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"
Maybe I've been scared, maybe I've known fear
Now I only know it from the rear view mirror
It wasn't always pretty, it wasn't always nice
The voices in my head gave good advice
Maybe I used to care that life had been unfair
But that's before I realized that I could walk
The old days ain't coming back, ain't coming back no more
They might as well be tied up in a sack on the ocean floor
With cement blocks
Sometimes wish come true
But I don't think they will for you
You wish that you were that one
But that's the nature of one and I'm that one
I know you know you wish you were
Tell me, tell me, does it hurt?
Don't be mad at me, it's all that I can be
I did not choose for you to lose
Better than best, better than best, I am
Better than best, better than best, I've been
And it's been a couple seconds since I first learned my lesson
That nothing comes from nothing and dancing is the best revenge
Better than best, better than best, never been lesser than
Better than best, better than best and dancing is the best revenge
Revenge
Sure, I still get scared, that's why I'm still here
Those same old fears are there, like I said, it's a rear view mirror
It wasn't always pretty, it wasn't always nice
The voices in my head gave good advice
And one day it all has been
So don't forget to leave 'em laughin'
And if you got no epitaph then
Just leave 'em something in Latin
Sometimes wish come true
But I don't think they will for you
You wish that you were that one
But that's the nature of one and I'm that one
I'm that one
Better than best, better than best, I am
Better than best, better than best, I've been
And it's been a couple seconds since I first learned my lesson
That nothing comes from nothing and dancing is the best revenge
Better than best, better than best, never been lesser than
Better than best, better than best and dancing is the best revenge
Revenge
One day it all has been
So don't forget to leave 'em laughin'
(Revenge)
And if you got no epitaph then
Just leave 'em something in Latin
Now I only know it from the rear view mirror
It wasn't always pretty, it wasn't always nice
The voices in my head gave good advice
Maybe I used to care that life had been unfair
But that's before I realized that I could walk
The old days ain't coming back, ain't coming back no more
They might as well be tied up in a sack on the ocean floor
With cement blocks
Sometimes wish come true
But I don't think they will for you
You wish that you were that one
But that's the nature of one and I'm that one
I know you know you wish you were
Tell me, tell me, does it hurt?
Don't be mad at me, it's all that I can be
I did not choose for you to lose
Better than best, better than best, I am
Better than best, better than best, I've been
And it's been a couple seconds since I first learned my lesson
That nothing comes from nothing and dancing is the best revenge
Better than best, better than best, never been lesser than
Better than best, better than best and dancing is the best revenge
Revenge
Sure, I still get scared, that's why I'm still here
Those same old fears are there, like I said, it's a rear view mirror
It wasn't always pretty, it wasn't always nice
The voices in my head gave good advice
And one day it all has been
So don't forget to leave 'em laughin'
And if you got no epitaph then
Just leave 'em something in Latin
Sometimes wish come true
But I don't think they will for you
You wish that you were that one
But that's the nature of one and I'm that one
I'm that one
Better than best, better than best, I am
Better than best, better than best, I've been
And it's been a couple seconds since I first learned my lesson
That nothing comes from nothing and dancing is the best revenge
Better than best, better than best, never been lesser than
Better than best, better than best and dancing is the best revenge
Revenge
One day it all has been
So don't forget to leave 'em laughin'
(Revenge)
And if you got no epitaph then
Just leave 'em something in Latin
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher, edited by MCSMeister
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The Night We Met
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Great version of a great song,
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.