Child of the wilderness
Born into emptiness
Learn to be lonely
Learn to find your way your way in darkness

Who will be there for you?
Comfort and care for you?
Learn to be lonely
Learn to be your one companion

Never dreamed out in the world
There are arms to hold you
You've always known
Your heart was on its own

So laugh in your loneliness
Child of the wilderness
Learn to be lonely
Learn how to love life that is lived alone

Learn to be lonely
Life can be lived
Life can be loved
Alone


Lyrics submitted by Jillian04

Learn to Be Lonely Lyrics as written by Chalres Hart Andrew Lloyd Webber

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Learn To Be Lonely song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

9 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment

    well, I think it was written specifically for Phantom of the Opera, so it's kind of obvious what it means. It's as if Eric (the phantom) is thinking to himself about what he has to do now. Learn to be lonely because of his looks. It's sad and Mini sings it beautifully. I find it amazing that she played Carlotta, even if she didn't sing the part. :p

    AquilaCaton April 19, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Nevermind the last post. At the beginning, it's about someone like the phantom, who has been shunned by society, and about how he has to go through life alone.

    AquilaCaton April 19, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I love this song. Its about resigning yourself to being lonely and ultimately realising that you don't need anyone but yourself. "life can be lived, life can be loved, alone." Poor Phantom, I would love him.

    Poeticaon January 09, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I also kind of read this song as learning how to love yourself, how being alone doesn't necessarily mean you have to be really uspet about being by yourself, that you can love your life being alone

    KatShoe11on February 27, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I see this more of a song of survival. Eric has clearly survived life shunned. He has been warped and perverted by the dark side of humanity; the Angel in Hell, fallen and broken.

    Eric embodies the hatred and intolerance of the society he grew up in, produced by the ridicule he experienced as a child. When he was set free, he was given time, years to nurse his tortured existence. Human, yet not so from being treated as a demon spawn. Wrapping himself in the gauze of destruction that they created for him, he forged himself an identity of independence. Alone and still a hurt child deep inside, he stands before the world putting on a brave face. He has to cut off his humanity, his desire to be human to survive in the face of a world that hates him.

    I really identify with this song and Eric's experience as a warped creature created by society's ugly side yet yearning deep inside to be human. To experience the same joys of love which are constantly being denied for the flesh that we are wrapped in, trapped.

    Jianon December 01, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Jian i completely agree, Eric embodies all that is the dark and twisted side of human nature. he is a perfect representation of abuse and what is wrong with society.

    phantom123on January 08, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Actually the singing is rather good on this

    vasnmoGoon August 30, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i love this song, its so pretty and kind of emo. yay.

    vampirebloodon April 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is so beautiful. Of course, it's about the Phantom, but it's also about anyone who isn't able to find love. It's about learning to be on your own and accepting it, and even finding happiness.

    RosesAndRuffleson September 04, 2013   Link

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

Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.