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"
Ask me how it feels
To feel like you're a failure
When everything that's real
Burns the flame in anger
I've heard it all before
I've felt some pain and more
More than you could ever dream
More than it probably seems
I've sat with head in hand
Stressed by my demands
Stomach tied in knots
Alone I've sat and rot
'Cause the pain from all these fears
Has built up all these years
I'll wipe away the tears
Wipe away the tears
Don't give in
Don't give up
Walk the streets dejected
Alone and left rejected
Time does not care
And sometimes life ain't fair
Smashing bottles on the ground
My head begins to pound
I have lived amongst the garbage
With those who rape and carnage
Had many a promise broken
And broken some myself
The promise I have kept alive
Is keep my inner wealth
With my heart aimed at the world
Destiny I watch unfurl
I'll wipe away the tears
Wipe away the tears
Don't give in
Don't give up
Opportunities
Wasting life away
Choked upon its dust
Puked out in disgust
Let me tell you how it feels
To feel like you're a failure
Been climbing out this gutter
For what seems like it's forever
But one thing I must make clear
The struggle of these years
Has made every scar the stronger
My lust for life the longer
I will fight for what I love
And I will fight for those I care
I will fight at anytime
And I will fight anywhere
With my heart aimed at this world
Destiny I watch unfurl
I'll wipe away the tears
Wipe away the tears
Don't give in
Don't give up
To feel like you're a failure
When everything that's real
Burns the flame in anger
I've heard it all before
I've felt some pain and more
More than you could ever dream
More than it probably seems
I've sat with head in hand
Stressed by my demands
Stomach tied in knots
Alone I've sat and rot
'Cause the pain from all these fears
Has built up all these years
I'll wipe away the tears
Wipe away the tears
Don't give in
Don't give up
Walk the streets dejected
Alone and left rejected
Time does not care
And sometimes life ain't fair
Smashing bottles on the ground
My head begins to pound
I have lived amongst the garbage
With those who rape and carnage
Had many a promise broken
And broken some myself
The promise I have kept alive
Is keep my inner wealth
With my heart aimed at the world
Destiny I watch unfurl
I'll wipe away the tears
Wipe away the tears
Don't give in
Don't give up
Opportunities
Wasting life away
Choked upon its dust
Puked out in disgust
Let me tell you how it feels
To feel like you're a failure
Been climbing out this gutter
For what seems like it's forever
But one thing I must make clear
The struggle of these years
Has made every scar the stronger
My lust for life the longer
I will fight for what I love
And I will fight for those I care
I will fight at anytime
And I will fight anywhere
With my heart aimed at this world
Destiny I watch unfurl
I'll wipe away the tears
Wipe away the tears
Don't give in
Don't give up
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
American Town
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Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Basically learn from your bad experiences and you grow stronger and wiser after them. And when fighting through those bad times, never give up. Fight!