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"
Unchain my heart
Baby set me free
Unchain my heart
'Cause you don't care about me
Everyday I call you on the phone
Somebody tell me that you're not at home
So unchain my heart
Baby set me free
Unchain my heart
Baby let me go
Unchain my heart
'Cause you don't love me no more no-no
When I think I got you on my line
You tell me
Baby I don't have a time
So unchain my heart
Baby set me free
I'm under your spell
Like a man in a trance
And I know darn well
That I don't stand a chance
2
Playing
With little pictures that my mind sends
Counting the moments as my world ends
All I remembered are the bad times
And its chewing away at my insides
When you looked that way
Oh I knew you wanted to hurt
You killed all of my dreams
With your black, black heart
Breathing
All I remembered was your breathing
Heavy and low
As you told me to go
You became the figure in my bad dreams
I became the figure in your dark schemes
When you looked that way
Oh I knew you wanted to hurt
You killed all of my dreams
With your black, black heart
When you looked that way
Oh I knew you wanted to hurt
You killed all of my dreams
With your black, black heart
3
First you love me
And then you leave me
You get angry then reprieve me
I'll be happy
When you finally
Take my heart
I could let you
Come to get you
You would own me if I let you
But the worst is to forget you
Take my heart
But my crying
Is steaming all the windows
Flooding all the floors
You could hear me from here to who knows where
I'm gonna board up those windows
I'm gonna barricade those doors
'Til you come and take my heart
Come and take me now
But my crying
Is steaming all the windows
Flooding all the floors
You could hear me from here to who knows where
I'm gonna board up those windows
I'm gonna barricade those doors
'Til you come and take my heart
Come and take me now
Unchain my heart
Baby set me free
Unchain my heart
'Cause you don't care about me
Everyday I call you on the phone
Somebody told me that you're not at home
So unchain my heart
Baby set me free
Oh Baby set me free
Oh Baby set me free
Oh Baby set me free
Yeah
Baby set me free
Unchain my heart
'Cause you don't care about me
Everyday I call you on the phone
Somebody tell me that you're not at home
So unchain my heart
Baby set me free
Unchain my heart
Baby let me go
Unchain my heart
'Cause you don't love me no more no-no
When I think I got you on my line
You tell me
Baby I don't have a time
So unchain my heart
Baby set me free
I'm under your spell
Like a man in a trance
And I know darn well
That I don't stand a chance
2
Playing
With little pictures that my mind sends
Counting the moments as my world ends
All I remembered are the bad times
And its chewing away at my insides
When you looked that way
Oh I knew you wanted to hurt
You killed all of my dreams
With your black, black heart
Breathing
All I remembered was your breathing
Heavy and low
As you told me to go
You became the figure in my bad dreams
I became the figure in your dark schemes
When you looked that way
Oh I knew you wanted to hurt
You killed all of my dreams
With your black, black heart
When you looked that way
Oh I knew you wanted to hurt
You killed all of my dreams
With your black, black heart
3
First you love me
And then you leave me
You get angry then reprieve me
I'll be happy
When you finally
Take my heart
I could let you
Come to get you
You would own me if I let you
But the worst is to forget you
Take my heart
But my crying
Is steaming all the windows
Flooding all the floors
You could hear me from here to who knows where
I'm gonna board up those windows
I'm gonna barricade those doors
'Til you come and take my heart
Come and take me now
But my crying
Is steaming all the windows
Flooding all the floors
You could hear me from here to who knows where
I'm gonna board up those windows
I'm gonna barricade those doors
'Til you come and take my heart
Come and take me now
Unchain my heart
Baby set me free
Unchain my heart
'Cause you don't care about me
Everyday I call you on the phone
Somebody told me that you're not at home
So unchain my heart
Baby set me free
Oh Baby set me free
Oh Baby set me free
Oh Baby set me free
Yeah
Lyrics submitted by Shoot_Me
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.