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"
She shone up bright like a knife
Wearing tennis shorts made of stripes
Hand in hand to the grass and we got it right
Got it nice, nice, nice
Just a glimpse of an ankle and I
React like it's 1805
And I'd swim to the poles just to find the right satellite
It'll take all of my strength to give up
But you all know I tried
So forget about it, girl
My head's like a kite
When such a creature I sight
To town
Where your feet leave no prints on the ground
Have I left my home just to whine in this microphone?
It gets worse every time that we talk
Can't afford to be just one in a flock
But that's your lot
When you're after such a well-made lock
Who was classically trained to give up
All my friends know I tried
So forget about it, girl
Even I don't know why
I can't just stay the course
Keep my hands on the wheel
Our detractors were right
My head's like a kite
'Cause all my thoughts run astray
And I'm a walking cliché
When such a creature I sight
(I can't just, I can't just) I can't just stay the course
Keep my hands on the wheel
Our detractors were right
My head's like a kite
Wearing tennis shorts made of stripes
Hand in hand to the grass and we got it right
Got it nice, nice, nice
Just a glimpse of an ankle and I
React like it's 1805
And I'd swim to the poles just to find the right satellite
It'll take all of my strength to give up
But you all know I tried
So forget about it, girl
My head's like a kite
When such a creature I sight
To town
Where your feet leave no prints on the ground
Have I left my home just to whine in this microphone?
It gets worse every time that we talk
Can't afford to be just one in a flock
But that's your lot
When you're after such a well-made lock
Who was classically trained to give up
All my friends know I tried
So forget about it, girl
Even I don't know why
I can't just stay the course
Keep my hands on the wheel
Our detractors were right
My head's like a kite
'Cause all my thoughts run astray
And I'm a walking cliché
When such a creature I sight
(I can't just, I can't just) I can't just stay the course
Keep my hands on the wheel
Our detractors were right
My head's like a kite
Lyrics submitted by doobeydoobeydude, edited by pinkredrabbits, smallwonderrobot
Turn a Square Lyrics as written by James Russell Mercer
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The 'Turn a Square' title seems to me to be a play on the phrase 'turn a corner' - he can't turn the corner, his ways never change and he his stuck in a square, where every turn he takes leads him back to exactly where he was.
Agree/disagree?
I found the whole cheating girlfriend vs. infatuated with a girl thing entertaining. I'm personally with the whole infatuated with the girl he can't have view. I mean the main staple for their arguement for that meaning is in the verse which talks about staying the course... well that can be explained by him just giving up on obsessing her. He'll never have her so why bother obsessing about her still?
Really though, it's a Shins song and The Shins have a tendency to write songs with overly complicated lyrics and a buttload of analogies that make little to no sense. So take whatever meaning you want from it is what I say. =P
aw this is one of my favorite songs on here. it's so sweet. the ankle/1805 thing is so cute. i can't believe i just said cute and sweet... ew. death to me.
It's cute to an extent.
Everyone has known that perfect girl...who unfortunetly plays every guy out there. No guy wants to be a part of the group of boys chasing her around.
I feel differently than any of you I think. The song isn't really -about- a girl, it's just using her as an example of a person's general lack of follow through. Something really great comes along like maybe a pretty girl, or a creative idea or whatever and he gets really excited about it, but after a while he gives up and then later regrets it. He ultimately would like to finish what he started but has no idea how to trust that he won't give up again.
To town! Where your feet leave no prints on the ground, Have I left my home just to whine in this microphone?
Suggests the unsettling feeling of wagering everything one has to in order to follow a dream. Luckily a happy story where it turns out in the end. Can you say as much for the relationship, it doesn't really say, maybe she exists only as a metaphor.
haha, its not really all that cute, the guy cant stay with his girlfriend cause he cheats on her too much. but its a good song.
I LOVE THIS SONG. yeah. what strunky said.
i always thought this was about a girl who takes his breath away whenever he sees her. but meh.. i'm not sure. i always thought it was cute.
well, w/e but this song is teh awesome.
I never realised it could be about a guy cheating on his girlfriend? i always thought it was about liking that perfect girl who he can't have..
Can someone explain?