This song means so much to me. It has a different meaning to everyone, but in light of recent events in my life I've found one that really speaks to me, and maybe it will speak to others.
To me it's about a guy and girl who are very, very close friends. The kind of friendship where he's there for her, she's there for him, and things were good.
The guy, over time, starts to have feelings for her. She gradually becomes a bigger and bigger part of his life, his world - she is what gets him through the day, what he looks forward to when he wakes up each morning, what makes him smile no matter what other crap he has to deal with in his life.
He is convinced it isn't just some infatuation, but a true connection, something special: "When we talk you're like my brother". "The back of your eyes look like my mother's" suggests that, when he sees her laugh (the kind of full, genuine laugh where your eyes roll back slightly), he sees in her a special beauty, reminiscent of his dear mother. The combination of these two lines demonstrates how she means something very special to him; she's more than just any friend to him.
However, the guy eventually realizes that the feelings he has aren't mutual. He's never confessed them to her, but he's observant enough to see the signs that she only sees him as a good friend. She means the world to him, their friendship means the world to him, and he would never want to ruin it by confessing his feelings when they aren't mutual.
When he realizes this, it dawns on him that he's in a major bind. He wants to move on, get over her, for the sake of preserving their good friendship. But as long as they are close friends, and he sees that smile and hears that laugh that he cares for so much, he's not sure he can will himself to move on.
I believe it is at this point of time, this realization, that the guy writes this song. These are the words that will probably never reach her ears, the words he wants to get down on paper and out of his head. He's frustrated with himself, because he wants to get over her so that they could still be the close friends they were, but the process of getting over her will change their friendship just as much. He is afraid that he won't see her the same way and won't think of her the same way. So he writes this song out of fear and frustration and confusion, so that he can get these feelings down while he still has them, before he inevitably changes. They will serve as a proof to his future self, or to the girl even, of the feelings he had for her - proof that, if things ever end up bad between them, that he only had good intentions.
Continuing with the interpretation..
"All of your ways and all of your thunder, got me in a haze running for cover": These lines, repeated throughout the song, demonstrate his frustration with the situation he's in. She means the world to him, but since he cannot be with her and has to get over her, everything she does now reminds him of his confusion ("haze") and makes him just want to run away. To get over her, he's not allowing himself to smile as widely or laugh as genuinely at what she does, otherwise he'll never be able to move on. And so whenever she does anything, anything, even be in his presence, he would rather just run away ("for cover") so he does not have to deal with having to force a half-hearted smile to the person he cares for more than anything.
The question "Where we gonna go from here?", repeated in the chorus, and is the title of the song, is the crux of the song. In the setting I've described, he's asking this question to no one but himself, which emphasizes to himself how one sided his feelings are. He's frustrated that he's asking this question, because all he wants is to be able to go back to the magical friendship they had earlier, when things didn't have to be so complicated. He cannot ask this question to her, because she has no intentions for their friendship to "go" anywhere. And so he repeats this question over and over when he's alone, half of him genuinely wondering "where we gonna go from here?" and the other half of him hating himself for wondering this. If he could simply stop these questions, then things would not have to be weird between him and her, but then again there would not be the same magic as before if he didn't have these questions in the back of his mind. And so he keeps repeating the question, truly wondering where things are going to go between him and her.
The first verse demonstrates how much this frustration is consuming him; it is all he can think about. "Tomorrow we're turning down the highway, with another bright stage, on a weekday" is an understatement of all these concerts (representative of all the other events in his life) he's going to. Despite how important these other events in his life are, all he can think about is her, the situation he's in, and wonder "where we gonna go from here?" The line "700 places, 700 faces more" serves a similar purpose; despite all the new things that come into his life, all he can think about is her.
In the second verse, he starts to recognize that he needs to just calm down. "Time is moving on our side": he acknowledges that time will eventually work things out for him. He realizes that he's overthinking everything; that, as big as his problems seem to him, in the scope of everything else in the world ("pull of the ocean, and the roaring tide"), it barely means anything at all. But he can't simply accept this, and goes back to the "700 places" line and the chorus to drown in his frustration.
