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"
Those schoolgirl days
Of telling tales and biting nails are gone
But in my mind
I know they will still live on and on
But how do you thank someone
Who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
It isn't easy, but I'll try
If you wanted the sky
I would write across the sky in letters
That would soar a thousand feet high
"To sir, with love"
The time has come
For closing books and long last looks must end
And as I leave
I know that I am leaving my best friend
A friend who taught me right from wrong
And weak from strong
That's a lot to learn
What, what can I give you in return?
If you wanted the moon
I would try to make a start
But I would rather you let me give my heart
"To sir, with love"
Of telling tales and biting nails are gone
But in my mind
I know they will still live on and on
But how do you thank someone
Who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
It isn't easy, but I'll try
If you wanted the sky
I would write across the sky in letters
That would soar a thousand feet high
"To sir, with love"
The time has come
For closing books and long last looks must end
And as I leave
I know that I am leaving my best friend
A friend who taught me right from wrong
And weak from strong
That's a lot to learn
What, what can I give you in return?
If you wanted the moon
I would try to make a start
But I would rather you let me give my heart
"To sir, with love"
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
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
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."
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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.
If I didn't know it was from a movie soundtrack (and with associated characters), I would think it's rather disturbing – a school girl expressing love to an older man? And it's her teacher?!
But then it's also about "my best friend" –Â so yeah sure. Whatever.
I think the melody and tone (instead of the lyrics) make 90% of the listening quality. It's one of my favorites despite the meaning of the lyrics.
<br /> Almost eleven years ago I kindled an important friendship with a 40 year old professor when I was 18.<br /> There was no sex, there was no romance; there was no violation of professional ethics. We just talked. About<br /> physics and metaphysics and the nature of the universe and pet cats and toothpaste and everything and both of us<br /> were made better by the connection. Years later we struck the friendship up again and the connection has not changed,<br /> although I am no longer teased by my classmates about being in love with the teacher. He was my teacher, but he was my best friend; at the time, he was the only person who really <br /> "got" me, and I suspect I was probably the only person who really "got" him. There was nothing manipulative or concocted<br /> to our friendship; it was natural, and was always there, and I believe it always will be. I learned a lot about<br /> what is real and true and good from him. <br /> <br /> So he was there from crayons (so to speak) to perfume. I could sing him this song and it would be exactly true.<br /> <br /> I don't think there is anything creepy about it; there's not a hint of pedophilia here.<br /> All you have is a student who is profoundly thanking a teacher she connected with on a truly deep level, and it's her<br /> choice how she chooses to express that.<br /> <br /> I think we are a society who is deeply afraid of love.<br /> <br /> eslkevin.wordpress.com/2013/04/29/what-is-the-meaning-behind-the-song-to-sir-with-love-by-lulu/
@veryken I just posted a comment up there, and then I saw what you said here. It's funny because I had just said that this could be part of the Lolita soundtrack. He took her from crayons to perfume (made a woman out of her) then when she was old enough she bailed. Probably helped her out quite a bit financially, so she's saying "Thanks, but no thanks." But she's not going to burn any bridges because she may need him again.
@veryken see my recent comment on this song in relation to the younger lady addressing the older man in her life