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"
The one, who sings around the sun
Cannot be bothered with the dark
The reason exits with the light
The one, the sun, the night
Begins, until trouble ends
I speak if only to explain
And no one here
Has lost his mind
Intentions are enough
The one, I love full of trust
They think the answer lies with me
But I am powerless to stop
The world from holding me
In place, the tower of it all
It is the cloud that hangs for days
It is a giant in the tree
The wind, the neck of me
We live as many others live
The fear of dying incomplete
Feeling the fair will tear apart
And turn and worn, start
The one, who sings around the sun
Cannot be bothered with the dark
He's underserving of the light
The one, the sun, the night
The one, the sun, the night
The one, the sun, the night
Cannot be bothered with the dark
The reason exits with the light
The one, the sun, the night
Begins, until trouble ends
I speak if only to explain
And no one here
Has lost his mind
Intentions are enough
The one, I love full of trust
They think the answer lies with me
But I am powerless to stop
The world from holding me
In place, the tower of it all
It is the cloud that hangs for days
It is a giant in the tree
The wind, the neck of me
We live as many others live
The fear of dying incomplete
Feeling the fair will tear apart
And turn and worn, start
The one, who sings around the sun
Cannot be bothered with the dark
He's underserving of the light
The one, the sun, the night
The one, the sun, the night
The one, the sun, the night
Lyrics submitted by Nicoolas, edited by smallwonderrobot
The Tower Lyrics as written by Jennifer Lynn Wasner Andrew Brant Stack
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
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,
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
People who think happiness and other "positive" emotions are the only way to live ("The one, who sings around the sun") can't be bothered to dig deeper in case they have to confront "negative" emotions like sadness and pain ("Cannot be bothered with the dark").
When they finally have no choice but to confront these emotions due to life circumstances, they believe that they'll never feel positive emotions again, and sometimes lose the will to live because of it ("The reason exits with the light, the one, the sun").
The speaker is going through this for the first time, and continues to feel this way for awhile, until the experiences causing the negative emotions finally end ("The night begins, until trouble ends").
Having learned the lesson that negative emotions are just as intrinsic to life and growth as the positive ones, the speaker explains to someone they care about who is going through the same thing that they're not crazy for feeling this way, and that it's okay to feel these emotions, as long as their overall intentions remain good ("I speak, if only to explain, '...And no one here has lost his mind. Intentions are enough'").
The speaker feels torn. Having helped guide them out of a dark place, the speaker's loved one now believes the speaker is extremely wise and has the answer to being perpetually happy ("The one I love, full of trust, they think the answer lies with me").
However, the speaker knows they are only human, and that they too have their own flaws and weaknesses ("But I am powerless to stop the world from holding me in place"). They know they will feel negative emotions again throughout their life ("The tower of it all, it is the cloud that hangs for days, it is a giant in the tree, holding the neck of me").
Having grown together with their love over the years, the speaker observes that they are no different from anyone else, with the same uncertainties ("We live as many others live, the fear of dying incomplete"), but doesn't seem to lament this. In fact, they see the same cycle of learning how to appreciate the good in bad experiences repeating in the younger generations ("Feeling the fair will tear apart and turn, and worn, start")
Finally, the refrain of the first stanza ("The one, who sings around the sun cannot be bothered with the dark"), but with new insight--that anyone who goes through life ignoring and pushing away the negative doesn't deserve the positive, because without the bad, how can you truly learn enough to fully appreciate the good? ("He's undeserving of the light")
And then, a simple phrase: positive and negative, two sides of a balanced life ("The one: the sun, the night").