In the third verse, he's a bit more calm than in the previous verses and knows what he has to do, despite how much it sucks to him. "Now I've waited and I'll wait some more, won't see me knocking on another door" is him admitting that he does have feelings for her, this he cannot deny. It is also him saying that these feelings are special; she's not just some other girl for him to become infatuated with. He admits that these feelings are strong still ("I'll wait some more"), and that he won't be able to quickly/easily get over her because of how special she is ("won't see me knocking on another door").
"There's only one half of us that I'm saving" is him saying that, no matter what happens between them, no matter how things change between them, he's doing it all for her, not for him. He's going to bear with all this frustration, confusion and sadness so that he can save her from dealing with any drama or strangeness; this is how much he cares for her.
"So I'm praying, just to let it go, watch from a distance just to see you glow": this is him praying, hoping that eventually he'll let it go and get over her. He hopes that, even if they end up not close friends anymore, he can still "watch from a distance" and see her "glow" that beautiful, amazing "glow" he has seen so many times before. He's also afraid that, through all the frustration, he will end up seeing her in a bad light in order to get over her. He does not want this; he wants to get over her while still being her friend, so that he can see her "glow" and be happy for her.
Despite these hopes and prayers to change, he still goes back to the nostalgia, confusion and bitterness of the chorus, because he's not yet fully over her. He knows what he has to do, but to him it simply sucks that things have ended up as they are between him and her. He misses her and how things used to be.
--
I miss you. I miss the way you brightened the room, the way I could be myself and say what I want and know that you wanted to listen. I miss when I felt like I meant something special to you, when you were happy to see me, when you would say "I don't like it when you aren't here". Now things are different between us, and it sucks. I want you to know that you will always mean something special to me, and everything I did I did for our friendship.
I hope one day we will be able to be the friends we once were.
This song means so much to me. It has a different meaning to everyone, but in light of recent events in my life I've found one that really speaks to me, and maybe it will speak to others.
To me it's about a guy and girl who are very, very close friends. The kind of friendship where he's there for her, she's there for him, and things were good.
The guy, over time, starts to have feelings for her. She gradually becomes a bigger and bigger part of his life, his world - she is what gets him through the day, what he looks forward to when he wakes up each morning, what makes him smile no matter what other crap he has to deal with in his life.
He is convinced it isn't just some infatuation, but a true connection, something special: "When we talk you're like my brother". "The back of your eyes look like my mother's" suggests that, when he sees her laugh (the kind of full, genuine laugh where your eyes roll back slightly), he sees in her a special beauty, reminiscent of his dear mother. The combination of these two lines demonstrates how she means something very special to him; she's more than just any friend to him.
However, the guy eventually realizes that the feelings he has aren't mutual. He's never confessed them to her, but he's observant enough to see the signs that she only sees him as a good friend. She means the world to him, their friendship means the world to him, and he would never want to ruin it by confessing his feelings when they aren't mutual.
When he realizes this, it dawns on him that he's in a major bind. He wants to move on, get over her, for the sake of preserving their good friendship. But as long as they are close friends, and he sees that smile and hears that laugh that he cares for so much, he's not sure he can will himself to move on.
I believe it is at this point of time, this realization, that the guy writes this song. These are the words that will probably never reach her ears, the words he wants to get down on paper and out of his head. He's frustrated with himself, because he wants to get over her so that they could still be the close friends they were, but the process of getting over her will change their friendship just as much. He is afraid that he won't see her the same way and won't think of her the same way. So he writes this song out of fear and frustration and confusion, so that he can get these feelings down while he still has them, before he inevitably changes. They will serve as a proof to his future self, or to the girl even, of the feelings he had for her - proof that, if things ever end up bad between them, that he only had good intentions.
Continuing with the interpretation..
