't forget," he recalled to Q magazine," I felt raw."

    As Philippakis tended to the fox, he started thinking about how he would like to have children running around the garden at some point. He then walked to the studio, listening to Jimmy Smith's music for this song on the way. Still feeling tender, the vocalist came up with the lyrics in one go, as soon as he arrived at the studio.

    "I would like to have children one day," he told Q. "I would like to have a daughter. That song is written for that moment in the future to say 'Hey I wrote this song about you before you were born. Before you were even a hint.' There's not even a suspicion of a child on the horizon. But hopefully at some point there will be. So I want it to be like a gift."
  • The song is the closing track on Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1. The album is the first half of a two-piece project. Philippakis told The Sun:

    "There is a sense of confrontation in the lyrics and an energy to the song that is us blowing off steam. I want it to be like, I am actually just exhausted by it.

    And that track leads into the second album, which is a response to that track. It kicks off with a lot of energy and a lot of urgency but it flips around. There is a sense of perseverance in the songs at the start of album two."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt

Experience Nirvana with Sub Pop Founder Bruce PavittSong Writing

The man who ran Nirvana's first label gets beyond the sensationalism (drugs, Courtney) to discuss their musical and cultural triumphs in the years before Nevermind.

Alan Merrill of The Arrows

Alan Merrill of The ArrowsSongwriter Interviews

In her days with The Runaways, Joan Jett saw The Arrows perform "I Love Rock And Roll," which Alan Merrill co-wrote - that story and much more from this glam rock pioneer.

Five Rockers Who Rolled With The Devil

Five Rockers Who Rolled With The DevilSong Writing

Just how much did these monsters of rock dabble in the occult?

Michelle Branch

Michelle BranchSongwriter Interviews

Michelle Branch talks about "Everywhere," "The Game Of Love," and her run-in with a Christian broadcasting network.

Gary LeVox

Gary LeVoxSongwriter Interviews

On "Life Is A Highway," his burgeoning solo career, and the Rascal Flatts song he most connects with.

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"

Marc Campbell - "88 Lines About 44 Women"They're Playing My Song

The Nails lead singer Marc Campbell talks about those 44 women he sings about over a stock Casio keyboard track. He's married to one of them now - you might be surprised which.