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"
I stopped today to see myself in subway glass
I was scared of the way I look now
I knew the only thought in my mind, my eyes
"Please, don't believe in me
I don't wanna let you down"
And I'm conviced it only rains in New York
I'm surrounded by everything that really scares me
A room full of empty people
Regretting every time they inhale
I wanted to write one perfect song
To make you cry in your sleep
Kind of like a soundtrack for your dreams
To let you know I'm watching
And making sure it turns out alright
It'll be alright
I guess I wanted to make you feel something
I wanted to make you feel everything
You may call me a protest singer
But I'm only protesting myself
I don't believe in beautiful people
But I don't believe in me
I wonder what it's like to be in between
I was scared of the way I look now
I knew the only thought in my mind, my eyes
"Please, don't believe in me
I don't wanna let you down"
And I'm conviced it only rains in New York
I'm surrounded by everything that really scares me
A room full of empty people
Regretting every time they inhale
I wanted to write one perfect song
To make you cry in your sleep
Kind of like a soundtrack for your dreams
To let you know I'm watching
And making sure it turns out alright
It'll be alright
I guess I wanted to make you feel something
I wanted to make you feel everything
You may call me a protest singer
But I'm only protesting myself
I don't believe in beautiful people
But I don't believe in me
I wonder what it's like to be in between
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I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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kevin devine is by far my favourite new obsession.
Great song, one of the best by kevin devine...
Makes me not feel bad about wanting to complain and feel depressed
same here :) haircut has to be my favourite.
"and I want to write one perfect song to make you cry in your sleep kind of like a soundtrack for your dreams to let you'ld know I'm watching and making sure it's (exact) alright it'll be alright I guess I wanted to make you feel something I wanted to make you feel everything "
those words... ohh i'm in love. with the song, that is...
I really dislike this song based mainly on the fact that I can't imagine ANYONE EVER describing him as a protest singer. sure he sings a few songs about his political views but not..that much..
its actually 'to let you know im watching and making sure it turns out alright'.
i love this song! i don't know how anyone can not like it. i mean, who cares whether or not someone has or hasn't called him a protest singer.. the rest of it, it's great writing. "i'm only protesting myself" kevin!
i think this is the first song i heard by kevin devine. and i fell in love. the lyrics are just so personal and honest, but at the same time they almost make you feel pathetic for listening.
uhh. i think the point that he's not a protest singer in the traditional sense is the point of the lyric.
since kevin is a smiths fan, i think the protest singer line is a reference to the smiths lyric: "i thought that if you had an acoustic guitar it meant you were a protest singer."