| Gotye – The Only Way Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I think that the song is about making a hard decision, and having to live with the outcome. Seeing as there is no piece-by-piece analyzation that voices this opinion, I'll do one of my own. Calm down now baby, the end of the journey's in sight - In this, the singer is telling the character that their journey (the journey all of the work that the character must do to change something) is almost at an end, and can sense that they are getting anxious about it. You've traveled so far love, now all of the stars are aligned - The singer is telling the character that after all of their grief, their chance has finally come, the chance being to end the journey and never go back to their old life. Say goodbye (I don't want to) - [literal conversation, singer then character] Don't you fight (I don't want to) - [ " ] Leaving your life's no easy ride - In this, the singer is beginning to pressure the character (for better or for worse) into finalizing this change, and the character is starting to think twice about wanting to make the change. [For the rest of this, from here until the end of the song, {sans "This is the only way"} I will simply be conveying the thoughts of the singer to the character in the second person.] All the grief you gave - All of the trouble you've been through, All the love you made - All of your good times, All your yesterdays - Everything that you've put behind you, Everything you were - The whole of your life, (character, emotions, friendships, etc.) Will fade - You will never be able to go back to. This is the only way - The singer is telling the character that making this change is the only way. (to make their life better) All the things you thought you came here for - All of the reasons you thought you wanted to make this change for, Everything you thought you knew for sure - Everything that you began to doubt the change would fix, No meandering, no more wondering, everything is true - You don't have to wonder anymore, they're all true. All the things you thought you had to say - All of the things you thought you had to do to make this change, Everyone you left along the way - All of the people and things you've had to let go of, So you gather how nothing matters now that your time is through - None of that will matter after you make this change. This is the only way - The singer is reassuring the character that this change is the only way to make their life better. To look back on all this, it seems to me that the singer is a friend of the character or some other trusted person. The change that the character is having to make seems to me like it could be anything from breaking up with someone, to moving to a new country, to letting someone they love go. It also seems to me that the singer seems to know more about this change than the character, and I think that that could be a sign that this change that the singer is trying to make the character make could possibly be more for the benefit of the singer than the character, which would explain why the character is having doubts about making the change, and why the singer seems to be forcing this upon the character. |
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