Same Mistake

It's about loving someone so fucking much, being in love, and wanting things to work out so fucking bad, but they never do and you don't know what to do, except keep trying and fighting for it. And eventually, you start hating yourself because you never get anywhere and you don't understand why and you're in love but it's not right and if love can't be right, what can?

It's pretty much about my life.

I love him.

One thing we all agree about this beautiful song is that it's so sad. I agree with the very first comment but I'll have a little diversion from it. Indeed, you love a gal sooo much but she doesn't love you back. The harder you try, the more you screw it up. You then realise that loving her is painful and are waiting in vain for her to love you back thence a mistake to love her. Despite knowing that, you feel inclined to continue loving her and thus become an enemy to your ownself. You now want her to give you reason why she doesn't love you so that you have a basis to stop loving her rather than give you choice by staying silent. This is because choice could result in making the same mistake of loving her again. You then wonder where you went wrong in your efforts to show your love to her.

At first, I believed that James was singing this song to his ex-lover, and essentially trying to explain to her how he felt.

I believe it's a about a soldier deploying overseas, and his "mistake" is volunteering to be a soldier and by that profession, leaving behind his lover, as a result she leaves him,

"so i send some men to fight" implies that he is an officer who feels guilt for casualties he's taken

"said he'd seen my enemy, said he looked just like me", this can be taken a few different ways, 1) one of his soldiers blames him for their losses 2) he feels disgusted with himself for hurting his lovers feelings and he's soley to blame for them breaking up and for his affliction and 3) possably a observation about war, "he looked just like me" may suggest that we are all human, and infact, in this situation his "enemy" (an opposing army) would be a human being with the exact same profession as him. b) Of his experiences in Bosnia, he had to deal with stopping a genocide, so this could suggest he's lost all faith in the human condition

"cause i'll just make the same mistake again" suggests that his devotion to duty and self-sacrafice will overcome his selfish feelings of pre-maturely resigning from the army to stay with his lover

I think the song is about depression. Battling your inner demons. Self harm. It's brilliant. Does anyone agree?

I agree with yourcocaine. It's about loving someone so much but you know in the end for some reason it won't work out so you end it even though you don't want to and it just tears you up every day and you don't know what to do without that other person. I think the line about stars beneath his feet means he's at the top and he has everything he's ever wanted but nothing is complete without that other person and nothing else matters (look at the stars falling down) And he tries to find someone to blame but realizes it was all his fault for ending it and he is his own enemy.

I agree, it is about loving so much you hate yourself because you can't get it right, nor can you accept that it just isn't meant to be.

"So give me a reason but dont give me a choice, Cause i'll just make the same mistake." That is the story of my life...

I think it's about all the mistakes and bad choices in his life keeping him awake night after night and finally realizing that you've had enough. It's about how his true enemy is himself and the only way to set it all right in his mind is to kill himself. If he's allowed to choose to continue living, he'll just keep fucking up over and over again. I think he may be explaining this to either a loved one or God, hoping that one day they'll be able to talk over what happened.

i think it's about accepting what you wrong in life.. in the end, you're the enemy.

"So while I'm turning in my sheets And once again I cannot sleep Walk out the door and up the street Look at the stars beneath my feet Remember rights that I did wrong So here I go"

This person cannot sleep, again. They are considering suicide ("stars beneath my feet") because this person feels that they messed up so many times in life. (Probably in a relationship)

"There is no place I cannot go My mind is muddy but My heart is heavy does it show I lose the track that loses me So here I go"

This person feels that once they are dead, that they can go anywhere ("there is no place I cannot go"). This person is very confused, but even in their confusion they know in their heart that something is not right.

"And so I sent some men to fight And one came back at dead of night Said he'd seen my enemy Said he looked just like me So I set out to cut myself And here I go"

He has tried to figure out what was wrong and then discovered that he is the perosn that he is fighting against, the cause of his problems. Wanting to destroy his "enemy," he thinks that he should cut himself.

"I’m not calling for a second chance I'm screaming at the top of my voice Give me reason, but don’t give me choice Cause I'll just make the same mistake again"

This person really wants things to be right again and he is desperate. He wants a reason to go on, not choices because he messes them up.

