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"
Pass me that lovely little gun
My dear, my darling one
The cleaners are coming, one by one
You don't even want to let them start
They're knocking now upon your door
They measure the room, they know the score
They're mopping up the butcher's floor
Of your broken little hearts
(Oh, children)
Forgive us now for what we've done
It started out as a bit of fun
Here, take these before we run away
The keys to the gulag
(Oh, children)
(Lift up your voice, lift up your voice)
(Children)
(Rejoice, rejoice)
Come on
Come on
Come on
Come on
Here comes Frank and poor old Jim
They're gathering round with all my friends
We're older now, and the light is dim
And you are only just beginning
Oh, children
We have the answer to all your fears
It's short, it's simple, it's crystal-clear
It's roundabout and it's somewhere here
Lost amongst our winnings
(Oh, children)
(Lift up your voice, lift up your voice)
(Children)
(Rejoice, rejoice)
The cleaners have done their job on you
They're hip to it, man, they're in the groove
They've hosed you down, you're good as new
And they're lining up to inspect you
Oh children
Poor old Jim's white as a ghost
He's found the answer that we lost
We're all weeping now, weeping because
There ain't nothing we can do to protect you
(Oh, children)
(Lift up your voice, lift up your voice)
(Children)
(Rejoice, rejoice)
(Hey little train, we're jumping on)
(The train that goes to the Kingdom)
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun
And the train ain't even left the station
(Hey, little train, wait for me)
(I once was blind but now I see)
And have you left a seat for me?
Is that such a stretch of the imagination?
(Hey little train, wait for me)
(I was held in chains but now I'm free)
I'm hanging in there, don't you see?
In this process of elimination
(Hey little train, we're jumping on)
(The train that goes to the Kingdom)
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun (children)
It's beyond my wildest expectation (oh, children)
(Hey little train, we're jumping on)
(The train that goes to the Kingdom)
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun
The train ain't even left the station (oh, children)
(Hey, little train, wait for me)
(I once was blind but now I see)
My dear, my darling one
The cleaners are coming, one by one
You don't even want to let them start
They're knocking now upon your door
They measure the room, they know the score
They're mopping up the butcher's floor
Of your broken little hearts
(Oh, children)
Forgive us now for what we've done
It started out as a bit of fun
Here, take these before we run away
The keys to the gulag
(Oh, children)
(Lift up your voice, lift up your voice)
(Children)
(Rejoice, rejoice)
Come on
Come on
Come on
Come on
Here comes Frank and poor old Jim
They're gathering round with all my friends
We're older now, and the light is dim
And you are only just beginning
Oh, children
We have the answer to all your fears
It's short, it's simple, it's crystal-clear
It's roundabout and it's somewhere here
Lost amongst our winnings
(Oh, children)
(Lift up your voice, lift up your voice)
(Children)
(Rejoice, rejoice)
The cleaners have done their job on you
They're hip to it, man, they're in the groove
They've hosed you down, you're good as new
And they're lining up to inspect you
Oh children
Poor old Jim's white as a ghost
He's found the answer that we lost
We're all weeping now, weeping because
There ain't nothing we can do to protect you
(Oh, children)
(Lift up your voice, lift up your voice)
(Children)
(Rejoice, rejoice)
(Hey little train, we're jumping on)
(The train that goes to the Kingdom)
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun
And the train ain't even left the station
(Hey, little train, wait for me)
(I once was blind but now I see)
And have you left a seat for me?
Is that such a stretch of the imagination?
(Hey little train, wait for me)
(I was held in chains but now I'm free)
I'm hanging in there, don't you see?
In this process of elimination
(Hey little train, we're jumping on)
(The train that goes to the Kingdom)
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun (children)
It's beyond my wildest expectation (oh, children)
(Hey little train, we're jumping on)
(The train that goes to the Kingdom)
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun
The train ain't even left the station (oh, children)
(Hey, little train, wait for me)
(I once was blind but now I see)
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I'll try and make it a bit clearer what I think it's about, cause I might be wrong, but it seems to fit.
Nick's putting himself in the position of someone older, nearing death. He and the others have done things in this world ("Gulags"), which although left them richer ("Lost amongst our winnings") are morally a bit wrong and left the world a bit rubbish. The gun reference could be an allusion to regret, which the song seems to be full of...
I think part of it is the realisation that even if they wanted to make everything right they couldn't. People will be people, and people replace other people and become in the same position and it doesn't matter how much they try to convince the young that they need to look at everything, they never will.
The other feeling I get from the lyrics is the realisation that Death is quite near and it's something to fear whatever age you are, so maybe people should live their lives to the fullest.