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"
Don't sell me anything
Your one time offer, so uncalled for
You call it piece of mind
Cause I can see your house from here
Now leaves have fallen, dear
I can see you're just a little privateer
As your confession draws more near
Time and again, I find I'm listless
Or rather, fistless
In time, oh, that's what I find
So carry me to Mecca
With what you may divine
Take me with you, take me with you
Don't leave me behind
Oh cause I, I don't want your life insurance
Home, moto, health, flood, and fire insurance
Oh, just make, please make this basic inference
And speak of me in the present tense
Oh cause I, I can see your ship from here
Now the weather, so bright and clear
I can see you're just a little profiteer
As your confession draws more near
As your confession draws more near
As your confession draws more near
Your one time offer, so uncalled for
You call it piece of mind
Cause I can see your house from here
Now leaves have fallen, dear
I can see you're just a little privateer
As your confession draws more near
Time and again, I find I'm listless
Or rather, fistless
In time, oh, that's what I find
So carry me to Mecca
With what you may divine
Take me with you, take me with you
Don't leave me behind
Oh cause I, I don't want your life insurance
Home, moto, health, flood, and fire insurance
Oh, just make, please make this basic inference
And speak of me in the present tense
Oh cause I, I can see your ship from here
Now the weather, so bright and clear
I can see you're just a little profiteer
As your confession draws more near
As your confession draws more near
As your confession draws more near
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More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
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.
This is probably too specific to be the only possible meaning of the song, but the lyrics make me think of Stede Bonnet, the gentleman pirate who palled around with Blackbeard and whose criminal career was little more than the series of failures. He left a good place in society (not to mention his home and wife) in order to pursue the adventurous life of a pirate. He and Blackbeard were obtained pardons together, but while Bonnet was waiting for a letter of marquee to become a legal privateer against Spanish shihpping, Blackbeard took off with his ship (which for some reason prompted Bonnet to return to a life of piracy instead of getting the letter of marquee).
Similar to Bonnet, the singer rejects a comfortable life ("don't sell me anything," and "I don't want your life insurance"), expresses a desire to be alive and exciting, and seems to fear being forgotten ("speak of me in the present tense"), powerless ("or rather, fistless"), and left behind (the way Blackbeard, a real "profiteer," left Bonnet behind).
As for the confession, Bonnet's own boatswain, Ignatius Pell, somewhat reluctantly testified against him. Bonnet was put to death (despite begging for mercy and his promise to have his own arms and legs cut off), dying with neither glory nor dignity.
The song comes off as a rejection of material security in favor of some other life, possibly a life of adventure and comradery. But it also seems to encompass a sort of sadness associated with the end or failure of some glorious endeavor (both in the line about the leaves having fallen and in the multiple references to an ominous, pending confession). There is also a sense of betrayal in the lines "I can see you're just a little privateer/profiteer as your confession draws near."
Pretty and sad.