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"
Poor John Henry could never prove his worth I sure hope he makes it in the end
So frustrated always underrated I sure hope he makes it in the end
He wakes up each day always empty handed I sure hope he makes it in the end
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of yourself
Poor Mary Ellen ended up with John I sure hope she makes it in the end
She works for nothing and nothing works for her I sure hope she makes it in the end
John and Mary like so many I sure hope they make it in the end
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of yourself
So frustrated always underrated I sure hope he makes it in the end
He wakes up each day always empty handed I sure hope he makes it in the end
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of yourself
Poor Mary Ellen ended up with John I sure hope she makes it in the end
She works for nothing and nothing works for her I sure hope she makes it in the end
John and Mary like so many I sure hope they make it in the end
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of
Do you ever think of me 'cause I'll be thinking of you and you'll be thinking of yourself
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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
Radiohead
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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.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
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.
Well, of course, due to the popularity of the many ballads about tall tale figure John Henry, one would expect this song to be about the infamous steel-driver. However, the song's first line describes that he could never prove his worth - quite unlike the legend. And the John Henry of Legend's wife was named Polly Ann.
So taking the couple in this ballad to be different, we see that John Henry and Mary Ellen are down on their luck ("She works for nothing and nothing works for her", struggling to make it in life as they have nothing ("He wakes up each day empty handed").
The chorus is interesting, open to interpretation as being addressed towards the couple or perhaps from John to Mary or vice versa. In general, it seems to be about those people you remember and think about, even if you're not helping them in their hard times. How often have we all thought of a friend and wondered if they ever think of us in return? What starts as a question turns into an accusation, as the "you" in the song thinks only of "yourself". Maybe these are the people who've moved on past John. Maybe John Henry's so caught up in his struggles that he never thinks of others. I'm not sure, but I hope other people start to comment on this amazing group.