Regina Spektor – How

General Comment"Time can come and take away the pain
But I just want my memories to remain
To hear your voice
To see your face
There's not one moment I'd erase
You are a guest here now"

This kills me every time I hear it. It's just so sweet how she's saying that she wants to remember their time together, even after she gets over him, and how she doesn't regret it. I feel like the last line is kind of sad though. You are a guest, taking over my thoughts for now, but eventually someone else will fill those needs and become a permanent resident.

I agree with llamas though. Anyone could have written this song, and it's different from a lot of what we've seen from Regina, but I think that kind of makes it special. This is my first time getting that R'n'B feel. Even though it's generic, she's executed it so well. I can't stop listening to it. :)

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  @laurenh141

General Commentsome were saying its about death. and some ways it can be. its about someone missing someone else. but i think it is more about spurned love.

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  @SunnyPee

My OpinionMy god, this song... I really don't know what it is about it. They're honestly some of her most generic, uninteresting lyrics, but I can not stop listening to this one. As of right now, it is my favorite song on the album. Maybe it's the slight jazz/RnB feel to the rhythm... the melody is incredible, though. I'm seriously in love with it.

My only question is, is this song a personal story for Regina? Did the person in question die, or was it just a horribly painful breakup? Otherwise, there's nothing to interpret here... very straight-forward song, and very emotional. I do wonder what inspired this song...

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  @llamasllamas

General CommentI beleive its about having to let go of someone you love. The feelings are clearly so alive and real. Yet for different circumstances it sounds as though they are having to part. And although they have parted now, Regina is still coming to terms with the loss of her beloved. And is questioning HOW she can, forget her love, never see him again, love someone new, begin again.

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  @LambtonQ

My InterpretationI absolutely love this song, but to me it seems less about really moving on and more about accepting that it's over for the time being. She understands that with time the end of the relationship will hurt less and life goes on, but she doesn't want to forget. The questions of how imply that the tasks mentioned are seemingly impossible. There is an incredulous and self-assuring tone in each question that implies the answer. The love is too great to forget, how is it possible that the two will never meet again? It's not. "I guess you know by now that we will meet again somehow." A surer statement amid the questions to reaffirm the answers they all point to. At some point when the timing is right, the two will be together again. And she's not sure how things will turn out when that happens, but she knows things aren't over and she knows he knows that too. It's too far in the future to not move on in a lot of ways, which is why she asks how it's possible to love someone else, and how that love could be true. She thinks she can get close to someone else, but her heart remains his; or at least a part of her is his.

The whole thing expresses a struggle to convince herself that what she feels is the truth. "How can I forget your love? How can I never see you again?" She's trying to put some logic into why she feels like it's not over for forever. She's searching for some concrete reason for why she feels that moving on isn't right. She knows it's not over, but she can't really be sure until they come back together.

It also talks about her struggle to figure out how to live apart; right now he's simply a guest in her life, distant, and more of a stranger than he was before. She doesn't know how the whole moving on to new people is going to go, or whether she even feels comfortable doing so.

I feel like this song is just a beautiful depiction of the internal turmoil that goes on when a relationship stops too abruptly to be resolved.

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  @hiddenkiss
  0

  I absolutely agree with you... !!! I had to register to this site just to reply your comment! xD I was looking for some interpretations of this song and It was making me really sad to read all of that comment about death in this song... My first impression was yours exactly... :)
  But if I have to add something I think when she says "You are a guest here now" she really means he isa guest in her mind, she's still holding on all the memories and doesn't want to let them go... so she kinda feels like he's going to stay in her mind for now, she wants to see his face and hear his voice although in real life they turned apart...

  Flag Mellola88on December 01, 2013  

General CommentI can't believe no one has commented on this yet. It is definitely one of my new favorite Regina songs of all time <3
The music is so so beautiful, and the lyrics are so... simple yet utterly incredible. And of course her voice is hypnotic as always

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  @snickerdoodletmd

General CommentThis song is just beautiful, very romantic and sad

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  @cabezaderadio

My OpinionAn instant classic.

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  @CharMarRules

Lyric CorrectionFirst chorus:

Time can come and take away the pain
But I just want my memories to remain
To hear your voice
To see your face
There’s not one moment I’d erase
You are a guest here now

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  @GoodbyeGorgeous

General CommentIt immediately made me think of Dan Cho on the cell-O! R.I.P.

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  @GoodbyeGorgeous