You broke when I just bent
You cried, I never meant to break you down
This time, did I steal the best
Of you?

Can you breathe tonight?
As the air is leaving you
Scream tonight,
Like the words are new to you.
Can we go back to the last time
My arms could carry you?
Breathe tonight,
You're alive

Lost: don't leave me in the dark alone.
Shine a light, 'cause you're the road that got me home
'cause I, I never knew that love was true
Did you?

Can you breathe tonight?
As the air is leaving you
Scream tonight,
Like the words are new to you.
Can we go back to the last time
My arms could carry you?
Breathe tonight,
You're alive

You broke when I just bent
Goodbye, but only if you're over it.

Can you breathe tonight?
As the air is leaving you
Scream tonight,
Like the words are new to you.
Can we go back to the last time
My arms could carry you?
Breathe tonight,
You're alive
You're alive


Lyrics submitted by dontwasteyoursong

Breathe Tonight Lyrics as written by Sam Hollander David Cook

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Breathe Tonight song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

1 Comment

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    To me, this song represents the end of a relationship in which one person was emotionally damaged significantly more than the other. Though in the chorus, "Can we go back to the last time my arms could carry you" represents a longing to return to the relationship that they once had, but for some reason cannot continue with.

    xlittlesparrowxon May 08, 2009   Link

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

Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
Blue
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Head > Heels
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.
Album art
Plastic Bag
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.