No One Is To Blame

Since no one has said anything about potential meanings, I'm going to take a crack at it. For me, it's a song about impossible love - about two people who are in love but can't be together, for any number of reasons. The two people know how great it could be but they can't have each other. Hence, they can look at the menu (see the other person, perhaps) but they can't eat (be together). They have the last piece of the puzzle (the other person) but they're not able to put it where it goes (into their lives). I like all the metaphors he finds to describe this situation.

I'm pretty sure the riff is done with a synth, but yes - it is great. I like his vocals, too.

To me (before I read the actual lyrics) it was kind of an indictment of me. Basically it was saying you have everything going for you but you get nowhere and you can't figure out that it's your fault because your a selfish clueless insensitive person...I hated the song for many years but it's grown to be one of my favorites.

It Can mean a lot of things to different people. It may not ever be about a relationship tho most songs are about them. you can look at it like you can have all the things in your life to make your life great. Job Skills great family and friends but you just can't place yourself in a great job or environment to succeed in life.

I think people already nailed parts of this one.

This song to me is about fealing like a looser all your life. Sombody that plays by the rules and never gets ahead. Perhaps you are the best but the bosses son got the promotion. But this person has high moral standards and can not take the easy way outs. No matter what he is going to feal the pain. Feal guilty if he breaks the rules or feal like crap for not getting ahead in life.

Most of all though I think it is about this person struggling in a failed relationship. He is torn because of the commitments he has. Perhaps a bad marriage, something that looked so good in the beginning but there is no love now. He knows another woman and they like each other. They know they would be happy together but religious, social, and self imposed ethics prevent him from acting on the emotions. Even if he would give up the failed marriage and go after this other woman he has thought this out....He would feal guilt and emotional pain . He hates himself, he feels week. He can not solve this dilemma....he feels the punishment but you can't commit the sin. He has little hope for a happy life.

An incredibly spiritual song. We can never quite satisfy in life. With things, for sure. They ultimately don't satisfy and are an empty bowl. And relationships, even though I want her and she wants me, we can never really completely assuage our sense of separation. The recurring theme in relationship counseling....BLAME. We come from unity and long for it all our life. "We want everyone." And the great spiritual teaching....hold no grievance. It is the way life is. We are all innocent. "No One is to Blame." An anthem for love and understanding in this world. We can only wish.

wow the 80's were great

That's basically how it was explained to me when it first came out, ('85). Sometimes, attractions happen for whatever reason, and they can't be fulfilled. Typically situational. So while I can see it being about infidelity, I don't think it is, truly; more, it's almost a mourning for it, what can't be. Again, he uses dozens of wonderful metaphors for expressing it, without taking action.

The title of the song is the key, in this case. He's saying, I believe, that for whatever reason, these things happen, and it's all right. Who can unravel the mysteries of human relationships or sexual attraction? Various scientific studies have been taking a crack at it for years, and yet, one of the most profound additions to the 'debate' has got to be this idea: no one is to blame. It happens. Accept the fact, deal with it, and go on.

It's a little like Elton John's "Sacrifice". A discussion over the idea, just handled differently. Jones leaves that open, just in case: "some break the rules" (go through with it) "and live to count the cost" (suffer the consequences of a broken trust, or relationship(s) "the insecurity is the thing that won't get lost" (ultimately, things are going to take a dive in one regard or another, so it's not to be considered lightly.)

Wonderfully thought-provoking, poignant, and in some ways, timeless song. Recent covers by Emile Millar (off of his "Stay Here" 2007 solo release -- a bit bluesy, wonderful vocals, reminds me of another artist whose name's escaping me, but you'll recognise it, too) and Jodie Manross (live, and available through iTunes -- folk artist with some eclectic roots, very acoustic) are excellent arrangements and covers. Jones also updated his own work, adding in some different instruments and stylistic changes for his 2000 'Perform' tour. Highly recommended.

This song is about PURE CRAVING. Its about two people who want each other, but they cannot be. You cant help who you fall for, so "no one is to blame".

I do believe it is about infidelity that has NOT taken place, but is being debated, considering the lines: "Some break the rules And live to count the cost The insecurity is the thing that won't get lost"

The "breaking the rules" is the affair. "Living to count the cost" is the survival of the marriage/relationship that existed before the infidelity. The "insecurity that wont get lost" is the mistrust that remains after you have forgiven someone for cheating on you.

I see it as a statement on the irony and seeming futility of attraction, in general. Sometimes, regardless of the mutuality or depth of the feelings ("and you want her, and she wants you"), the two people are incompatible. However, in spite of these circumstances, attraction is natural ("we want everyone"), and it's going to keep happening. It's no one's fault for trying and failing, because we're all susceptible to our own humanity ("no one ever is to blame").

And although these kinds of failures are disheartening ("the insecurity is the thing that won't get lost"), the overall sentiment of the song promotes the inevitability of the cycle, and that it'll keep continuing.

This song in my opinion is about love that cannot be fully realized due to racism or some other form of discrimination (classism etc.). The lines that really stand out to me are "you're the fastest runner, but you're not allowed to win" and "you can feel the punishment but you can't commit the sin." In the first, it's suggesting that no matter how good a partner you may be, the rules are set against you and it's impossible to change this. The only circumstances that are unchangeable are those which are intrinsic to a person (e.g., race). In the second line, he's saying that he's suffering but never did (or would want to do) anything that would actually cause him to deserve said punishment (e.g., harming his lover). The line that says "the insecurity is the thing that won't get lost" is very telling, because when you come up against something that you cannot change despite your best efforts, and it's something that you REALLY want to change (i.e., so that you can be together with your lover), you become very insecure. You feel like your best isn't good enough (an undercurrent that runs through the whole song) and you feel helpless. And learned helplessness is one of the leading cognitive psychological hypotheses for the basis of depression.

Other lines are telling as well, especially the chorus ("and you want her, and she wants you") and the ones that say "doctor says you're cured, but you still feel the pain; aspirations in the clouds, but your hopes go down the drain."