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"
What about sunrise
What about rain
What about all the things that you said
We were to gain
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said were yours and mine
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth, these weeping shores
Aah, ooh
What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying earth, these weeping shores
Aah, ooh
Aah, ooh
I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far
Aah, ooh
Aah, ooh
Aah, ooh
Aah, ooh
Hey, what about yesterday
(What about us)
What about the seas
(What about us)
The heavens are falling down
(What about us)
I can't even breathe
(What about us)
What about apathy
(What about us)
Drowning in the seas
(What about us)
What about the promised land
Preachin' what I believe
(What about us)
What about the holy land
(What about it)
What about the greed
(What about us)
Where did we go wrong
Someone tell me why
(What about us)
What about baby boy
(What about him)
What about the days
(What about us)
What about all their joy
Do we give a damn
Aah, ooh
Aah, ooh
What about rain
What about all the things that you said
We were to gain
What about killing fields
Is there a time
What about all the things
That you said were yours and mine
Did you ever stop to notice
All the blood we've shed before
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying Earth, these weeping shores
Aah, ooh
What have we done to the world
Look what we've done
What about all the peace
That you pledge your only son
What about flowering fields
Is there a time
What about all the dreams
That you said was yours and mine
Did you ever stop to notice
All the children dead from war
Did you ever stop to notice
This crying earth, these weeping shores
Aah, ooh
Aah, ooh
I used to dream
I used to glance beyond the stars
Now I don't know where we are
Although I know we've drifted far
Aah, ooh
Aah, ooh
Aah, ooh
Aah, ooh
Hey, what about yesterday
(What about us)
What about the seas
(What about us)
The heavens are falling down
(What about us)
I can't even breathe
(What about us)
What about apathy
(What about us)
Drowning in the seas
(What about us)
What about the promised land
Preachin' what I believe
(What about us)
What about the holy land
(What about it)
What about the greed
(What about us)
Where did we go wrong
Someone tell me why
(What about us)
What about baby boy
(What about him)
What about the days
(What about us)
What about all their joy
Do we give a damn
Aah, ooh
Aah, ooh
Lyrics submitted by Mru007, edited by minamichel
Earth Song Lyrics as written by Michael Jackson
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Patobrien, I'm not trying to minimize what MJ has done (rather, has been accused of..) but no one is perfect. The message in this song is more important than the messenger. It makes me want to cry when I visualize what he is saying. Also, I think MJs anti-semtic comments were spoken out of frustration. Blaming an entire ethnic group for one's troubles in irrational, but who is above making generalization? Most of us have at some time in our lives.