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"
Step by step I come closer to reaching the top
Every step must be placed so that I don't fall off
Looking down to see about how much higher I am
Another cool wind comes through, brushes my skin
Oh, the harder I push the tension does grow
I gather my thoughts the further and further I go
With some luck I just might keep on climbing
So better to climb than to face a fall (face a fall)
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
So high the climb (So high the climb)
Can't turn back now
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
Oh pulling myself up by a rop I better my view
The only thing in sight is what I must do
As I turned I could see myself falling, falling, falling
Which in return gave me strength for the climb
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now (can't turn back now)
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now (can't turn back now)
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
Although the many failed
I must now prevail with no question
Have no time to stop
Onward to the top of the mountain
And I, I can't turn back now
It's so very high but I can't turn back now
If I keep it up, I'm gonna make it
I'm so very close can't you see
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now (can't turn back now)
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now (can't turn back now)
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now (can't turn back now)
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
Getting closer
Getting closer
Coming closer
Getting closer
Looking back to
Looking back to you
Looking back to
Looking back to you
Looking back to
Looking back to you
Looking back to
(To the top, to the top, to the top, to the top)
Climb up to the top, to the top, to the top
Looking back to you
Looking back to
Looking back to you
Every step must be placed so that I don't fall off
Looking down to see about how much higher I am
Another cool wind comes through, brushes my skin
Oh, the harder I push the tension does grow
I gather my thoughts the further and further I go
With some luck I just might keep on climbing
So better to climb than to face a fall (face a fall)
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
So high the climb (So high the climb)
Can't turn back now
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
Oh pulling myself up by a rop I better my view
The only thing in sight is what I must do
As I turned I could see myself falling, falling, falling
Which in return gave me strength for the climb
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now (can't turn back now)
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now (can't turn back now)
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
Although the many failed
I must now prevail with no question
Have no time to stop
Onward to the top of the mountain
And I, I can't turn back now
It's so very high but I can't turn back now
If I keep it up, I'm gonna make it
I'm so very close can't you see
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now (can't turn back now)
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now (can't turn back now)
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
So high the climb (So high the climb)
I can't turn back now (can't turn back now)
Must keep climbing up to the clouds
Getting closer
Getting closer
Coming closer
Getting closer
Looking back to
Looking back to you
Looking back to
Looking back to you
Looking back to
Looking back to you
Looking back to
(To the top, to the top, to the top, to the top)
Climb up to the top, to the top, to the top
Looking back to you
Looking back to
Looking back to you
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sex ...it sounds like sex but it probley isnt what it means but for some reason i always think of sex when i hear of this song.
@Dragongoddess86 i always think it sounds like that, trying to reach ....
uh aside from the comment above.. i think this song is about trying to overcome something. getting over someone, moving on with your life, ceasing to do drugs. whatever the problem may be.
i never really tried to delve into the meaning of this song, i jsut thought it was really long and skipped over it most of the time when i'd listen to tragic kingdom...good song, tho.
I love this song. To me, it is about overcoming your obstacles no matter how many people tell you that you can't. Even if they say "so and so couldn't do it, what makes you think you can?" that just adds to your determination.
Yea now that i think about it other then sex..i think it has to do with pushing to achieve success and prove urself. and when she says "So high the climb (so high the climb) I can't turn back now (can't turn back now) Must keep climbing up to the clouds (climb to the clouds)
Getting closer getting closer coming closer getting closer ooh Looking back to you " Kind of sounds like shes looking down at everyone else and kind of saying like. HA look Im getting there, im above you and i can make it and im not gonna quit intill i get there. yup...but its definitly about sex, orgasms..mmm
uh....
i love this song b/c to me its about moving on from someone;s that hurt you. Like a break up. I lurve no doubt
"i never really tried to delve into the meaning of this song, i jsut thought it was really long and skipped over it most of the time when i'd listen to tragic kingdom...good song, tho. "
lol me too! i'd either skip it or listen to the first to versus and choruses and then skip it cause it drags after that.
This is one of my favorte ND songs, especially on Tragic Kingdom which (in my opinion) is one op the greatest albums ever recorded!! This song gives me a boost of self-morale, and helps me keep going with what I'm doing at the time. No Doubt rocks, and always will too!!!!!
this is an amazing song, if you've never given it a good listen all the way through and really given it some good thought then you definitely should again. when i was listneing to that cd all the time, to me it meant that i was going to have to work harder to really achieve what i wanted out of the climb
This song is about taking on a great challenge. Others have tried and failed, and many view the obstacle as insurmountable. But determination pushes you on because the goal is worthwhile.
I like how the person in this song reflects on how far they've already come. The fear of losing or wasting all that progress encourages them to keep going. And then there's my favorite lines in the song:
"pulling myself up by a rope I better my view" "the only thing in sight is what I must do"
So even though they see how far they still have to go, they don't think about giving up. Instead of seeing the actual obstacle, all they see is what needs to be done. Failure isn't an option to them. As they reach the end, they're probably looking back at all the people who said it couldn't be done, or at someone who got discouraged and gave up.