"And maybe someday we will meet And maybe talk but not just speak Dont buy the promises cause There are no promises I keep And my reflection troubles me So here I go"

He thinks that someday when he has been dead and years later when she dies, they will meet again and really speak to one another. He can't promise this. He hates himself.

He is VERY depressed and in his mind, suicide is the only way to end his suffering. It is not. If you feel like you want to kill yourself, talk to someone. Speak in confidence or with someone close to you. Suicide is not the answer.

I think that this is a song about him losing his mind after a bad relationship. He is very depressed and is going to kill himself.

I've come very close to this song recently (despite losing my MP3 player). Here I have to offer my own, in-depth meaning of this song with the help of the posts given by the community here whom I thank.

"So while I'm turning in my sheets And once again I cannot sleep"

The narrator (informally acknowledged to be anyone) is restless over the thought of something.

"Walk out the door and up the street Look at the stars beneath my feet"

He walks outside to help clear his mind and consequentially loses himself in thought (possibly reflecting on the sky broken underneath him).

"Remember rights that I did wrong So here I go"

Again, he reflects more, clarifing that it's over things that he tries to do right that end up going bad. He continues walking.

"Hello, hello"

He calls out for help but no one seems to hear him so he only hears the echo of his voice.

"There is no place I cannot go My mind is muddy but My heart is heavy does it show"

He feels trapped by his problems, clouding his mind and making his heart heavy. He asks how obvious it is.

"I lose the track that loses me So here I go"

He loses his train of thought that speeds off with him (or more better put: He can't stay on track with normal things, or rather, normal thoughts aren't meant for him (p2007t)). Still he walks in the night.

"Uhuh uhuh uhuh And so I sent some men to fight And one came back at dead of night Said he'd seen my enemy Said he looked just like me"

He searches the corners of his mind to discover what causes his troubles only to finally realize it is himself.

"So I set out to cut myself And here I go"

This I like to take metaphoricly though I know there are plenty of people who'd rather say it's meaning is literal. He sees that only way to correct his problems are in himself but unfortunatly feels he needs to beat himself up (whether physically or mentally). Still he persists to move on.

"Uhuh uhuh uhuh I’m not calling for a second chance I'm screaming at the top of my voice"

He doesn't want another chance to make things right which he tries to communicates in desperation.

"Give me reason, but don’t give me choice Cause I'll just make the same mistake again"

Moreover, he'd rather have a reason to do something but not the choice associated with it because, as he can already predict, will only end all wrong.

"Uhuhuhuhuhuh And maybe someday we will meet And maybe talk and not just speak"

He talks more to the audience (whether this is his love interest or someone else is left for interpretation) about how he hopes he will be able to meet them some time again and talk to each other critically and with purpose rather than just "speaking" (resorting to small talk that goes nowhere?).

"Dont buy the promises cause There are no promises I keep And my reflection troubles me So here I go"

He says not to buy his promises because he can't keep them. These broken promises, evidentally, ruin his self-image which troubles him. Once again, he goes on.

"Uhuh uhuh uhuh

I’m not calling for a second chance I’m screaming at the top of my voice Give me reason, but don’t give me choice Cause I'll just make the same mistake (2x)"

A re-statement of the above.

"Uhuh uhuh uhuh Uhuh uhuh uhuh So while I'm turning in my sheets Uhuh uhuh uhuh And once again I cannot sleep"

Still he can't sleep with all his troubles.

"Uhuh uhuh uhuh Walk out the door and up the street"

He once again finds himself on the street to think things over.

"Uhuh uhuh uhuh Look at the stars Uhuh uhuh uhuh Look at the stars falling down"

He sees the stars and sky fall apart before his eyes (of course associate with his life slowly falling apart)

"Uhuh uhuh uhuh And I wonder where Uhuh uhuh uhuh Did I go wrong?""

And once again, on the same journey of finding a way to survive through all of the things he seems to have set himself up to fall at, he posess a question: Where did I go wrong?