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"
Hey you
Can I breathe
If my chest is covered
Hey you
Is my face making sense
Eyes can't be still
In a moment so tense
Here babe
Are the notes you must play
This babe, is the procedure
Here babe
Not in another way
I can assure you
That you will be OK
Once would do
Once could change everything
Once could tell
And help me clear out
Some things
Once would make
No difference at all
Once or not
I've already made this fall
Hey you
Make the most of the time
You've got to cross many borders
If you can't control your mind
Something will happen
It's just a question of time
Oh babe
I can not concentrate
I'm here for the wrong reason
It's you who makes my knees shake
One season, then
The brakes're gonna break
Can I breathe
If my chest is covered
Hey you
Is my face making sense
Eyes can't be still
In a moment so tense
Here babe
Are the notes you must play
This babe, is the procedure
Here babe
Not in another way
I can assure you
That you will be OK
Once would do
Once could change everything
Once could tell
And help me clear out
Some things
Once would make
No difference at all
Once or not
I've already made this fall
Hey you
Make the most of the time
You've got to cross many borders
If you can't control your mind
Something will happen
It's just a question of time
Oh babe
I can not concentrate
I'm here for the wrong reason
It's you who makes my knees shake
One season, then
The brakes're gonna break
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Once Lyrics as written by Zelmani Halapi
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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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”
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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,
American Town
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Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
I completely disagree with you.
Maybe in the way of them wanting one kiss, one night as a couple in love I can agree with that.
But,
For me this is a man and a woman who have shared something special as a couple, but with a shadow hanging over their heads.
"One season, then The brakes're gonna break"
It is the man who "break", leaving the woman with a promise that all will be fine.
"Here babe Are the notes you must play This babe, is the procedure"
He tells her this is how it have to be, this is the procedure.
"Hey you Can I breathe If my chest is covered"
She described the feeling of trying to understand/breathe but how is that possible if the chest is covered.
"Hey you Is my face making sense Eyes can't be still In a moment so tense"
This part I believe is when she gets the bad news, that he is leaving her.
She is in shock, moment so tense, eye's being still but thoughts and feeling rushing through her mind. Her face not making sense because of the difficulty of understanding what it means.
"Here babe Not in another way I can assure you That you will be OK"
He trying to assure her she will be okay, maybe promising her a new chance in the future.
"Once would do Once could change everything Once could tell And help me clear out Some things"
This part I have had a hard time figuring out, but I think it means one kiss, one more night together, one more day anything that will give them both what they need.
"Once would make No difference at all Once or not I've already made this fall"
This describes their feelings, that even if they stay together just for one more time they still have "given up", him by leaving her, and she is heartbroken and might never risk going back to him.
"Once would make No difference at all"
They know they already should have left each other, but they can't.
Something holding them back from letting go.
"Hey you Make the most of the time You've got to cross many borders"
He is telling her not to be sad, "make the most of the time" If she staying for just a little while longer, she should make the most what is left.
"you've got to cross many borders" She have to break boundaries to stay and to leave him she have to cross many borders.
"If you can't control your mind Something will happen It's just a question of time"
Its her that have to control her mind, she have to let him go. Not stay just because she hope he will change his mind and take her back. If she fails doing that, he might not want one more kiss/day/night.
"Oh babe I can not concentrate I'm here for the wrong reason"
She is giving up, she can't control her mind. She is there for the wrong reason.
Hoping for something that can not be.
"It's you who makes my knees shake"
Describing the feeling of love. Real love, she is aware now that it is over.
"One season, then The brakes're gonna break"
Reminding herself that this love was doomed from the beginning. But, still wanting more. Once will make no difference at all, but the whole "season"/"relationship" was only Once.
So what is the diference than?
This is just how I see this song, its the story of my life so for me this is what the song meaning is all about!