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"
Once in a while maybe you will feel the urge
To break international copyright law
By downloading MP3's from file sharing sites
Like Morpheus or Grokster or LimeWire or KaZaA
But deep in your heart you know the guilt would drive you mad
And the shame would leave a permanent scar
'Cause you start out stealing songs, and then you're robbing liquor stores
And selling crack and running over school kids with your car
So don't download this song
The record store's where you belong
Go and buy the CD like you know that you should
Oh don't download this song
Oh you don't want to mess with the RIAA
They'll sue you if you burn that CDR
It doesn't matter if you're a grandma or a seven year old girl
They'll treat you like the evil, hard bitten criminal scum you are
So don't download this song
Don't go pirating music all day long
Go and buy the CD like you know that you should
Oh, don't download this song
Don't take away money from artists just like me
How else can I afford another solid gold Humvee?
And diamond studded swimming pools, these things don't grow on trees
So all I ask is everybody, please
Don't download this song (don't do it, no, no)
Even Lars Ulrich knows it's wrong (you can just ask him)
Go and buy the CD like you know that you should (you really should)
Oh, don't download this song
Don't download this song (Oh please don't you do it)
Or you might wind up in jail like Tommy Chong (remember Tommy)
Go and buy the CD (right now) like you know that you should (go out and buy it)
Oh don't download this song
Don't download this song (no no no no no no)
Or you'll burn in hell before too long (and you'd deserve it)
Go and buy the CD (just buy it) like you know that you should (ya cheap bastard)
Oh, don't download this song
To break international copyright law
By downloading MP3's from file sharing sites
Like Morpheus or Grokster or LimeWire or KaZaA
But deep in your heart you know the guilt would drive you mad
And the shame would leave a permanent scar
'Cause you start out stealing songs, and then you're robbing liquor stores
And selling crack and running over school kids with your car
So don't download this song
The record store's where you belong
Go and buy the CD like you know that you should
Oh don't download this song
Oh you don't want to mess with the RIAA
They'll sue you if you burn that CDR
It doesn't matter if you're a grandma or a seven year old girl
They'll treat you like the evil, hard bitten criminal scum you are
So don't download this song
Don't go pirating music all day long
Go and buy the CD like you know that you should
Oh, don't download this song
Don't take away money from artists just like me
How else can I afford another solid gold Humvee?
And diamond studded swimming pools, these things don't grow on trees
So all I ask is everybody, please
Don't download this song (don't do it, no, no)
Even Lars Ulrich knows it's wrong (you can just ask him)
Go and buy the CD like you know that you should (you really should)
Oh, don't download this song
Don't download this song (Oh please don't you do it)
Or you might wind up in jail like Tommy Chong (remember Tommy)
Go and buy the CD (right now) like you know that you should (go out and buy it)
Oh don't download this song
Don't download this song (no no no no no no)
Or you'll burn in hell before too long (and you'd deserve it)
Go and buy the CD (just buy it) like you know that you should (ya cheap bastard)
Oh, don't download this song
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This is my new favorite Al song. I couldn't stop laughing the first time I heard it, and it still makes me chuckle.
'Cause you start out stealing songs and then you're robbing liquor stores And sellin' crack and runnin' over school kids with your car
It doesn't matter if you're a grandma or a seven year old girl They'll treat you like the evil hard-bitten criminal scum you are
To me, that's the PERFECT summary of what the RIAA is. BS arguements to justify their actions, and completely BS actions against people who didn't do anything wrong.