The Song Is Over

The Who

The song is over
It's all behind me
I should have known it
She tried to find me

Our love is over
They're all ahead now
I've got to learn it
I'm gonna to sing out

I'll sing my song to the wide open spaces
I'll sing my heart out to the infinite sea
I'll sing my visions to the sky high mountains
I'll sing my song to the free, to the free
I'll sing my song to the wide open spaces
I'll sing my heart out to the infinite sea
I'll sing my visions to the sky high mountains
I'll sing my song to the free, to the free

When I walked in through the door
Thought it was me I was looking for
She was the first song I ever sang
But it stopped as soon as it began

Our love is over
It's all behind me
They're all ahead now
Can't hope to find me

I'll sing my song to the wide open spaces
I'll sing my heart out to the infinite sea
I'll sing my visions to the sky high mountains
I'll sing my song to the free, to the free
I'll sing my song to the wide open spaces
I'll sing my heart out to the infinite sea
I'll sing my visions to the sky high mountains
I'll sing my song to the free, to the free

This song is over
I'm left with only tears
I must remember
Even if it takes a million years

The song is over
The song is over

Searchin' for a note, pure and easy
Playing so free, like a breath rippling by


Lyrics submitted by lennonfan0

The Song Is Over Lyrics as written by Peter Townshend

Lyrics © Spirit Music Group, Abkco Music Inc.

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The Song Is Over song meanings
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14 Comments

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  • +5
    My InterpretationThis song was originally written as the final song in the abandoned Lifehouse project. The quick and fast premise is in a futuristic dystopia a man discovers music and the concept of the One Note and arranges a concert. Every living person has a melody, a song which is only for them. The One Note is the expression of everyone's melody in unison, whereupon they disappear from the earth into a higher plane of existence and understanding.

    I believe the song is describing someone who had set out to look for someone very special to them that went to that concert and is now in the realm beyond.

    He laments throughout the song, "the song is over", meaning the One Note has occurred and that "they're all ahead now," meaning they have moved on into that higher plane. His life now becomes about discovering his song, so he too might one day reach that higher plane and be reunited with his loved one. He's going to "sing [his] song to the wide open spaces" and rediscover her "even if it takes a million years".

    A beautifully profound love story with a higher philosophical resonance that only Townsend could deliver.
    neworldmanon October 10, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Commentthis is a really great song. nice chorus, good melody, just good all around. I like to think it's about a guy who's just broken up with this girl and he's kind of regretting it. He has this great song about her that he would sing to her, but the only thing he can sing it to is himself and to his environment. It also feel's like a moving on song...
    Grimsonon March 05, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI agree with the above person about how it is a moving on song, but I don't think that it has to be a guy breaking up with a girl. I think of it as a person moving on to other things. It could be a person giving up a bad habit or moving away from friends and famliy and starting a new life. I think that this has more of a sad tone than anything else, but I don't think that there is regret, rather missing the past but looking forward to the future.
    reelion April 11, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General CommentWhat an amazing song! How come hardly anyone has posted on it? anyway, yeah it's a "moving-on" song, one of The Who's best. I guess its easy to be overshadowed on Who's Next by Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won't Get Fooled Again.
    sgtpepper4077on January 30, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General CommentPete Townshend has said that this song was intended to be the final song in the Lifehouse movie, had it ever been created.
    Romulus05on April 22, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentWhat an amazing song! How come hardly anyone has posted on it? anyway, yeah it's a "moving-on" song, one of The Who's best. I guess its easy to be overshadowed on Who's Next by Baba O'Riley, Behind Blue Eyes, and Won't Get Fooled Again.
    sgtpepper4077on January 30, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentGrimson... late response. But think for a second if you ever read this: Does that sound like something Townshend would write about?

    ....

    Hell nawz.
    EveryMnon February 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentIn the Lifehouse context this song is about someone who has been life behind after all those at the concert have transcended through their pure connection. He is alone and every he knows have achieved their goal without him. Now he is determined to recreate the event by himself "even if it takes a million years", thus the ending with an altered line from Pure & Easy: "Searching for a note pure and easy, playing so free like a breath rippling by". There are some theories about which character is singing it and the exact situation elsewhere on the internet. A lot can be found exploring a bit in the links at thewho.net.
    Romulus05on November 01, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentFor me, it's about many things. One of them, is selling out. He's missing his own songs, where he sings about things from the heart and own experiences. Now it's just commercial songs "searching for a note, pure and easy", a song with easy notes, simple ones that people will enjoy. "Playing so free, like a breath rippling by", he's playing for himself and feels free. He misses that, now his love for music has somehow decreased.

    Ah, I don't think every single word can fit in to that, and probably it wasn't the meaning it was "meant" to have. So yep.
    Icypieceon January 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General CommentTo me, this song is about a guy with so much complexity and depth; however, he feels now without love in his life, he has no one to express himself to. Rather than mope and be down though, he will "sing his song" to the world instead of just an individual person.

    "Searching for a note, pure and easy
    Playing so free, like a breath rippling by"

    He knows the song isn't perfect, but it is helping him make his way through the situation.
    heartheldcaptiveon April 24, 2008   Link

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