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"
Come on aboard, I promise you you won't hurt the horse
We treat him well, we feed him well
There's lots of room for you on the bandwagon
The road may be rough, the weather may forget us
But won't we all parade around and sing our songs
A magic kingdom, open-armed
Greet us hello, bravo, name in lights
Passing on the word to fellow passengers and players, passing in
Until you're tired looking at all the flags
And all the banners waving
This is some parade, yesiree Bob
Could we have known?
Yesiree Bob, could we have known?
Look at all the flags and all the banners waving
Open up our arms, a magic kingdom, open-armed and greet us all
Come on aboard, I promise you you won't hurt the horse
We treat him well, we feed him well
There's lots of room for you on the bandwagon
The road may be rough, the weather may forget us
But won't we all parade around
And sing our songs and wave our flags
A magic kingdom, greet us all hello
Greet us hello, greet us hello
We treat him well, we feed him well
There's lots of room for you on the bandwagon
The road may be rough, the weather may forget us
But won't we all parade around and sing our songs
A magic kingdom, open-armed
Greet us hello, bravo, name in lights
Passing on the word to fellow passengers and players, passing in
Until you're tired looking at all the flags
And all the banners waving
This is some parade, yesiree Bob
Could we have known?
Yesiree Bob, could we have known?
Look at all the flags and all the banners waving
Open up our arms, a magic kingdom, open-armed and greet us all
Come on aboard, I promise you you won't hurt the horse
We treat him well, we feed him well
There's lots of room for you on the bandwagon
The road may be rough, the weather may forget us
But won't we all parade around
And sing our songs and wave our flags
A magic kingdom, greet us all hello
Greet us hello, greet us hello
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
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
one of my fave REM as well-i think it lightly pokes fun at people who jump on the bandwagon of what is popular.I assume the line "the weather may forget us" is about being a fairweather fan.
It sounds to me like this bandwagon is an idealist lie they tell, (almost as a joke about their predicament) to recruit other musicians as there's only them on this ride and they'd desperately love some company. All they do is go on horse and cart (Probably a reference to their terrible transport) from one tiny red-neck flag waving town to the next. Or maybe Las Vegas or somewhere as disinterested. Yes fair-weather friend I think he means when he says about the weather forgetting us. As they are the true to the cause and you will be excepted (More from desperation and loneliness but need like minded souls. He's trying to sell it by appealing to other musicians sense of community and friendship being the pay-off here. Which is a total laugh. This is just before R.E.M. got to the next level remember and had been on the same slow incline for quite a while. It's funny. I've done my time in bands and as my mum used to say "Misery loves company"
Probably a song about getting drunk and having fun with your friends in any type of surrounding
Probably my favorite R.E.M. song due to the bizarre chord progression; It's a lot of fun to play on a guitar...
This song was released on "Dead Letter Office" a few months before "Document" came out and propelled R.E.M. to stardom. I've always felt that this song referred to the growing popularity of the band and the critics and fans jumping on the R.E.M. bandwagon after "Life's Rich Pageant". Kind of ironic that they achieved superstar status over the period of their next 3 albums.
one of my fave REM as well-i think it lightly pokes fun at people who jump on the bandwagon of what is popular.I assume the line "the weather may forget us" is about being a fairweather fan.
I thought this song was a slam on Disney World. Magic Kingdom, flags and banners waving, the horses pulling trolleys down Main Street.