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 guess I'll always stop and see you
And we'll run into each other's lives
Yeah, I guess, although it tears me up inside
Everytime it burns my eyes with tears
But I know you're worth the pain
I've so much more to gain by waiting for you
You're going away but you're not going far
So if he decides to leave you alone and crying
You know I'm still here, the faithful one
Waiting for a message from Kathlene
Then I'll come.. faster
Than I ever thought that I could run
'Cause I..
I need you more than I ever thought
That I could need someone
Someone Someone Someone else
I know I will always stop and see you
And we'll run into each other's fucked up lives
Yeah, I guess, although it tears me up inside
Everytime it burns my eyes with tears
But your waking up is the start of my lost cause
And then you decide to leave me alone and crying
But you know I'm still here, the faithful one
Waiting for a message from Kathlene
Then I'll come.. faster
Than I ever thought that I could run
'Cause I..
I need you more than I ever thought
That I could need someone
Someone Someone Someone else
And we'll run into each other's lives
Yeah, I guess, although it tears me up inside
Everytime it burns my eyes with tears
But I know you're worth the pain
I've so much more to gain by waiting for you
You're going away but you're not going far
So if he decides to leave you alone and crying
You know I'm still here, the faithful one
Waiting for a message from Kathlene
Then I'll come.. faster
Than I ever thought that I could run
'Cause I..
I need you more than I ever thought
That I could need someone
Someone Someone Someone else
I know I will always stop and see you
And we'll run into each other's fucked up lives
Yeah, I guess, although it tears me up inside
Everytime it burns my eyes with tears
But your waking up is the start of my lost cause
And then you decide to leave me alone and crying
But you know I'm still here, the faithful one
Waiting for a message from Kathlene
Then I'll come.. faster
Than I ever thought that I could run
'Cause I..
I need you more than I ever thought
That I could need someone
Someone Someone Someone else
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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/
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
I got this album is like, 7th or 8th grade. Of course it was the Matt songs that hit the hardest at first, "SFO" and "Cringe" and "Clavicle" just tearing up my tiny, naive little heart. But "Message From Kathlene" snuck up on me, as it has a subtlety and complexity that some of Matt's more straight ahead stuff lacks (which is OK, there is room enough for all depths and breadths) and I found myself struck by the incredible melancholia and deeply felt lovesickness that just oozes from Dan's creakily beautiful voice. It started to make its way onto every mixtape I made, for friends but especially for prospective girlfriends, and it always prompted one of two questions: 1) Which band sings the Kathlene song or, if the listener was already familiar with the Trio, 2) How did I never notice this one before? Dan is exceptionally good at writing songs that only seem to make themselves known a year after the album's release, which is one reason why he and Matt are pop punk's Lennon and McCartney. Matt Skiba stuns you with the raw emotion, the scorched earth approach - taking a verse and a chorus and just burning them to the fucking ground - and then Dan peppers the albums with achingly beautiful torch songs such as this one, so by the time you've truly absorbed an Alk3 record in its entirety it's been a few years and they're about to release another one. Maybe that's why, 18 years later, I'm still roped in and waiting for their next album as eagerly as I waited for "Maybe I'll Catch Fire" in the early months of 2000. I could go on and on about that record, too, but I suppose that's for another comment section and another song.