Since I met you. this house has started to decay
And every wall that once was clean. has turned a shade of grey.

So much to rescue. so much you just can't understand
Now the streets are dark and empty. and the problems in our hands.

I can't leave you. see back home my house is falling down.
I can't leave you. and back home my house is falling down

Since I met you. my basement has started to bleed
The floors are all collapsing. still I'm begging to be free


Lyrics submitted by tenar

Demolition Lyrics as written by Patrick Wolf

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Demolition song meanings
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12 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    To me, this song is clearly about an abusive relationship.

    "since i met you. this house has started to decay and every wall that once was clean. has turned a shade of grey."

    it's like he's saying that once he'd met this man, his life, body and mind have started to decay and every good thing in his life ( wall that once was clean) has been ruined. This could also refer to his virginity being taken away, or allude to sexual abuse.

    "so much to rescue. so much you just cant understand now the streets are dark and empty. and the problems in our hands."

    When someone is in an abusive relationship, it is like their whole life is being destroyed. So when Wolf speaks about so much to rescue, i think he's referring to his life that is currently under control by his significant other. And, quite obviously, this is something that his significant other can't understand because he doesn't see the problem in their relationship. The streets being dark and empty can be thought of as a lack of hope and the feeling that there is nowhere to run to. Again, the problems im our hands, speaks of the dysfunctional relationship.

    "i cant leave you. see back home my house is falling down. i cant leave you. and back home my house is falling down"

    The feeling of being unable to leave and the fear of what it will mean to leave the abusive relationship is what i think these lines are about.

    "since i met you. my basement has started to bleed the floors are all collapsing. still im begging to be free"

    I think the first line quite literally means that ever since he's been with his man, his 'basement' has been in pain and bleeding. "The floors are all collapsing" may be a metaphor for describing the feeling of everything in his life falling apart at the hands of this man, and, still, Wolf is begging to be free.

    honeygloon February 19, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    he said once on an acoustic session that he rarely ever plays this song live...but it is beautiful still.

    slinkstersarson February 25, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I've seen it live...and it was even more beautiful

    Squeegon April 03, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    how does that xylophone tone keep looping behind all this dark drama? miracles.

    _ellieon May 18, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song makes me cry, it's so perfectly bittersweet. i even cried when i saw it twice, live. it just does something to me i can't explain.

    playedinstereoon December 27, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    the song, initially for me, refers to how ugly things look when you are with the one you love;

    "i cant leave you. see back home my house is falling down."

    And the thought of having to return home, alone, is an unpleasant one as nothing seems as beautiful there anymore.

    But now i'm not so sure... :D

    x

    eleahtroon July 11, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    the song, initially for me, refers to how ugly things look when you are with the one you love;

    "i cant leave you. see back home my house is falling down."

    And the thought of having to return home, alone, is an unpleasant one as nothing seems as beautiful there anymore.

    But now i'm not so sure... :D

    x

    eleahtroon July 11, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    When I saw him sing this live I cried my heart out. It's od, because before I think I sort of overlooked it. I think eleahtro has got this exactly right. I think it's about needing someone so much that you just can't function without them, and the thought of surviving on your own seems impossible.

    Turn-it-upon January 31, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    It feels as if it plays on the dependency of relationships. How you need somebody so much, that at that moment where you feel as if you'll soon be all alone, everything before them looks and feels so bleak. That sense of returning to what once was, even though at the time it seemed so welcoming, now feels so cold.

    You know it's wrong, that things have to end, even though the outcome is going to be so painful. When he mentions that the floors are all collapsing, yet he's begging to be free, even with that fear of what's to come, that fear of what he's about to lose, he still knows that he has to get out.

    Skippy22on March 22, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    There are few songs as beautiful and heart wrenching as this one. I agree with most of you on the subject of this song, and I've experienced that subject quite recently.

    You fall in love with someone, throwing every part of your soul into the relationship. You know that it'll end one day, and everything you gave will go along with it. That thought nags at you day in and out. It's unavoidable that perfection will turn to rubble. And as the day for the relationship to end comes, you want to be free from the misery and pain, but yet you'd do anything to hold onto the love, commitment, and sacrifices. You try so hard to turn the relationship around and save it from falling apart. Alas, there's nothing you can do. The love is gone, the relationship is gone, and the pain is always present.

    Such a perfect song.

    ShotgunXXWeddingon April 09, 2008   Link

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