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"
Tonight, two great ships will pull back to their ports
Depleted of everything that shoots flames and reports
And in the morning the shells will wash up on the shore
And the mighty of Earth will have no other recourse
But to shiver and shake and make shit in their shorts
Because we have been told that if you've been assured
There's a way to live the values your forefathers gave you
Prepare to be told, "That shit's gay dude"
But I guess that what they say is true
And there is no race more human, no one throws it away like they do
The things I used to love I have come to reject
The things I used to hate I have learned to accept
And the worst of the three you now have to expect
Satan ain't hard to see you without craning your neck
He'll be seventy-some inches tall
He'll be chugging a beer and he'll be grabbing his balls
He's a remote explosive waiting for someone to call
He's just eighteen for now but hes going to murder us all
Solidarity's gonna give a lot less than it'll take
Is there a girl at this college who hasn't been raped?
Is there a boy in this town that's not exploding with hate?
Is there a human alive ain't looked themselves in the face
Without winking or saying what they mean without drinking
Who will believe in something without thinking
"What if somebody doesn't approve?"
Is there a soul on this earth that isn't too frightened to move?
I think the wrong people got a hold of your brain
When it was nothing but a piece of putty
Though try as you may but you will always be a tourist
Little buddy
And half the time, I open my mouth to speak
It's to repeat something that I've heard on TV
And I've destroyed everything that wouldn't make me more like Bruce Springsteen
So I'm going back to New Jersey, I do believe they've had enough of me
So when I leave Boston, my tail is between my legs
After deep cuts of patience and drunk to the dregs
And now I'm heading west on 84 again
And I'm as much of an asshole as I've ever been
And there is still nothing about myself I respect
Still haven't done anything I did not later regret
I have a hand and a napkin when I'm looking for sex
And that's no one to talk to when feeling depressed
And so now when I drink, I'm going to drink to excess
And when I smoke, I will smoke gaping holes in my chest
And when I scream, I will scream until I'm gasping for breath
And when I get sick, I will stay sick for the rest
Of my days peddling hate at the back of a Chevy Express
Each one a fart in the face of your idea of success
And if this be thy will, then fuckin' pass me the cup
And I'm sorry dad, no, I'm not making this up!
But, my enemy, it's your name on my lips as I go to sleep
And I know what little I've known of peace
Yes, I've done to you what you've done to me
And I'd be nothing without you, my darling, please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Depleted of everything that shoots flames and reports
And in the morning the shells will wash up on the shore
And the mighty of Earth will have no other recourse
But to shiver and shake and make shit in their shorts
Because we have been told that if you've been assured
There's a way to live the values your forefathers gave you
Prepare to be told, "That shit's gay dude"
But I guess that what they say is true
And there is no race more human, no one throws it away like they do
The things I used to love I have come to reject
The things I used to hate I have learned to accept
And the worst of the three you now have to expect
Satan ain't hard to see you without craning your neck
He'll be seventy-some inches tall
He'll be chugging a beer and he'll be grabbing his balls
He's a remote explosive waiting for someone to call
He's just eighteen for now but hes going to murder us all
Solidarity's gonna give a lot less than it'll take
Is there a girl at this college who hasn't been raped?
Is there a boy in this town that's not exploding with hate?
Is there a human alive ain't looked themselves in the face
Without winking or saying what they mean without drinking
Who will believe in something without thinking
"What if somebody doesn't approve?"
Is there a soul on this earth that isn't too frightened to move?
I think the wrong people got a hold of your brain
When it was nothing but a piece of putty
Though try as you may but you will always be a tourist
Little buddy
And half the time, I open my mouth to speak
It's to repeat something that I've heard on TV
And I've destroyed everything that wouldn't make me more like Bruce Springsteen
So I'm going back to New Jersey, I do believe they've had enough of me
So when I leave Boston, my tail is between my legs
After deep cuts of patience and drunk to the dregs
And now I'm heading west on 84 again
And I'm as much of an asshole as I've ever been
And there is still nothing about myself I respect
Still haven't done anything I did not later regret
I have a hand and a napkin when I'm looking for sex
And that's no one to talk to when feeling depressed
And so now when I drink, I'm going to drink to excess
And when I smoke, I will smoke gaping holes in my chest
And when I scream, I will scream until I'm gasping for breath
And when I get sick, I will stay sick for the rest
Of my days peddling hate at the back of a Chevy Express
Each one a fart in the face of your idea of success
And if this be thy will, then fuckin' pass me the cup
And I'm sorry dad, no, I'm not making this up!
But, my enemy, it's your name on my lips as I go to sleep
And I know what little I've known of peace
Yes, I've done to you what you've done to me
And I'd be nothing without you, my darling, please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
Please don't ever leave
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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."
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."
Welcome back to Glenn Rock, Patrick. Did you enjoy your stay in Boston?