Stay Golden

the two meanings that this song personal has for me:

1. for some reason, friends always leave me when i do nothing wrong. so this song explains my situation: i knew it was going to happen, i was left without ANY friends and absolutely no life, but im feeling better about it every day, and i still feel empty. and then i started slowly regaining friends "may you find all your relations will set you free". etc. i could go on. i wont.

2. the boy i was in love with left me, but he's a male slut. and im getting over it.

sorry for rambling. this makes SO SO SO SO SO much sense in my head.

i just heard this song today and i already love it so.. she knew whatever relationship she was in was ending maybe she didnt want it to end, but she knew was going to happen she is feeling better everyday, little by little, but maybe its just because shes telling herself that she has to feel better, like thats the thing someone has to do in her situation then she says "im only waiting if you stay" shell wait for whoever it is if they stay for her so she still has emotions for this person, but knows that no matter how much her heart wants to be with that person, her head is telling her if they dont stay she should move on too their faith was an illusion, they lied, they left her they werent loyal to the realationship

"your expectation" whoever shes talking about had expectations that she couldnt fulfill and she feels better about not having to live up to their expectations but theres still an emptiness in her heart where that person once was, will it ever be filled? who she was with lost their feelings for her, maybe they never really felt the same way she did and then she hopes that all that persons future realtionships keep them free, free of emotion, so they wont get attached

a person who never truely puts themselves into a relationship is complicated to deal with you dont know what theyre thinking or how they feel how do you deal with them?

when that person leaves her, leaves everyone else in their future, they leave a space in every persons heart, the emptiness was once filled by their "love" but a "careless bird" never really loves, a careless bird doesnt really understand it or maybe theyre afraid

is the song really about the narrator? or the careless bird leaving her?

the speaker is trying to get over her lover or friend or whoever she loved someone and they didnt feel the same its kind of simple

but the "complicated bird" seems a lot more...complicated =p

actually the ending lyrics are

"a careless word is complicated and emptiness still leaves a space "

I LOVE this song. LOVEEEEE. I had a recent semi-break up, and this is how it should feel, especially if it was dysfunctional. You should feel as if a weight has been lifted, and you should try to preserve the person who you are. Falling apart (not staying golden) hurts too much... You just should try to move on.

this song is so beautiful. i agree with technophobia, i'm going through a sort of semi break up too and this is exactly how i felt. like you're apologizing for what has happened and what is going to happen, but you don't have to be affected by any of that as long as you stay golden and "don't feel bad". i don't know i could be completely wrong. but that's how i saw it.

yeah it seems like she's trying to stay strong..but it seems like she's also just trying to reassure herself that she will be alright, in saying things like "i just thought that you should know", almost like a nervous tick

This is such a beautiful song. Those last two lines "A careless bird is complicated An empty nest still leaves a space"

are so amazing.

also, I agree with maryjanegreengrass. I don't think it's necessarily about a break up, specifically. Just, the end of any relationship, which could just be a friendship. I think she's kind of talking about how, though it hurts, it's the best thing they could do.

i agree with maryjanegreengrass that it seems as if she's trying to reassure herself to a degree. in particular, i like the lines "your faith was an illusion/and you're as loyal as your faith/will let you be"...an interesting view which seems to remove fault from either party, making the situation easier to deal with, making it easier to "stay golden."

Personally, I think it's partly a reference to the book The Outsiders. After all, Johnny told Ponyboy to "stay golden," and it conveys the idea of losing someone close.