To me, this song is very melancholy outlook on being old, which can be in itself a very melancholy subject.
"I don't understand the pain"
Often, when you're old, you have all this pain and suffering both physically and mentally. The physical pain can be odd sometimes, coming up for no apparently reason other than to be there. The emotional pain is something I get into further on in my analysis.
"I just don't feel quite the same"
This is a very nostalgic line about how the narrator doesn't feel the same as when they were more youthful. They could feel more alone or in more pain, or they could feel like a completely different person.
"Whether you're here to walk away
Or if you're here so you can stay"
This hits on the more lonely aspect of old age. Commonly, when someone grows old, especially if they get some sort of disease that changes them slightly, like Alzheimers, they are left on their own. People don't want to have to deal with the old because their predicament is so frightening. The youth fear to be around the elderly because they know that is what they will one day become. Though this is not true for all old people or all youth, it is true for our narrator.
"Silver's just another gold
When you're bitter and you're old"
When people do visit, or when you're being social, or you're doing something you enjoy, it's different. It's like you treasure that moment and hold it to you for as long as you can. For people who are so alone, and so saddened and plagued, it's important to make those silvers into golds and make everything in your life so much more important than what a youth would consider it.
"You can tell me anything
But not what the future brings"
They can't be told that everything is going to be okay because they are in the last leg of their life. Either that, or this person had turned so many silvers into gold and has been able to gain hope that the rest of their life, no matter how long, will be go. You won't be able to tell this person that they are to die soon because they are so hopeful that they believe they have time.
On a side note, this is one of my favourite Jesu songs and actually the first one I ever heard.
To me, this song is very melancholy outlook on being old, which can be in itself a very melancholy subject.
"I don't understand the pain" Often, when you're old, you have all this pain and suffering both physically and mentally. The physical pain can be odd sometimes, coming up for no apparently reason other than to be there. The emotional pain is something I get into further on in my analysis.
"I just don't feel quite the same" This is a very nostalgic line about how the narrator doesn't feel the same as when they were more youthful. They could feel more alone or in more pain, or they could feel like a completely different person.
"Whether you're here to walk away Or if you're here so you can stay" This hits on the more lonely aspect of old age. Commonly, when someone grows old, especially if they get some sort of disease that changes them slightly, like Alzheimers, they are left on their own. People don't want to have to deal with the old because their predicament is so frightening. The youth fear to be around the elderly because they know that is what they will one day become. Though this is not true for all old people or all youth, it is true for our narrator.
"Silver's just another gold When you're bitter and you're old" When people do visit, or when you're being social, or you're doing something you enjoy, it's different. It's like you treasure that moment and hold it to you for as long as you can. For people who are so alone, and so saddened and plagued, it's important to make those silvers into golds and make everything in your life so much more important than what a youth would consider it.
"You can tell me anything But not what the future brings" They can't be told that everything is going to be okay because they are in the last leg of their life. Either that, or this person had turned so many silvers into gold and has been able to gain hope that the rest of their life, no matter how long, will be go. You won't be able to tell this person that they are to die soon because they are so hopeful that they believe they have time.
On a side note, this is one of my favourite Jesu songs and actually the first one I ever heard.