Missing

The loneliness and being lost when they've left you and they moved on...

At first I assumed that the girl in the song was missing someone she used to be in love with, but I've read that the song was written about an old friend of Tracey Thorne's who she used to share a house with, who later vanished without a trace. So the song is about missing a former close friend and the times they used to share together. She's finding it hard to move on, and the loss she feels is made worse by the fact she has no idea where that person went, where they are now or if they're even still alive- a real sense of sadness and hopelessness.

It could be interpreted from a much darker angle, i.e. a proper 'missing person' case, of someone who was reported missing and never found. Or it could just be that the friend moved on abruptly of their own choice without leaving any contact details. Either way, the narrator is still traumatized by her loss even after several years, and keeps travelling to her friend's old house and street in the hope of finding some clues as to what happened to her friend, but never having any luck.

I can relate to the song as a friend of mine with mental problems suddenly broke off contact after a period of regular communication, and I only found recently that he committed suicide shortly after. Although I've moved on I do still miss the contact and in-depth conversation we used to have.

Great song anyway- real deep emotion and conjures up some powerful images.

Does anyone know what inspired the artists to write this song? I have been searching for the answer on the web, but no luck...

This lyrics' meaning is pretty obvious, but the music that accompanies them hasn't aged at all. It's a really beutiful song.

I heard this song when I was young; sad when you loose someone and can't find them. Nostalgic stuff.

This is a great song. To me, it's about obsessing over a person that you were once involved with. The relationship is over, but you can't seem to let it go, or get the person out of your mind because you loved them so much. I have been there myself.

I wouldn't call it obsesion, as I define that as un unjustifiable grip to a past relationship. There's nothing in the lyrics to suggest that the feelings towards the former loved one are unjustifiable. I've noticed a lot of you, fellow posters, are quite young. Don't want to diminish your feelings, or past relationships. But as a somewhat older guy (31) I AM in the place this song describes. 3 1/2 years since she's gone, ond somehow still unable to really move on. How, an why should you move when what you lost wasn't just a good gal, a funny woman, but truly the one you wanted, needed to spend the rest of your life with? You eventualy (as I did) decide to move on, cutting all connections... but your heart won't follow. Sometimes you find yourself unconciously driving by where she lived. You don't know if she still lives there, has moved, or even died... single? married? divorced? with kids?... happy? It's not that it never rained in the desert, but that it did long, long ago. The desert yearns for the rain, and the comings years have proved to offer nothing that can compare. And the worst part of all... is that the song provides no hope... no hope at all.

Well, it changed my life - sort of. I was living in Canada (a Brit), I'd split with my Canadian wife after 17 years and I heard this song one night in a Toronto club. Then I saw the video which is shot in a London street-scape (still trying to place where exactly). Then I bought the album. There was something in the song's lyrics that seemed to be saying 'come home'. I had to start life again from scratch so that's what I did.

I've lost a love of my life and a mother of my children's... these lyrics rips me apart.

This song reminds me of when somebody close to you moves or like when you reminice about a friendship that lasted for a long time and is now gone...