So don't sit back and watch the days go by
Are you ever gonna live before you die?
And when things fall apart
The world has come undone
Leave it all behind
Leave the loneliness alone
You wait forever blind

So come on and leave the years
When you'd watch the days go by
Come on and leave the fears
That you were afraid to find
'Cause you while you wait inside
The days go by

So all the memories fade
And the days go by
Forget the lonely yesterdays in mind
I know it's never gonna be the way you like
I know you don't wanna think about the endlessness you find
You wait forever blind

So come on and leave the years
When you'd watch the days go by
Come on and leave the fears
That you were afraid to find
You're waiting for your time
Waiting for your time
All these days gone wrong
Who broke your fall?
What a way to learn

So come on and leave the years
When you'd watch the days go by
Come on and leave the fears
That you were afraid to find
'Cause you while you wait inside
The days go by


Lyrics submitted by plasticflowers

Days Go By song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

9 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think this song is about living and not letting the problems of the world slow you down. I think it is about not caring about the imperfections in life because the world will always have them, I know it's never gonna be the way you like, I know you don't wanna think about the endlessness you find". I think it is about letting go of the pain, hurt, and fears and to live freely and fully. This song is so motivational and reminds me to live my life to the fullest and to stop waiting for everything to be perfect and to enjoy life just as it is.

    AliAlisaon June 11, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    From what I know, this song is about someone who doesn't go out or live much, and is too sheltered, and just watched time pass by without doing anything, because they are either lazy or shallow or just afraid of stuff out there.

    Unconquered Sunon April 03, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    From what I know, this song is about someone who doesn't go out or live much, and is too sheltered, and just watched time pass by without doing anything, because they are either lazy or shallow or just afraid of stuff out there.

    Unconquered Sunon April 03, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    From what I know, this song is about someone who doesn't go out or live much, and is too sheltered, and just watched time pass by without doing anything, because they are either lazy or shallow or just afraid of stuff out there.

    Unconquered Sunon April 03, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is talking about living life.. dont sit around and mope.. get out.. or else its just going to fly by and your gonna wonder what happened

    bballplayer3394on April 09, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think the lyrics to the chorus are ment to be:

    "So come on and leave the years When you'd watch the days go by Come on and leave the fears That you were afraid to FIGHT"

    could be wrong?

    *baby_girl*on August 01, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    it tells we should go and live life... to the fullest.

    squishybearon January 20, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this song is about living and not letting the problems of the world slow you down. I think it is about not caring about the imperfections in life because the world will always have them, I know it's never gonna be the way you like, I know you don't wanna think about the endlessness you find". I think it is about letting go of the pain, hurt, and fears and to live freely and fully. This song is so motivational and reminds me to live my life to the fullest and to stop waiting for everything to be perfect and to enjoy life just as it is.

    AliAlisaon June 11, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "Who broke your fall?/What a way to learn" These two lines, for me, ruined the entire song because I don't think they fit into the rest of the song. Just saying.

    singlebarrel94on July 08, 2011   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
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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
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
Magical
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Blue
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.