"All of your ways and all of your thunder, got me in a haze running for cover": These lines, repeated throughout the song, demonstrate his frustration with the situation he's in. She means the world to him, but since he cannot be with her and has to get over her, everything she does now reminds him of his confusion ("haze") and makes him just want to run away. To get over her, he's not allowing himself to smile as widely or laugh as genuinely at what she does, otherwise he'll never be able to move on. And so whenever she does anything, anything, even be in his presence, he would rather just run away ("for cover") so he does not have to deal with having to force a half-hearted smile to the person he cares for more than anything.
The question "Where we gonna go from here?", repeated in the chorus, and is the title of the song, is the crux of the song. In the setting I've described, he's asking this question to no one but himself, which emphasizes to himself how one sided his feelings are. He's frustrated that he's asking this question, because all he wants is to be able to go back to the magical friendship they had earlier, when things didn't have to be so complicated. He cannot ask this question to her, because she has no intentions for their friendship to "go" anywhere. And so he repeats this question over and over when he's alone, half of him genuinely wondering "where we gonna go from here?" and the other half of him hating himself for wondering this. If he could simply stop these questions, then things would not have to be weird between him and her, but then again there would not be the same magic as before if he didn't have these questions in the back of his mind. And so he keeps repeating the question, truly wondering where things are going to go between him and her.
The first verse demonstrates how much this frustration is consuming him; it is all he can think about. "Tomorrow we're turning down the highway, with another bright stage, on a weekday" is an understatement of all these concerts (representative of all the other events in his life) he's going to. Despite how important these other events in his life are, all he can think about is her, the situation he's in, and wonder "where we gonna go from here?" The line "700 places, 700 faces more" serves a similar purpose; despite all the new things that come into his life, all he can think about is her.
In the second verse, he starts to recognize that he needs to just calm down. "Time is moving on our side": he acknowledges that time will eventually work things out for him. He realizes that he's overthinking everything; that, as big as his problems seem to him, in the scope of everything else in the world ("pull of the ocean, and the roaring tide"), it barely means anything at all. But he can't simply accept this, and goes back to the "700 places" line and the chorus to drown in his frustration.
In the third verse, he's a bit more calm than in the previous verses and knows what he has to do, despite how much it sucks to him. "Now I've waited and I'll wait some more, won't see me knocking on another door" is him admitting that he does have feelings for her, this he cannot deny. It is also him saying that these feelings are special; she's not just some other girl for him to become infatuated with. He admits that these feelings are strong still ("I'll wait some more"), and that he won't be able to quickly/easily get over her because of how special she is ("won't see me knocking on another door").
"There's only one half of us that I'm saving" is him saying that, no matter what happens between them, no matter how things change between them, he's doing it all for her, not for him. He's going to bear with all this frustration, confusion and sadness so that he can save her from dealing with any drama or strangeness; this is how much he cares for her.
"So I'm praying, just to let it go, watch from a distance just to see you glow": this is him praying, hoping that eventually he'll let it go and get over her. He hopes that, even if they end up not close friends anymore, he can still "watch from a distance" and see her "glow" that beautiful, amazing "glow" he has seen so many times before. He's also afraid that, through all the frustration, he will end up seeing her in a bad light in order to get over her. He does not want this; he wants to get over her while still being her friend, so that he can see her "glow" and be happy for her.
Despite these hopes and prayers to change, he still goes back to the nostalgia, confusion and bitterness of the chorus, because he's not yet fully over her. He knows what he has to do, but to him it simply sucks that things have ended up as they are between him and her. He misses her and how things used to be.
--
I miss you. I miss the way you brightened the room, the way I could be myself and say what I want and know that you wanted to listen. I miss when I felt like I meant something special to you, when you were happy to see me, when you would say "I don't like it when you aren't here". Now things are different between us, and it sucks. I want you to know that you will always mean something special to me, and everything I did I did for our friendship.
I hope one day we will be able to be the friends we once were.
I can see that, in my life and in his song. It's a long explaination, but after reading it all I can see where you're getting at! thumbs up
I can see that, in my life and in his song. It's a long explaination, but after reading it all I can see where you're getting at! thumbs up