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"
From the shelter of your home
As you walk into the rain
Send a message that you know she'll hear
Though she's far away
Even though you have been wrong before
She'll hear you now
You know she will
But you don't know how
From the shelter of the rain
As you walk into the Tube
As you think of how you wonder if
She thinks about you too
Even though you've waited so long
To see the day
When she will turn
To you again
'So long my friend'
Is what you'll say
And I don't know
Why you feel so bad
Where is the life you once had?
And still this horrid feeling grows and grows
The way you want it to
Even though you've waited so long
To see the day
When she will turn
To you again
'So long my friend'
Is what you'll say
And I don't know
Why you feel so bad
Where is the life you once had?
And still this horrid feeling grows and grows
The way you want it to
You're a fool though
Why you feel so bad
Where is the life you once had?
And still this hollow feeling grows and grows
The way you want it to
As you walk into the rain
Send a message that you know she'll hear
Though she's far away
Even though you have been wrong before
She'll hear you now
You know she will
But you don't know how
From the shelter of the rain
As you walk into the Tube
As you think of how you wonder if
She thinks about you too
Even though you've waited so long
To see the day
When she will turn
To you again
'So long my friend'
Is what you'll say
And I don't know
Why you feel so bad
Where is the life you once had?
And still this horrid feeling grows and grows
The way you want it to
Even though you've waited so long
To see the day
When she will turn
To you again
'So long my friend'
Is what you'll say
And I don't know
Why you feel so bad
Where is the life you once had?
And still this horrid feeling grows and grows
The way you want it to
You're a fool though
Why you feel so bad
Where is the life you once had?
And still this hollow feeling grows and grows
The way you want it to
Lyrics submitted by goaliegreenberg
The Way You Want It Lyrics as written by Tom Chaplin Timothy James Rice-oxley
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
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.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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."
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Beautiful song, because it's about people's conscience.
Even though you might be in a different place, doing different things and living a totally different life, you can't escape what you've done wrong in the past if don't face up to it and take full responsibility. The person might think they've steered clear of their previous mistakes by running away, but thoughts come back to haunt them and they begin to miss the good things, such as her love. So what does this life of 'horrid feelings' compare to the once-happy memories which he now yearns for?
As unhappy as he is, he feels that he deserves it, because he hasn't really escaped from the past at all, no matter how he tries. And he knows that she knows, which means life now is even more wretched. He almost welcomes his depressive thoughts because trying not to think about it will drive him crazier.