Cash in, and cashed out
The right thing would be to let you go
But don't let me let you go

And I'll be waiting
For you to come back and let me know
That you're mine to call my own

But you won't say that, will you?
I get it, darling. You're better off alone
But I won't say that to you. You get it don't you?
I've got no place to go

Doe eyes; she don't care for love, she don't care for mine
So doe eyes, would you let me go?
At sunrise, she won't say goodbye, she won't say goodbye to me, no
By sunset, I'm on my own

Let up, or let down
The worst thing was always to let you go
But I had to let you know

A promise that I'd keep
From my lips to your cheek

But we belong to each other
Like wide eyes, empty roads, and night skies
But we belong to trouble too

Doe eyes; she don't care for love, she don't care for mine
So doe eyes, would you let me go?
At sunrise, she won't say goodbye, she won't say goodbye to me, no
By sunset, I'm on my own

The secrets that we hide
Behind my back and your eyes
A promise that you broke
From your skin to his bones

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Doe Eyes song meanings

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Song Meaning
"Doe Eyes" is a song that I consider unlike any other that I'd written at the time. Lyrically, most of the songs on DWAEPS were built on wordy verses and the occasionally simplistic hook here and there, not unlike a series of poems with some acoustic guitar tracks behind them. I was more focused on telling a complete story with every track. With "Doe Eyes," I just sort of let go of the reigns and started writing the most natural sounding "radio" rock chorus that I could. Thankfully, I liked where it was going and just ran with it.

Explicitly, the verses mirror each other in that they both convey the internal conflict of realizing that the "right" thing to do in a relationship might also be considered the "worst," or most difficult, thing to do. And honestly, what's harder then letting go?

As a symbol, "doe eyes" are meant to represent the deceptively beautiful and innocent. This idea is reinforced in the bridge/ outro: "The secrets that we hide / Behind my back and your eyes" In the context of the song, doe eyes are symbolic of one's inability to "see" through his/her own idealized conceptions of a person they might love or otherwise have feelings for. The motif of sight is huge in this sense, as we are often more than willing to "see only what we want to see" in the people we love. The great tragedy here is that we almost always try and romanticize the people over whom we hurt the most.

OTHER NOTES:
- I came up with the title while Snapchatting a girl. She always made these huge "doe eyes" in her selfies. The actual term "doe eyes" was just something that I'd heard in TV shows and other music.
- The phrase "cashed out" in the opening verse was inspired by a trip I took to San Diego with a bunch of my best friends after high school. We went to a casino and the machines would print out these "cash out tickets" to claim however much money you had made/ lost. I vividly remember looking at my cash out ticket that had read "$0.02" and realizing it was time to stop. In the song, "cashed out" is a reference to understanding when it's time to stop something - or in this case, to let go.
- The outro line "From your skin to his bones" is a reference to the chorus in the song "Slow" from DWAEPS: "Why don't, why don't you know? / Without your skin I'm just bones"
"Doe Eyes" is a song that I consider unlike any other that I'd written at the time. Lyrically, most of the songs on DWAEPS were built on wordy verses and the occasionally simplistic hook here and there, not unlike a series of poems with some acoustic guitar tracks behind them. I was more focused on telling a complete story with every track. With "Doe Eyes," I just sort of let go of the reigns and started writing the most natural sounding "radio" rock chorus that I could. Thankfully, I liked where it was going and just ran with it. Explicitly, the verses mirror each other in that they both convey the internal conflict of realizing that the "right" thing to do in a relationship might also be considered the "worst," or most difficult, thing to do. And honestly, what's harder then letting go? As a symbol, "doe eyes" are meant to represent the deceptively beautiful and innocent. This idea is reinforced in the bridge/ outro: "The secrets that we hide / Behind my back and your eyes" In the context of the song, doe eyes are symbolic of one's inability to "see" through his/her own idealized conceptions of a person they might love or otherwise have feelings for. The motif of sight is huge in this sense, as we are often more than willing to "see only what we want to see" in the people we love. The great tragedy here is that we almost always try and romanticize the people over whom we hurt the most. OTHER NOTES: - I came up with the title while Snapchatting a girl. She always made these huge "doe eyes" in her selfies. The actual term "doe eyes" was just something that I'd heard in TV shows and other music. - The phrase "cashed out" in the opening verse was inspired by a trip I took to San Diego with a bunch of my best friends after high school. We went to a casino and the machines would print out these "cash out tickets" to claim however much money you had made/ lost. I vividly remember looking at my cash out ticket that had read "$0.02" and realizing it was time to stop. In the song, "cashed out" is a reference to understanding when it's time to stop something - or in this case, to let go. - The outro line "From your skin to his bones" is a reference to the chorus in the song "Slow" from DWAEPS: "Why don't, why don't you know? / Without your skin I'm just bones"

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jbaroniaon August 30, 2014 Link
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