Don't Change Your Plans Lyrics
that i won't be on this planet
for very long
i really like it here
i'm quite attached to it
i hope i'm wrong
you're the reason i wanna stay
i loved you before i met you
and i met you just in time
'cause there was nothing left
in our empty new apartment
'til the sun went down
then i walked back down the stairs
with all my bags and drove away
you must be freaking out
where my heart says i oughta be
it often makes no sense
in fact,
i never understand these things i feel
i won't move to LA
the leaves are falling back east
that's where i'm gonna stay
in fact, i might be sore from it
it's been a while
i know we've been together many times before
i'll see you on the other side
is you're the reason i wanna stay
but destiny is calling and won't hold
and when my time is up i'm outta here
where my heart says i oughta be
it often makes no sense, in fact
i never understand these things,
i feel
i love you, goodbye...
There was a reviewer I read once who put it as succinct as possibly: "love not good enough to keep." what else is there to say?
This is part of a long history of songs about a person moving to L.A. to seek fame and fortune, leaving home and everyone there. The most famous is "Midnight Train to Georgia," but there's also "Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere" and "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" (Side note: The last of these is a Bacharach/David composition, and Ben Folds Five was clearly going for that type of feeling with this song's arrangement.)
However, whereas those songs are from the point of view of the fame-seeker going home (or at least considering it), "Don't Change Your Plans for Me" is about other person being the one who goes back. The person who decides to go to L.A. is enough reason for him to keep living, but not enough to keep living in L.A. He wants her to continue seeking what she wants even though he feels he can't stay there.
all i really wanna say you're the reason i wanna stay i loved you before i met you and i met you just in time 'cause there was nothing left <<this is a great line..i have soo many friends like that..that just 'saved' me...<<
i dont understand this song... or try to... i just know its beautiful
I love this one. I can't decide whether the guy is dying or he's an alien who has fallen in love with an earth girl, LOL. In any case, the last three stanzas are just beautiful. This song is a work of art.
im never sure what to make of this song. the first stanza and other lines like "ill see you on the other side" make it sound like hes dying, but half the time it just sounds like a 'its not you its me' type of breakup where hes saying he loves her but he has to go back home
in think this song is pretty much a distance problem. he moved to the west coast with his love, but he can't handle being there. his life is back east, and its a song about him moving back there. he's saying I love you but i need to be where i belong. he doesn't know why exactly he has can't stay, but he just doesn't belong. ("where my heart says i oughta be it often makes no sense in fact, i never understand these things i feel") and he's telling her, don't move back with me, this is where you want to be, don't change you plans yadda yadda yadda. there's gotta be something back east that is more important to him, family, career, friends and so on.
thats what i think, but i always get stuff wrong when i interpret poetry in english class, so lets hope i'm not a dumbass here!
That works, but I'm going for the death issue just because Ben Folds Five seems to cover those REALLY hard issues. I don't actually know tho.
I agree with tropicalia3 completely. It's about a guy realizing that although he loves this girl.. destiny is calling him to move away to where he feels that he belongs, and she should stay where she belongs. If it happens to work out that they would both belong in the same place at some point that would be great but... don't change your plans for love, it should just fall into place. Perhaps they will see eachother "on the other side" when they die.
tropicalia3 and libalotta....you guys (sorry...people) Rock! You're exactly right. The only thing that confuses some people with the whole "death" issue in this song are the lines, "I know we've been together many times before, I'll see you on the other side" What he means by that is he and this girl have been together in multiple past lives. So if he seems like he doesn't really love her that's not true, because he knows that he'll see her again no matter what. he doesn't live completely in this life. And from what I've heard and read that's exactly like Ben Folds. I'm not positive about this song because there is one that I find a little similar. It's kinda the same base story, but there's very different feelings behind each song. You should look into it if you're curious. It's called The Miracle After. He talks about leaving with everything in his truck. It's interesting because maybe this is something that really happened. Who knows...oh well...it's fun to think about way too early in the morning!