Disappointment

Hm, I always thought "the things you did there" was like saying he cheated and betrayed her and had a romance with someone else ("there" being the other girl's flat or any other place they met). But anyway, the song in general is about a broken realtionship, no doubt about this.

unsatisfying sex? give me a break! it's not like everything is about sex! i love this song

I think its about deciding to end a relationship and although its disappointing she has to because "of what you did there" probly him cheating or something

Yeah, first to comment whoo hoo... Bad relationship finally ended and she's just disappointed that it went on so long or that it ended the way it did

yeah, i agree with you, i wonder where "there" is...

Maybe 'there' is the point in the relationship when she realised that it was no use and she had to leave

It sounds a lot like unsatisfying sex...just think about it... But really,the song is about making clear decisions or something.That's what it said in the NNTA booklet thingy.

i agree with everyone else.(cept for the sex part, give it a rest and stop being so narrowminded) do you think this may have something to do with the 'delilah' incident that that song is about? just a thought, but i don't know which came first

Actually, the word is not "there", it is "then". "...it all boils down to what you did then"

Its hard to say what the Cranberries had in mind specifically when they used the words they did. The lyrics could be about finding out a flask of coffee went cold in the night, as far as they're concerned. The music is spectacular, though. But for the past twenty years, this song for me has outlined the way certain (good) people will believe a relationship exists far past the capacity for it to exist, or grow, and when they finally reach that point of seeing it clearly, they feel deep disappointment that they lied to themselves for so long. The lies of the other person pale by comparison, it's the realising you've been simple, naieve, or "unsophisticated" that hurts. I think the lines that talk about "I lied, you're right" and "I hope you find your way again", is the good-natured person admitting that what she did was as big a "lie" as the person who played along, and she is taking more blame for the situation than is right (because of her personality type), which adds to and entrenches the sense of disappointment in the way life is. It's unclear which lines are accusations, and which are painful moments of self-awareness, because both fit and are interchangeable, and I think it's meant to be that way. Not only does she wish her partner the best, but she hopes that she'll find her way again, back to the person she naturally was, after all the disappointment.