I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm
I lied to you
I never cried for you
I swear that I tried to
But I had better things to do
Now you're on the road with your painful load
And the words I spoke left your big heart broken
You know you still bother
Because love is for the poor
So I left you knocking outside my front door
You knew what this was
I don't want you anymore
I warned you before
Warned you before
Well I, I coulda sworn I told you I was mean
You were a sweet old thing
And I was lonely, so I let you hold me for
A limited time only
You see, you're nothing to me
'Cause I'll always be a bad, bad seed
And you know you still bother
Because love is for the poor
So I left you knocking outside my front door
You knew what this was
I don't want you anymore
I warned you before, I warned you before
Well I coulda sworn I told you I was mean
Dum-de-dum dum-dum (hmm)
I'm just a mean old thing (hm)
Dum-de-dum dum-dum (hmm)
I know you still bother
Because love is for the poor
So cut out your knocking
'Cause I will never come
I will never come to the door
You knew just what this was
And I don't want you forever more
I warned you before, baby
I warned you before, oh honey
Well I coulda sworn I told you I was mean
Dum-de-dum dum-dum
I'm just a mean old thing
Dum-de-dum dum-dum
Hmm, hmm
I lied to you
I never cried for you
I swear that I tried to
But I had better things to do
Now you're on the road with your painful load
And the words I spoke left your big heart broken
You know you still bother
Because love is for the poor
So I left you knocking outside my front door
You knew what this was
I don't want you anymore
I warned you before
Warned you before
Well I, I coulda sworn I told you I was mean
You were a sweet old thing
And I was lonely, so I let you hold me for
A limited time only
You see, you're nothing to me
'Cause I'll always be a bad, bad seed
And you know you still bother
Because love is for the poor
So I left you knocking outside my front door
You knew what this was
I don't want you anymore
I warned you before, I warned you before
Well I coulda sworn I told you I was mean
Dum-de-dum dum-dum (hmm)
I'm just a mean old thing (hm)
Dum-de-dum dum-dum (hmm)
I know you still bother
Because love is for the poor
So cut out your knocking
'Cause I will never come
I will never come to the door
You knew just what this was
And I don't want you forever more
I warned you before, baby
I warned you before, oh honey
Well I coulda sworn I told you I was mean
Dum-de-dum dum-dum
I'm just a mean old thing
Dum-de-dum dum-dum
Lyrics submitted by eastjesusshenanigan418, edited by serta
I Told You I Was Mean Lyrics as written by Tanner Schneider
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
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.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
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.
I'm think the part where you have: "And you know you still bother"
is actually: "And it ain't no use to bother"