Nothing I'd say or I could do
Could move the mountains from your view
Nothing I see or I could show
There's only darkness now I know

I should have been there to inspire you
Not paint your world a cold, cold blue
I should have been there to inspire you
I could have told you truthful too
I believed in you, told you truthful too

I should have been there
Within your reach
This is not self pity,yeah
Of which I speak

I never took time to see how you'd grown
I never took the care it takes to know
Never took the time to see what you'd found
(Never took the time to see what you'd found)
Oh, had the time to bring you down

I should have been there to inspire you
Not paint your world a cold, cold blue
I should have been there to inspire you
I could have told you truthful too
I believed in you, told you truthful too

I could have been there
I could have been there

More than all this I do not know
Only that love is here to show
Someone a world to be themselves
A place to fall when all else fails

Friends harsh words cut deep and sore
But believe me mine will hurt me more
In those moments before I sleep
When I am truly alone to see

I should have been there to inspire you
Not paint your world a cold, cold blue
I should have been there to inspire you
I could have told you truthful too

I should have been there to inspire you
Not paint your world a cold, cold blue
I should have been there to inspire you
I could have told you truthful too
I believed in you, told you truthful too

Ohh, I believed in you, yeah
(Told you truthful too)
Yeah, I believed in you
(Told you truthful too)



Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings

I Should Have Been There to Inspire You Lyrics as written by Paul John Weller

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

I Should Have Been There to Inspire You song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

0 Comments

sort form View by:
  • No Comments

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
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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"
Album art
Cajun Girl
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”
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Gentle Hour
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,
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.