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"
I've got a soul that can not sleep
At night when something just ain't right
Blood red, but without sight
Exploding egos in the night
Mix like sticks of dynamite
Red black or white, this is my fight
Come on courage, let's be heard
Turn feelings into words
American equality has always been sour
An attitude I would like to devour
My name is peace, this is my hour
Can I get just a little bit of power
The power of equality
Is not yet what it ought to be
It fills me up like a hollow tree
The power of equality
Right or wrong, my song is strong
You don't like it, get along
Say what I want, do what I can
Death to the message of the Ku Klux Klan
I don't buy supremacy
Media chief, you menance me
The people you say cause all the crime
Wake up motherfucker and smell the slime
Blackest anger, whitest fear
Can you hear me, am I clear
My name is peace, this is my hour
Can I get just a little bit of power
The power of equality
Is not yet what it ought to be
It fills me up like a hollow tree
The power of equality
I've got tapes
I've got CDs
I've got my Public Enemy
My lily white ass is tickled pink
When I listen to the music that makes me think
Not another motherfuckin' politician
Doin' nothin' but something for his own ambition
Never touch the sound we make
Soul sacred love, vows that we take
To create straight what is true
Yo he's with me and what I do
My name is peace, this my hour
Can I get just a little bit of power
The power of equality
Is not yet what it ought to be
It fills me up like a hollow tree
The power of equality
Madder than a motherfucker, lick my finger
Can't forget, cause the memory lingers
Count 'em off quick, little piccadilly sickness
Take me to the hick, eat my thickness
I've got a welt from the Bible belt
Dealing with the hand that I've been dealt
Sitting in the grip of a killing fist
Giving up blood just to exist
Rub me wrong and I get pissed
No I can not get to this
People in pain, I do not dig it
Change of brain for Mr. Bigot
Little brother do you hear me
Have a heart oh come get near me
Misery is not my friend
But I'll break before I bend
What I see is insanity
Whatever happened to humanity?
Whatever happened to humanity?
Whatever happened to humanity?
At night when something just ain't right
Blood red, but without sight
Exploding egos in the night
Mix like sticks of dynamite
Red black or white, this is my fight
Come on courage, let's be heard
Turn feelings into words
American equality has always been sour
An attitude I would like to devour
My name is peace, this is my hour
Can I get just a little bit of power
The power of equality
Is not yet what it ought to be
It fills me up like a hollow tree
The power of equality
Right or wrong, my song is strong
You don't like it, get along
Say what I want, do what I can
Death to the message of the Ku Klux Klan
I don't buy supremacy
Media chief, you menance me
The people you say cause all the crime
Wake up motherfucker and smell the slime
Blackest anger, whitest fear
Can you hear me, am I clear
My name is peace, this is my hour
Can I get just a little bit of power
The power of equality
Is not yet what it ought to be
It fills me up like a hollow tree
The power of equality
I've got tapes
I've got CDs
I've got my Public Enemy
My lily white ass is tickled pink
When I listen to the music that makes me think
Not another motherfuckin' politician
Doin' nothin' but something for his own ambition
Never touch the sound we make
Soul sacred love, vows that we take
To create straight what is true
Yo he's with me and what I do
My name is peace, this my hour
Can I get just a little bit of power
The power of equality
Is not yet what it ought to be
It fills me up like a hollow tree
The power of equality
Madder than a motherfucker, lick my finger
Can't forget, cause the memory lingers
Count 'em off quick, little piccadilly sickness
Take me to the hick, eat my thickness
I've got a welt from the Bible belt
Dealing with the hand that I've been dealt
Sitting in the grip of a killing fist
Giving up blood just to exist
Rub me wrong and I get pissed
No I can not get to this
People in pain, I do not dig it
Change of brain for Mr. Bigot
Little brother do you hear me
Have a heart oh come get near me
Misery is not my friend
But I'll break before I bend
What I see is insanity
Whatever happened to humanity?
Whatever happened to humanity?
Whatever happened to humanity?
Lyrics submitted by shut, edited by Mellow_Harsher
The Power of Equality Lyrics as written by John Anthony Frusciante Michael Balzary
Lyrics © Hipgnosis Songs Group
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
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
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.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
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.
More SJW horsecrap from some loser liberals.
Oh yes, the big bad KKK, who killed less people (mostly rapists and criminals) in 167 years, than blacks killed whites in the first 3 months of 2017...
But, yep, lets pretend all the races are equal, what a joke.
@RealMeaning4U2 I suggest you investigate the difference between equality and equity. No one is created equal, but we should all have equal opportunities
@RealMeaning4U2 triggered! lol