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"
When a single mom goes out on a date with somebody new
It always winds up feeling more like a job interview
My mama used to wonder if she'd ever meet someone
Who wouldn't find out about me and then turn around and run
I met the man I call my dad when I was five years old
He took my mom out to a movie and for once I got to go
A few months later I remember lying there in bed
I overheard him pop the question and I prayed that she'd say yes
And then all of a sudden, ah, it seemed so strange to me
How we went from something's missing to a family
Lookin' back all I can say about all the things he did for me
Is I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be
I met the girl that's now my wife 'bout three years ago
We had the perfect marriage but we wanted somethin' more
Now here I stand surrounded by our family and friends
Crowded 'round the nursery window as they bring the baby in
And now all of a sudden, ah, it seemed so strange to me
How we had gone from something's missing to a family
Lookin' through the glass I think about the man that's standing next to me
And I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be
And lookin' back all I can say about all the things he did for me
Is I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be
Yeah, I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be
Because he didn't have to be
You know he didn't have to be
It always winds up feeling more like a job interview
My mama used to wonder if she'd ever meet someone
Who wouldn't find out about me and then turn around and run
I met the man I call my dad when I was five years old
He took my mom out to a movie and for once I got to go
A few months later I remember lying there in bed
I overheard him pop the question and I prayed that she'd say yes
And then all of a sudden, ah, it seemed so strange to me
How we went from something's missing to a family
Lookin' back all I can say about all the things he did for me
Is I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be
I met the girl that's now my wife 'bout three years ago
We had the perfect marriage but we wanted somethin' more
Now here I stand surrounded by our family and friends
Crowded 'round the nursery window as they bring the baby in
And now all of a sudden, ah, it seemed so strange to me
How we had gone from something's missing to a family
Lookin' through the glass I think about the man that's standing next to me
And I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be
And lookin' back all I can say about all the things he did for me
Is I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be
Yeah, I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be
Because he didn't have to be
You know he didn't have to be
Lyrics submitted by rockstar042081
He Didn't Have to Be Lyrics as written by Brad Paisley Kelley Lovelace
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music 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
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[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.
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.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
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.
This is obviously about a kid's step dad and how he wanted to take on the job of not only being a good husband but an awesome dad. when he gets older he wants to be as good of a dad that he never HAD to be but was anyway.
Agreed. Socially commenting it's too bad there aren't many or any men like that.
This song is very personal to me. My dad passed away of cancer when I was 10. I grew up without a father but had the best mother. Fast forward to when I met this girl. I wasn't looking to meeting anyone but we clicked. She had a son from a previous marriage. He was about 13 months old and just learning to walk. He and I clicked as well. We were all three a tight little unit. We never went anywhere without taking her son with us. It was package deal and I was more than happy to have them both. We were later married and I adopted him. Raised him as my own. Taught him how to play baseball and coached his teams. We later added a daughter of our own. Now he is all grown up in his mid 20s and he has almost nothing to do with me. As far as I know he doesn't know or see his biological father. It's heart breaking but this song means so much to me.
I love this song...Paisley is extraordinarily good at writing songs like this...songs that mean something more than "I love you, you love me, let's make love," or something of the sort.
This video was the first music video to ever bring a tear to my eye...
I am crying as I listen to this. It's perfect.
I want this to be my "father" - daughter dance with my step-dad. Cause this is him in every sense. the only downside, is obviously, I will not be a father to a child. ;)