This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Back at the house a bottle is found
And opened in honor
Of those who have drowned
While we who have not are stricken with guilt
And dutifully see
That not one drop is spilled
We're drinking to life we're drinking to death
We're drinking 'til none of our
Livers are left
We're wending our way down to the spirit store
We'll drink till we just
Can't drink anymore
Raise your glasses high
Drink the cellar dry
Well, bloody my nose
And blacken my eye
If it ain't some young Turk
In search of a fight
And chanticleer's chest
Is sagging with pride
For honor has yet
To be satisfied
Well, heaven be thanked
We live in an age
When no man need bother
Except on the stage
With Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
And definitely not tonight
I can still remember
When I was just a kid
I was free to do what I wanted to
But I never, ever did
So now with years of discretion reached
May we not forget
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité
For there's life in the old world yet!
There'll always be an England
An Ireland and a France
A Liechtenstein and Finland
And we have only one chance
Earnest young man with an unhealthy tan
Puts a drink in my hand and says I understand
You're in search of the place
To continue the chase of the heavenly taste
I suggest in that case you all come with me
To my place by the sea where the glasses shall be
Overflowing with free alcoholic delights
And free love if you like for what point has this life
If you can't realize your dreams?
Oh, raise your glasses high
And drink the town dry
We'll drink beyond
The boundaries of sense
We'll drink 'til we start to see
Lovely pink elephants
Inside our heads, inside our beds
Inside the threads of our pajama legs
So don't shoot til you see
The reds of our eyes
And an army of elephants
Marching behind
From the day I was born
Till the night I will die
All my lovers will be pink
And elephantine
And opened in honor
Of those who have drowned
While we who have not are stricken with guilt
And dutifully see
That not one drop is spilled
We're drinking to life we're drinking to death
We're drinking 'til none of our
Livers are left
We're wending our way down to the spirit store
We'll drink till we just
Can't drink anymore
Raise your glasses high
Drink the cellar dry
Well, bloody my nose
And blacken my eye
If it ain't some young Turk
In search of a fight
And chanticleer's chest
Is sagging with pride
For honor has yet
To be satisfied
Well, heaven be thanked
We live in an age
When no man need bother
Except on the stage
With Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori
And definitely not tonight
I can still remember
When I was just a kid
I was free to do what I wanted to
But I never, ever did
So now with years of discretion reached
May we not forget
Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité
For there's life in the old world yet!
There'll always be an England
An Ireland and a France
A Liechtenstein and Finland
And we have only one chance
Earnest young man with an unhealthy tan
Puts a drink in my hand and says I understand
You're in search of the place
To continue the chase of the heavenly taste
I suggest in that case you all come with me
To my place by the sea where the glasses shall be
Overflowing with free alcoholic delights
And free love if you like for what point has this life
If you can't realize your dreams?
Oh, raise your glasses high
And drink the town dry
We'll drink beyond
The boundaries of sense
We'll drink 'til we start to see
Lovely pink elephants
Inside our heads, inside our beds
Inside the threads of our pajama legs
So don't shoot til you see
The reds of our eyes
And an army of elephants
Marching behind
From the day I was born
Till the night I will die
All my lovers will be pink
And elephantine
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More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
This song is made for being sung, loudly, on the street when walking home late at night. All my lovers shall be pink, and elephantine!