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"
Here in the bar, the boys like to have fun
There`s a wager lost and an argument won
There`s a stone-washed damsel on a junk food run
It`s a kinder murder
There`s a ladder to heaven from a battered stiletto
Spitting out the words that he put into her mouth
See her in silhouette going down south
It`s a kinder murder
It`s a kinder murder
She could have kept her knees together
Should have kept her mouth shut
It`s a kinder murder
It`s a kinder murder
Jimmy took her down to the perimeter fence
He was back in half an hour, he said he left her senseless
Then he went back to his regiment
It`s a kinder murder
The officer said it has to be denied
There`s a tear-stained would-be teenage bride
All the family pride in the little ram-rider
It`s a kinder murder
It`s a kinder murder
She could have kept her knees together
Should have kept her mouth shut
It`s a kinder murder
It`s a kinder murder
The child went missing and the photo fit his face
Dishonored Jimmy just read about the case
He said that he was just taking up space
It`s a kinder murder
Jimmy took his best friend`s keys from the pile on the table in a flash
He was dreaming of the pigskin seats and the walnut dash
The knickers in her handbag and the one false eyelash
It`s a kinder murder
It`s a kinder murder
She could have kept her knees together
Could have kept her mouth shut
It`s a kinder murder [4x]
There`s a wager lost and an argument won
There`s a stone-washed damsel on a junk food run
It`s a kinder murder
There`s a ladder to heaven from a battered stiletto
Spitting out the words that he put into her mouth
See her in silhouette going down south
It`s a kinder murder
It`s a kinder murder
She could have kept her knees together
Should have kept her mouth shut
It`s a kinder murder
It`s a kinder murder
Jimmy took her down to the perimeter fence
He was back in half an hour, he said he left her senseless
Then he went back to his regiment
It`s a kinder murder
The officer said it has to be denied
There`s a tear-stained would-be teenage bride
All the family pride in the little ram-rider
It`s a kinder murder
It`s a kinder murder
She could have kept her knees together
Should have kept her mouth shut
It`s a kinder murder
It`s a kinder murder
The child went missing and the photo fit his face
Dishonored Jimmy just read about the case
He said that he was just taking up space
It`s a kinder murder
Jimmy took his best friend`s keys from the pile on the table in a flash
He was dreaming of the pigskin seats and the walnut dash
The knickers in her handbag and the one false eyelash
It`s a kinder murder
It`s a kinder murder
She could have kept her knees together
Could have kept her mouth shut
It`s a kinder murder [4x]
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
I think Jimmy made a wager with his buddies on something and because he lost the bet, had to hit on a girl (maybe the next girl) to enter the bar. Jimmy gets the girl pregnant and they decide to marry. However, his CO won't allow it. Maybe the bar incident has gotten him into trouble (statutory rape?) and this will eventually lead to him being dishonorably discharged from the army.
Years later, Jimmy is hanging out with his buddies again. He has convinced himself that what happened that night was her fault. He sees a missing child report in the newspaper. He recognizes the child as his own but doesn't care about the child or the girl anymore. If the child ends up dead, it will be a Kinder Murder, maybe because he knows what it is like to grow up without a father or because he know what a mess the child's mother is.
At some point, he grabs his best friends keys and is taken back in his memory to the night he got her pregnant. Maybe the keys trigger a memory because when he took her to the perimeter fence, they went into his friends car. The boys at the beginning of the song include the best-friend at the end of the song.
Maybe the change of the lyric should to could means that Jimmy has a little bit of regret, now.
The question for me is "Who is the girl?" She is a teenager, she gets pregnant after meeting Jimmy at a bar, she wants to marry Jimmy but isn't allowed to, the child is born and eventually goes missing, probably murdered. Jimmy thinks its a Kinder Murder. He thinks the girl is doing or will do a terrible job of raising the child. She has battered silhouette shoes, underwear in her purse and false eyelashes the night she hooks up with Jimmy. Could she be a teenage prostitute?