I wasn't expecting you
you took me by surprise
and I don't know if you can see it
but it's right behind my eyes
the answer to a question
that I didn't know I'd asked
and you know
I didn't believe the tides
could wash over me so fast

cause I've never
seen this before
and I've seen so much
oh God I wonder what it takes
to understand happiness

but I am
standing on the edge
and I'm not afraid to fall
I'm not hiding
I'm not dying
I am not anything at all
but this time

I choose to be happy

and I've never really thought
that I could have something good
I never realised I deserved anything
didn't think that I could
but now I'm breaking down these walls
and you're tearing at these chains
and I am starting to believe
that I must be insane

cause I've never
seen you before
and I've seen so much
oh God I wonder what it takes
to understand happiness

but I am
standing on the edge
and I'm not afraid to fall
and I am not hiding
I'm not dying
I am not anything at all
but falling

and I don't care where I land
I'm falling
and now I feel like I can stand

cause this time
I choose to be
happy


Lyrics submitted by MuminPL

Choose to Be song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

1 Comment

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    Oh, it's a beautiful break-free song :) She's stuck in some kind of an internal world, confined within some walls. This might be her outlook on life (e.g. excessive cynicism) or a family situation (e.g. an overprotective mother) or just a state of mind (e.g. low spirits). She's not even aware of how oppressed she is within these walls, in this situation. Then someone comes along and, with his outsider perspective, immediately sees that something is wrong with her and decides to lend her a helping hand. The song is about deciding to break free from the chains preventing you from living, from being happy, from deciding for yourself. It's about your decision to BE rather than to merely exist.

    MuminPLon November 28, 2010   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
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song: Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.” That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Mountain Song
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."
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.