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"
We can talk for hours
And the line is still engaged
Were not getting any closer
You're too many miles away
And I might as well be talking backwards
Am I making any sense to you
And they only thing that really matters
Is the one thing that I can't seem to do
When the night was over
And the field was lit up bright
And I want to tell you
Nothing I said came out right
And I might as well be talking backwards
Am I making any sense to you
And they only thing that really matters
Is the one thing that I can't seem to do
And I might as well be talking backwards
Am I making any sense to you
And they only thing that really matters
Is the one thing that I can't seem to
Make sense of this dream
It's the one thing I can't seem to do
And the line is still engaged
Were not getting any closer
You're too many miles away
And I might as well be talking backwards
Am I making any sense to you
And they only thing that really matters
Is the one thing that I can't seem to do
When the night was over
And the field was lit up bright
And I want to tell you
Nothing I said came out right
And I might as well be talking backwards
Am I making any sense to you
And they only thing that really matters
Is the one thing that I can't seem to do
And I might as well be talking backwards
Am I making any sense to you
And they only thing that really matters
Is the one thing that I can't seem to
Make sense of this dream
It's the one thing I can't seem to do
Lyrics submitted by kzdaniele, edited by squonkwaltz, Michael451
Talking Backwards Lyrics as written by Martin Courtney Alexander William Bleeker
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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Holiday
Bee Gees
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
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.
I think the song is about the writer's inability to convey his feelings without saying "I love you" to his girlfriend
He is trying to explain his feelings for her but might as well be talking backwards because the "only thing that really matters" to his girlfriend is hearing I love you and that "is the one thing that (he) can't seem to do"
Also the imagery of war in the song is over him saying the words and "the line (that) is still engaged" is the metaphorical line of him saying I love you and she is "too many miles away" meaning she is set on him saying it no matter what other words he uses to express his affection
He's saying "the only thing that really matters," not "they only thing." I tried to edit lyrics and it shows me as having contributed, but still the same. Just pronounces differently than in the next line. Is like a computer algorithm posted these lyrics with no regard to context or logical sense.
Without a doubt, this is about Crimea. Obama and Putin talked on the phone about it, but never in person. No face to face meetings between leaders Kissinger said this was a huge diplomatic mistake because body language and tone are such significant components of communication.
"We can talk for hours and the line is still engaged. We're not getting any closer. You're too many miles away."
This is Obama - he's on the phone. Too lazy or scared to talk about it face to face.
"And I might as well be talking backwards. Am I making any sense to you? And the only thing that really matters is the one thing I can't seem to do."
Obama is too scared to be a hawk. He just wants to talk on the phone, which is a waste of time. He might as well be talking backwards.
@Rockyshorts Wow....<br /> <br /> I really thought this song was about having trouble conveying your feelings or long-distance relationships but after hearing your points, it's clearly about Obama's failed foreign policy...<br /> <br /> Just realized something else... <br /> <br /> "the only thing that really matters is the one thing I can't seem to do"<br /> <br /> What's the only thing that he can't do? Obviously it's Obama's inability to show us his real birth certificate. He can't do it because he wasn't born here and he's not a US citizen and therefore was never a real president. Wake up Sheeple!<br /> <br />