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"
Well, this is a good idea
He wouldn't do it if it wasn't
He wouldn't do it if it wasn't one
Well, my friend fancies you
Oh, what a way to begin it all
You said, "They're always exciting words to hear"
And they woke up together not quite realizing how
Awkwardly stretching and yawning
It's always hard in the morning
And I suppose that's the price you pay
Well, oh, it isn't what it was
She's thinking he looks different today
And now there's nothing left to guess now
They left before the lights came on
Because they didn't want to ruin what it was that was brewing
Before they absolutely had to
And how can you wake up with someone you don't love
And not feel slightly fazed by it?
Oh, he had a struggle
And they woke up together not quite realizing how
Awkwardly stretching and yawning
It's always hard in the morning
And I suppose that's the price you pay
Well, oh, it isn't what it was
She's thinking he looks different today
And now there's nothing left to guess now
Well, quick, let's leave before the lights come on
'Cause then you don't have to see
'Cause then you don't have to see what you've done
Well, quick, let's leave before the lights come on
'Cause then you don't have to see
'Cause then you don't have to see what you've done
I'll walk you up, what time's the bus come?
I'll walk you up, what time's the bus come?
I'll walk you up, what time's the bus come?
I'll walk you up
He wouldn't do it if it wasn't
He wouldn't do it if it wasn't one
Well, my friend fancies you
Oh, what a way to begin it all
You said, "They're always exciting words to hear"
And they woke up together not quite realizing how
Awkwardly stretching and yawning
It's always hard in the morning
And I suppose that's the price you pay
Well, oh, it isn't what it was
She's thinking he looks different today
And now there's nothing left to guess now
They left before the lights came on
Because they didn't want to ruin what it was that was brewing
Before they absolutely had to
And how can you wake up with someone you don't love
And not feel slightly fazed by it?
Oh, he had a struggle
And they woke up together not quite realizing how
Awkwardly stretching and yawning
It's always hard in the morning
And I suppose that's the price you pay
Well, oh, it isn't what it was
She's thinking he looks different today
And now there's nothing left to guess now
Well, quick, let's leave before the lights come on
'Cause then you don't have to see
'Cause then you don't have to see what you've done
Well, quick, let's leave before the lights come on
'Cause then you don't have to see
'Cause then you don't have to see what you've done
I'll walk you up, what time's the bus come?
I'll walk you up, what time's the bus come?
I'll walk you up, what time's the bus come?
I'll walk you up
Lyrics submitted by andybrown_10, edited by awesome17
Leave Before The Lights Come On Lyrics as written by Alex Turner
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
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I love how the meaning of the line "Leave before the lights come on changes through the song because at the beginning of the song Alex says "They left before the lights came on because they didn't want to ruin what it was that was brewing" I think this is in a club and they left before the lights came on (in other words before it shut) so they didnt lose the lust and attraction they felt between eachother. Then near the end of the song he says "Quick let's leave before the lights come on cos then you don't have to see, cos then you don't have to see what yoou've done", this is the morning after when he wakes up with the girl from the club and really regrets what he's done and wants to get away as soon as possible hence the lines "I'll walk/wake you up, what time's the bus come?"
Great song anyway, whatever the meaning.