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"
Lonely soldier go home
Lonely, but never alone
Good eyes, see nothing to shoot
Good feet, feel good giving up good boots
So ask your father how'd you fall
And ask your father how'd you fall
Like a leaf sitting on the ground
Good for nothing 'cept kicking around
She died with her hands stretched out
She died with a hungry mouth
She died with her mind full of doubt
And thoughts of weakening
So may your river never dry
And may your mouth never lie
And may you be satisfied to never know why
Sometimes someone just wants to die
So where'd you get those cuts in your hand?
Thought I told you about playing in the sand
There's always someone careless with glass
There's always questions you don't want to ask
She died with her hands stretched out
She died with a hungry mouth
She died with her mind full of doubt
And thoughts of weakening
And so may your river never dry
And may your mouth never lie
And may you be satisfied to never know why
Sometimes someone just wants to die
So lonely soldier go home
Lonely, but never alone
Good eyes, see nothing to shoot
Good feet, feel good giving up good boots
Lonely, but never alone
Good eyes, see nothing to shoot
Good feet, feel good giving up good boots
So ask your father how'd you fall
And ask your father how'd you fall
Like a leaf sitting on the ground
Good for nothing 'cept kicking around
She died with her hands stretched out
She died with a hungry mouth
She died with her mind full of doubt
And thoughts of weakening
So may your river never dry
And may your mouth never lie
And may you be satisfied to never know why
Sometimes someone just wants to die
So where'd you get those cuts in your hand?
Thought I told you about playing in the sand
There's always someone careless with glass
There's always questions you don't want to ask
She died with her hands stretched out
She died with a hungry mouth
She died with her mind full of doubt
And thoughts of weakening
And so may your river never dry
And may your mouth never lie
And may you be satisfied to never know why
Sometimes someone just wants to die
So lonely soldier go home
Lonely, but never alone
Good eyes, see nothing to shoot
Good feet, feel good giving up good boots
Lyrics submitted by spastic_kitty
Lonely Soldier [Live] Lyrics as written by Damien George Rice
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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when i first heard this song, the message just jumped out at me because i find myself right now in a very similar situation. unfortunately i feel like i am a lonely soldier killing the girl im with. To me, the song is about a man and a woman who have been together for a while, but the man now just doesnt get the same feelings from the relationship that he once did and that she still does. (his river is dry). and even though he still loves her, and he hates that he would kill her if he leaves, he does anyway. i dont know if the song means that she literally kills herself or just dies emotionally but she dies not ready for it to end yet because she still feels that spark they had and she wanted him forever so she dies with her hands stretched out and her mouth hungry, wanting more. the man goes on to find that what they had was special and he knows he wont find that again so he always feels lonely even though he isnt alone. he just isnt with the right person and he knows it and he knows it's his fault for just giving up good boots. now he gets cuts in his hands from playing in the sand from careless people with glass meaning that the women he finds now arent right and they hurt him by acting like he did before. and he knows that none of this would have had to happen if he could have just been satisfied with the woman he had first and not found out how to make her want to die. thats how i interpret it anyway because im in that exact position. i know i love my girlfriend, but im dissatisfied because i wonder what else might be out there for me. im afraid of losing her, but im also afraid of being with the wrong person for my whole life. but i think this song has inspired me, like so many of damien rice's songs, and i think it may make my decision a little easier. thank you damien.
Lovely!