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"
Take that look of worry
I'm an ordinary man
They don't tell me nothing
So I find out all I can
There's a fire that's been burning
Right outside my door
I can't see but I feel it
And it helps to keep me warm
So I
I don't mind
No, I
I don't mind
Seems so long I've been waiting
Still don't know what for
There's no point in escaping
I don't worry anymore
I can't come out to find you
I don't like to go outside
They can turn off my feelings
Like they're turning off the light
But I
I don't mind
No, I
I don't mind
Oh, I
I don't mind
No, I
I don't mind
So take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home, oh Lord
'Cause I've been a prisoner all my life
And I can say to you
Take that look of worry
Mine's an ordinary life
Working when it's daylight
And sleeping when it's night
I've got no far horizons
I don't wish upon a star
They don't think that I listen
Oh, but I know who they are
And I
I don't mind
No, I
I don't mind
Oh, I
I don't mind
No, I
I don't mind
So take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home, oh Lord
Well, I've been a prisoner all my life
And I can say to you
But I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
I'm an ordinary man
They don't tell me nothing
So I find out all I can
There's a fire that's been burning
Right outside my door
I can't see but I feel it
And it helps to keep me warm
So I
I don't mind
No, I
I don't mind
Seems so long I've been waiting
Still don't know what for
There's no point in escaping
I don't worry anymore
I can't come out to find you
I don't like to go outside
They can turn off my feelings
Like they're turning off the light
But I
I don't mind
No, I
I don't mind
Oh, I
I don't mind
No, I
I don't mind
So take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home, oh Lord
'Cause I've been a prisoner all my life
And I can say to you
Take that look of worry
Mine's an ordinary life
Working when it's daylight
And sleeping when it's night
I've got no far horizons
I don't wish upon a star
They don't think that I listen
Oh, but I know who they are
And I
I don't mind
No, I
I don't mind
Oh, I
I don't mind
No, I
I don't mind
So take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home, oh Lord
Well, I've been a prisoner all my life
And I can say to you
But I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
'Cause I don't remember
Take, take me home
Lyrics submitted by Boonechic_21
Take Me Home Lyrics as written by Phil Collins
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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You know listening and reading the lyrics it sounds like the dull life that some people lead. Working day in and day out like a mouse in a wheel; going around and around with no real life inside of them, no dreams, no passions. The person is slowly losing their mind because they're chronically unhappy and spiraling downwards in despair and hopelessness. Time become distorted: hours run together and soon days run together and then it seems years slip by with no definition to them and so he "can't remember."
EverestMan, I think you are right. I think he is comparing people in such a situation (just going through the motions and not really "living" life) to people in insane asylums. The first half of the song is about the person in the mental institution and the second half about the bored working class person.
I also think you're right. When I heard that Phil himself said the song is about some person in a mental institution, I couldn't believe it. I interpreted it like you. Also when you look at the video, that supports your thoughts. He is just a normal guy,"Working when it's daylight And sleeping when it's night", he isn't living a spectacular life or so. The days are the same, ever and ever again, so he is bored. He lives an "ordinary life", his existence in the world doesn't matter in some way. So he wishes to see something of the world. He wants to travel all those interesting places in the world, wants to get to know something of what is happening around him. He just wants to break out of his boring every day life, wants to search for a deeper sense.
... I absolutely love all three of you right now. beams.
Another glimpse of the madman across the water.
@EverestMan You nailed it. This song is used in season 2 episode 2 of 'Mr. Robot ' the whole theme of that show is how the rich and powerful manipulate and use the working class - where they carry on - as sheep-like obedient consumers - and how the show's protagonists turn it upside down. This song is perfect for the theme of this show.