The Head and the Heart – Sounds Like Hallelujah

General CommentWhat I take the meaning of the song to be is about the cycle of coming and going, and how that relates to a relationship the singer is in. The sun goes down, and we put our arguments aside; "never go to sleep angry" as they say. The moon goes down, we get to watch the sunrise together as a new day begins.

The cycle breaks pretty abruptly in the third stanza (beginning with "So, I won't keep myself around..."), though, when the singer states the limits of his willingness to be a part of the cycles of the relationship - he wants more than what their relationship currently is. He's considering whether to stay or go, and has knows he won't stay "just to keep you warm".

The following stanza (beginning with "Momma don’t put no gun in my hand...") seems like a reference to his affinity for non-violence, or an aversion to confrontation. It seems like a reference to a deeply held desire to avoid conflict - I see it almost as an apology, like, "I've been considering leaving, but I haven't said anything to you about these feelings, because I don't want to cause conflict between us. I'm sorry, but I've been like this from childhood, I've just never liked confrontation."

Then the next stanza is a more obviously defensive one (beginning with "I'm not walking away..."), where the singer is explaining that it might look like he's just walking away to avoid conflict, but in his mind he sees this as a natural next step considering what he has realized about the relationship he's in with his partner. He's just _really hearing_ what they've been saying all along for the first time, and so going makes the most sense to him, and it feels like a "Hallelujah" to do it. He doesn't believe he's avoiding conflict by walking away, he's living into the next natural step of the cycle of their relationship, he's come, and now he's gone. Like the moon and the sun, they come up, they go down, they are gone.

The last stanza before the final chorus (beginning "And I'll miss you someday...") is his recognition that there will be times when he will wish things weren't over between them, but that's to be expected. Right now he may not have those feelings, but that's because "someday" is not "today".

For him, today, the sun is rising, and it feels like hallelujah.





TL;DR Summary

This is a beautiful break up song, where the singer expresses his experience of the end of this relationship as a part of the cycle of beginnings and endings that happen throughout our lives. Realizing this has left him singing hallelujah.

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  @mce
  +2

  You, my friend, are a genius. This is brilliant--I'm seriously impressed! It all makes sense now!

  Flag banjoman43on July 03, 2013  

  +1

  I totally agree with your interpretation. And going back to the "Momma don’t put no gun in my hand", I agree he is trying to avoid conflict, like telling her, just let me go like this don't make me say things in a harmful way.

  Flag CaLoToon January 15, 2014  

General CommentI'm really sad because... I love love love this song and a few days ago I came to this page and there was nothinggggggg, so I started thinking about what this song means and I think:
It means nothing! The lyrics are slightly cryptic and the verses kind of have nothing to do with each other. So that makes me think they just wanted it to sound like it was really deep even though they just didn't have any other deep personal experiences to write a song about. (hence their only having one album) And the momma don't put no gun in my hand part just reminds me of Bohemian Rhapsody...I don't think that's what they were going for?? But what wereee they going for then?
Prove me wrong! I want this song to havvvvve a meaning cause I still love it!

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  @IveBeenCalledAHipsterRecently
  +1

  I also thought of the reference to Bohemian Rhapsody. And that when he says "I dont want to end up like these men" (even thought it is in plural) maybe he is referring to the man in Bohemian Rhapsody who has to say good bye to everybody.

  Flag CaLoToon January 15, 2014  

  0

  I definitely think it's an allusion to Bohemian Rhapsody (the obvious similarities in words and the abrupt changes in the song). That song is an allusion to the book "The Stranger" by Camus. That book is
  about a man who is so apathetic about life that he kills a man for no reason. I think what the song is saying in regards to this is that he isn't like the stranger... He's not "killing" the relationship because he doesn't care. He's leaving because he does care. Because it's better for both of them if they go their separate ways.

  Flag recycleorburnon February 03, 2014  

General CommentTo me this feels kind of cathartic
Like, the singer is finally hearing what the other person is saying, and it's new, or it's not what they thought, or something like that.
Or they're seeing the truth about their relationship, and how things have been wrong
And though it looks like they are walking away when they say that they're not, I think that perhaps (to me anyway,) they are only walking away from this relationship if it's going to continue as it is.

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  @philomenaphoeb

General CommentI love the interpretation in the comment under mine! Genius.

Here was my interpretation of it in hope for a positive ending:

In the beginning, he can't wait until the night ends so that they can put differences aside

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  @km22