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"
You were once a sweet little girl
so innocent and pure
Your eyes were open and sure
anyone could look right in
I followed closely your gaze
you looked up towards the sky
But I watched your face drift away
other things had caught your eye
The magazines and media supplied you with their plastic protocol
And maybe music television really is the devil after all
But all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
before you grew up, before you gave in
You dream of sharing your heart
Instead you share your bed
And your heart beats empty and cold
With all the tears that you have shed
You dream of baring your soul
Instead you bare more skin
And you wear dark glasses to keep
Anyone from looking in
The magazines and media supplied you with their plastic protocol
Oh, and maybe music television really is the devil after all
But all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
Before you grew up, before you gave in
And all you want is to hear the words:
"Dear baby I love you"
So you hike your skirt higher still
'Till there eyes are all on you
You drive in fast foreign cars
The color or your sin
And you tint your windows to keep
Anyone from looking in
Oh, and all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
Before you grew up, before you gave in
And all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
You could be beautiful again..
so innocent and pure
Your eyes were open and sure
anyone could look right in
I followed closely your gaze
you looked up towards the sky
But I watched your face drift away
other things had caught your eye
The magazines and media supplied you with their plastic protocol
And maybe music television really is the devil after all
But all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
before you grew up, before you gave in
You dream of sharing your heart
Instead you share your bed
And your heart beats empty and cold
With all the tears that you have shed
You dream of baring your soul
Instead you bare more skin
And you wear dark glasses to keep
Anyone from looking in
The magazines and media supplied you with their plastic protocol
Oh, and maybe music television really is the devil after all
But all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
Before you grew up, before you gave in
And all you want is to hear the words:
"Dear baby I love you"
So you hike your skirt higher still
'Till there eyes are all on you
You drive in fast foreign cars
The color or your sin
And you tint your windows to keep
Anyone from looking in
Oh, and all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
Before you grew up, before you gave in
And all I can say is I knew you before
You were beautiful back then
You could be beautiful again..
Lyrics submitted by porcelain_skyline
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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.
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It's "beautiful back then" as in "you were once a sweet little girl, so innocent and pure." And the last line is "You could be beautiful again," which is alluding to Christ forgiving her and cleansing her of her sins, making her innocent and pure once again.