Elusive

Man... I think in such a different way from those explicited here by other people's point of view that I needed to post a comment in order to see if someone would agree with me :)

I don't think the person in this song just keeps dreaming about the beloved one. To me, the guy really has/had her in his arms and there is/was a relationship.

And then this song comes about noticing different self beings in someone who's elusive and someone who's awake...

I keep thinking the lyrics are about the hard piece of mind necessary for loving someone who is elusive and utterly free. You know, sometimes we happen to love people who will never belong to us or anyone else. They're completely owned by themselves. And it also doesn't mean that they are solitary. On the other hand, sometimes we demand a kind of commitment that doesn't approve elusive ways of being. In a certain way, this song reminds of "your own girl" by Jacob Dylan, another great song although pretty different in the way the relationship happens.

At last, he finally realizes it as someone who would say "my destiny lies in the hands that set me free".

Dude, that's a strong line. Some people you just need to let go... and the good thing is that if they are by your side, after given to be free, it's because they really want to. They're there for you and for real. It's when she continues being elusive but comes a line like "You're finally real, there's nothing fake."

He opens his eyes and he finds himself next to her. Coz he sets her free and willingly she rests her destiny on his hands.

This could perfectly be either a "coming back" scene or a departure. Or a finally realizing moment that they're really together by the first time.

correct lyrics: http://lyrics.wikia.com/Scott_Matthews:Elusive

This is a beautiful song. Everytime I hear it, it makes me think back to past relationships, and the good and bad that came with each.

This song is what you make it. It's different for everyone, and that's the way it was intended to be.

For me, this song is about wanting something or someone so much that, as hard as you try, you'll never get it. You'll never attain your dream because your dream is too good to be true; it's unrealistic in a sense. The idea that the singer will ever get the girl he dreams of is an impossible dream. She might be a real woman, or a fantasy, but he'll never have her, whoever she is. As much as he knows it will never happen, he still tries, and still feels the pain of failing whenever she isn't beside him. He'll get close to her, but then discover she was never that close at all, or she'll be just beyond his grasp. Even worse, one day he may find her, and be with her, and she'll leave, and crush his dreams.

To me, this song is the idea that each person is chasing after something that is impossible.

I always love reading how other listeners interpret songs as I feel that adds layers of richness to my own experience of a song. It also allows me to see things from another perspective rather than just being caught up in my own emotions and experiences (which sometimes I feel can blind me).

I read somewhere that Scott Matthews refused to comment on the meaning of these lyrics. So for me, the question is what do these lyrics mean for me?

My interpretation of the song is that of being in a new relationship but living daily with the remnants of another relationship that hurt very deeply. The elusive person is not the current partner but rather a past love that lives with and you daily, almost as if you feel their presence in every wake of your current life as referenced by the lines;

‘She's elusive and I'm awake You're finally real, there's nothing fake A mystery now to me and you Open my eyes and I'm next to you’

The opening lines of the song reference the a gambler and coldness (elusiveness) of that past love. In interpret the reference to a gambler as being the hands of fate. The cold elusive character is a lover who could never quite love you back the way you needed if at all. On a personal level I relate the opening lines as making reference to the way that as humans we are almost fated to re-enact our earliest experiences of love (usually with parents and caregivers) and therefore fated to a certain destiny until we ‘set our selves free’. For me growing up with emotionally distant parents somehow has meant I have previously been drawn to very cold distant partners who were unable to show love and affection like my own parents. Almost as if deep inside I have been trying to make sense of that original ‘injury’ to come to some sort of peace with myself and that ‘my destiny lies in the hands in the one that sets me free’ i.e. that I finally love myself enough to set me free from allowing others to hurt me.

In the song however the character wakes up and opens their eyes and again find themselves next to their lover in the metaphorical sense, suggesting that they have not been able to heal yet and still yearn for their elusive ex lover suggesting they are not yet free.

The next verse then seems set in the present:

Reckless night, she hears me breathe Cursing the sky at this company They lost the wisdom deep inside When bitterness shows its side If it's true, I am doomed What more is there to hold on to? A strand of her hair is all I own A gift to me, this sorry soul

Here the character is now in a present relationship but cannot seem to put the last lover who follows them through their daily life out of their head. They curse the company but the present lover interprets that curse as being meant for them. Because by that point the bitterness has set in because either way they are doomed bc yiu either explain to a current lover that you were cursing an old lover who you can’t shake off of them because you are not happy.

In the end there is nothing left to hold onto because the original hurt i.e. the deep hurt from childhood has not been healed which then allowed the current hurt as an adult to set in which now blights every other relationship. There is the sense that this cycle will not end until the character sets themselves free. This is all hinted at in the next verse. The sense that the hurt is much deeper and that it lives within the character, threatening their happiness at any moment.

The sun in sails and this ain't right There's more to her than meets the eye She comes and goes at any time Back in my head at another time

The song finally ends with the chorus but most significantly the line:

“She said my destiny lies in the hands that set me free”

This for me is the most significant line of the song and the clue that this feeling of unease and heat-break will not end until they themselves set them free. The longing for the previous lover is merely a symptom of a much deeper pain.

Apologies in advance for typos etc. English is not my first language.

I did these lyrics by ear so there may be some mistakes.

beautiful song. and they sound pretty much right to me.

I love this song. Only just discovered it. I'd love to hear what this means to people

in a word: wow i will try and figure out what it means after a few more listens =)

Really like this song at the moment, heard it a few times on the radio, never had an idea what it was called or who it was by.

Just used to read this site but I signed up to give my view.

From what I took looking at the lyrics, he is wanting to get with this girl, spends one night together with her, then she doesnt want him back. While he still wants her.

It looks like he feels this girl is the one he always dreamed of.

That is my view anyway. Could be completely wrong.

i really do love this song i agree with the last comment