I stumbled in at three a.m., but you didn't want to, I tried again at half past ten,
you still want to, Your hips have this way of saying no way; an impenetrable barricade.
Something I said? Something I did? What's made you so defensive?
Something you heard? Something you learned? The season's changing, it's for the worse.

You used to call me on your break, but you've been so busy. You used to bring me tomato soup, but you keep forgetting. As the groundskeeper rakes up the October leaves,
It occurs to me, trees can't hide anything.

Something I said? Something I did? You've been acting so distant, something you heard?
Something you learned? The trees are barren, the leaves have turned. The days when we made it the world was green; now Autumn has fallen, everything's changed.

October leaves.

I woke up this morning, you were off to work. No kisses, no coffee. No morning paper.


Lyrics submitted by rengalous

October Leaves Lyrics as written by

Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

October Leaves song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

9 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is great. tim kasher has such a way with words. i think it's pretty obvious that he's talking about his girlfriend or something of the sort becoming distant as the autumn comes. when he talkes about "the days when we made it the world was green", he means that they were together and happy during the summer, and now that it's fall, things are changing. although this song is sad, autumn is a beautiful time of year.

    CountMyCrowson October 26, 2004   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
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"
Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Album art
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.