When you're old and lonely
You will wish you'd married me
I could build a fire for you
And bring you cakes and tea
When you're cold and hungry
I'll be waiting by the phone
You can call me up and
Tell me how you're all alone...
All alone...
When you're old and lonely
And the rush of life is past
Days go by too slowly and
The years go by too fast
When your golden loneliness is
Heavier than stone
You can call me up and say
"My God, I'm all alone...
All alone..."






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When You're Old and Lonely Lyrics as written by

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When You're Old And Lonely song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is odd, it doesn't sound like most magnetic fields songs. it's not bad, though..

    HyperGlitteron June 18, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this song is like the speaker is saying all this to someone that they really want to be with..kind of to convince the person to want to be with them too. I thinks it's cute and funny.

    alto for lifeon September 14, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    He loved her so much when they were young but she didn´t love him that much, she wasn't very sure of getting into a relationship with him. Now decades have passed, she is "old and lonely" but he is married to another woman but he is still in love with her so he says he will always be there for her now that she is lonely and she has "lost" him in some kind of way... Now that she is old and lonely she regrets the fact of her not being able to take the risk of getting into something serious with him when they were both young.

    Ar-Kikanon March 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The feel of this to me is someone telling someone else all these things they could have had, had they chosen to be with this person. But they chose not to, and now all they can do is call someone to say "I told you so" when they're alone.

    toodrunktodreamon August 11, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this song is about someone so in love with someone else that he can picture their entire future together and the kind of life he can provide for this her. But she has chosen not to be with him because she is young and caught up in the "rush of life". He knows that when she is older and wiser and has moved past that point she will realize and fully understand the life he could have given to her and how foolish she was to let it go.

    It's like he is sure of this as a "once in a lifetime" love and knows it will break her heart when she one day realizes that too. It's very sad to think that you've lost out on a romance that could've spanned decades because you wanted a few years of young stupid independence.

    What's even worse is to be on the flip side of the coin and be forced to let go of something you're so sure of.

    acfreshon December 27, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    when you're old and lonely and the rush of life is past days go by too slowly and the years go by too fast

    such a tragic passage. I find it to be a very bitter song, essentially saying you are going to regret deciding not to grow old with me. When love is unrequited, we all want to believe that that person of our affection is going to regret not being with us someday when they are old.

    yoladuon January 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think that this song, like a lot of Stephin Merritt's, seems kind of cute and sweet on the surface but is actually really dark. It kind of has a bitter tone. The speaker in the song is singing to someone who clearly isn't interested in him romantically, and he's trying to console himself or maybe convince her to settle for him by saying that if she doesn't stick with him, she'll probably never find anyone. He's saying "Maybe I don't look so great now, but dying alone probably won't be so hot either"

    woimlglon April 19, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think that this song, like a lot of Stephin Merritt's, seems kind of cute and sweet on the surface but is actually really dark. It kind of has a bitter tone. The speaker in the song is singing to someone who clearly isn't interested in him romantically, and he's trying to console himself or maybe convince her to settle for him by saying that if she doesn't stick with him, she'll probably never find anyone. He's saying "Maybe I don't look so great now, but dying alone probably won't be so hot either"

    woimlglon April 19, 2011   Link

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