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"
Get me out of this place, before I cause more damage,
A small price to pay for building houses out of matchsticks;
And when things get too hot, you've got me to blame for,
Every fire that breaks out in every lover's name, so
Don't forget, we've got unfinished business,
Stories yet to unfold,
Tales that must be retold,
And I regret not knowing when to put an end to all this madness,
Keeps me wanting,
Keeps me wanting more
Sell me out I'm yesterday's old news,
Phrases left on paper,
Black ink bleeding through
The pages where we made our history.
Call me foolish,
I feel hopeless
Like a dear caught in the headlights
I won't know what hit me
Running from lions,
Never felt like such a mistake
Don't forget, we've got unfinished business,
Stories yet to unfold,
Tales that must be retold,
And I regret not knowing when to put an end to all this madness,
Keeps me wanting,
Keeps me wanting more
A small price to pay for building houses out of matchsticks;
And when things get too hot, you've got me to blame for,
Every fire that breaks out in every lover's name, so
Don't forget, we've got unfinished business,
Stories yet to unfold,
Tales that must be retold,
And I regret not knowing when to put an end to all this madness,
Keeps me wanting,
Keeps me wanting more
Sell me out I'm yesterday's old news,
Phrases left on paper,
Black ink bleeding through
The pages where we made our history.
Call me foolish,
I feel hopeless
Like a dear caught in the headlights
I won't know what hit me
Running from lions,
Never felt like such a mistake
Don't forget, we've got unfinished business,
Stories yet to unfold,
Tales that must be retold,
And I regret not knowing when to put an end to all this madness,
Keeps me wanting,
Keeps me wanting more
Lyrics submitted by this confession
Running From Lions Lyrics as written by Jack Bassam Barakat Alexander William Gaskarth
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think it's about someone (not necessarily Alex) having suicidal thoughts,"Running from lions never felt like such a mistake", the lions are sort of a metaphor for death, 'sort of' because they are a cause of death but not his/hers. They are saying they are not at the point where they are seriously considering taking their own life, but if an opportunity to die arose they wouldn't deny it, like if a car was coming for them they wouldn't move. The first verse is about how they mess everything up and won't be missed. The chorus is about the future that they could have if they hold on to life and their excitement for what's to come.