Try

This song clearly includes two different layers.

At the beginning, the first 2 stanzas, Nelly is talking about how she has become wiser than when she was a kid and dreamed about how great life is in general. She now realizes that people can be fake and mean and "really not real at all". This knowledge confuses her ("the more I grow, the less I know"), she slowly loses the ability to deal with life ("the more I see, the less I grow"). As a conclusion she burries all the images she created as a kid ("say goodbye to the way of life...") for they are now useless to her.

The chorus tells us another layer: The song has slowly turned into a description of a relationship. The first time she sings about him "wanting more" from her, we get the feeling she is sad about the situation, as she is unable to fulfill his wishes, she feels she is not enough for him. During the rest of the song, the mood clearly changes: The last part shows how she realizes she can try and try and she will never achieve whatever he wants from her, but this knowledge does not destroy her. In fact, it helps her recognize who she is and that they both are imperfect. During the climax of the music she finds relief, as she now knows they both will never be perfect, and that makes them beautiful together. In their relationship they can both be who they truly are: "All of the things we want each other to be, we never will be And that's wonderful, and that's life And that's you, baby,This is me, baby And we are, we are, we are, we are Free In our love"

Amazing how wise Nelly sounds at such a young age. This song is ingenious.

I think this song is about going through life and becoming more of aware of the world around you and who you are. Past experiences have helped you realize that people aren't always how you perceived them and because of these experiences you're not as naive and maybe not as trusting as you once were. And you're involved with someone, and they're wanting you to give more emotionally possibly, but you're not sure if you can. And all you can really do is try because you honestly care about this person. At first it makes you wish you hadn't experienced the things you had, so you could be exactly what this person wanted.

But in the end, you realize that you and this person are wasting time trying to change each other. Because you can only be free in life and in love if you truly love each other for who you are as a person and not just who you want them to be.

Furtado said the song "is about the reality of love. My energy used to just go everywhere, but now I'm more grounded because I've found true love. The idea here is that, yeah, sometimes life sucks. But life is only so long, and somebody can come along who makes you want to be a better person. You just have to roll with the punches. So "Try" is not a happy-go-lucky song

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Try_%28Nelly_Furtado_song%29

I think what Nelly is trying to sing is that after all the bad experiences she has been through with people and previous lovers, she develops a rather cynical outlook on life. When it seems a new relationship is formed and she is in love again, she is reluctant to give all of herself emotionally. She is afraid to learn more about this person, about the "realness" of the relationship, and only to end up with more sadness and crying. She thought she had her life with her lover so beautiful and planned out, only to have to bitterly say goodbye when the relationship ends. Therefore, when the boyfriend wants more out of their relationship, all she can do is try so that she does not get hurt again.

I'm kinda torn to the meaning of this song... the chorus seems to allude to some kind of barrier to the relationship. Perhaps one has a boyfriend/girlfriend while the other does not, or some other reason why they'd stand there wanting more from each other but unable to get it.

But looking to the song as a whole I suppose you could say the main point she's trying to put across is that there aren't perfect relationships. What you think someone might be, is not what they are, but thats life. Dreams that you may have made for yourself from a relationship standpoint just aren't realistic, and though you can try, it'll never be that way. Yet despite all of its flaws it can still be love and be wonderful. Heh, I'm not quite sure if I'm on the right track, but that seems to be part of it.

Just like any song, you can hold the intricasies of each song lyric in any viewpoint that can be applied to you. This seems to be what the song could mean to me, but seeing other people's own views on this song would be interesting. It's not an overtly easy song to pick apart, as it seems she's going in two different directions with the lyrics. Just my two cents I suppose.

Eh, whatever Eatcarpet. If that's all you get out of the song, then perhaps you should stick to interpretting Paris Hilton tracks. IMO its about a character (perhaps Nelly herself, perhaps not) who is losing the idealism of youth and settling into the cynicism / pragmatism of adulthood ("All I know Is everything is not as it's sold / but the more I grow the less I know"). Its something that happens to most people as they leave their teens and early 20's and realize that they can't necessarily change the world as they had once thought, and that they have beomce a part of the very things they once railed against. But suddenly someone enters her life (I'm guessing a child ie. her daughter Nevis) and she discovers that there is a reason to to better. The line "Then I see you standing there / I'm all I'll ever be / But all I can do is try" suggests that she is picturing this child (as a baby, as a teenager, as an adult) looking at her and it makes her want to be a better person (ie. to "try"). And she is not so naive as to state that she "will" be a better person, but that she will try, and that is all she (and in fact any of us) can do. And there is a sense of acceptance of this fact, with the closing verse "All of the things we want each other to be / We never will be / And that's wonderful, and that's life". In other words, there are many things we may try at and fail at, and that is fine; "that's life". Just my take anyway.

I think this song is about going through life and becoming more of aware of the world around you and who you are. Past experiences have helped you realize that people aren't always how you perceived them and because of these experiences you're not as naive and maybe not as trusting as you once were. And you're involved with someone, and they're wanting you to give more emotionally possibly, but you're not sure if you can. And all you can really do is try because you honestly care about this person. At first it makes you wish you hadn't experienced the things you had, so you could be exactly what this person wanted.

But in the end, you realize that you and this person are wasting time trying to change each other. Because you can only be free in life and in love if you truly love each other for who you are as a person and not just who you want them to be.

This song is about how hard you have to TRY in life to be happy (in love, friends, job etc)

I think this song is about someone in a relationship and their partner wants too much from them. The more they try and do the more their partner wants and the harder they try to please.

Just my thoughts :)

First of all, this is a beautiful song. I think it's about getting over it that no one's perfect, but if you love each other, you have to deal with that. You can't ask someone to change, because no matter how hard they'll try to be perfect for you, they'll stay who they are. You should love one another for who they are, not for who they're trying to be;