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"
On the corner of Main Street
Just tryna keep it in line
You say you wanna move on and
You say I'm fallin' behind
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?
I never really gave up on
Breakin' out of this two-star town
I got the green light, I got a little fight
I'm gonna turn this thing around
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?
The good old days, the honest man
The restless heart, the Promised Land
A subtle kiss that no one sees
A broken wrist and a big trapeze
Oh well, I don't mind if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you go
Can you read my mind?
It's funny how you just break down
Waitin' on some sign
I pull up to the front of your driveway
With magic soakin' my spine
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?
The teenage queen, the loaded gun
The drop dead dream, the Chosen One
A southern drawl, a world unseen
A city wall and a trampoline
Oh well, I don't mind if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you jump
Tell me what you find
Can you read my mind?
Slippin' in my faith until I fall
He never returned that call
Woman, open the door, don't let it sting
I wanna breathe that fire again
She said, "I don't mind if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine"
Put your back on me, put your back on me
Put your back on me
The stars are blazing like rebel diamonds
Cut out of the sun
Can you read my mind?
Just tryna keep it in line
You say you wanna move on and
You say I'm fallin' behind
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?
I never really gave up on
Breakin' out of this two-star town
I got the green light, I got a little fight
I'm gonna turn this thing around
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?
The good old days, the honest man
The restless heart, the Promised Land
A subtle kiss that no one sees
A broken wrist and a big trapeze
Oh well, I don't mind if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you go
Can you read my mind?
It's funny how you just break down
Waitin' on some sign
I pull up to the front of your driveway
With magic soakin' my spine
Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?
The teenage queen, the loaded gun
The drop dead dream, the Chosen One
A southern drawl, a world unseen
A city wall and a trampoline
Oh well, I don't mind if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you jump
Tell me what you find
Can you read my mind?
Slippin' in my faith until I fall
He never returned that call
Woman, open the door, don't let it sting
I wanna breathe that fire again
She said, "I don't mind if you don't mind
'Cause I don't shine if you don't shine"
Put your back on me, put your back on me
Put your back on me
The stars are blazing like rebel diamonds
Cut out of the sun
Can you read my mind?
Lyrics submitted by foldsbaldwin
Read My Mind Lyrics as written by Dave Brent Keuning Brandon Flowers
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think jessden did a good job breaking it down, but I don't think its quite that positive. Think Mr. Brightside... seems positive, until you realize the lyrics are pretty negative. Killers do the same thing here. This guy is DESPARATE! He wants to feel that fire again. She doesn't. He's trying anything. The end is almost rambling... but if you read it, and realize you don't know who is saying what, its kinda negative...and very desparate.... He's not supporting her, as much as he's begging her to stay...or have him go with her... anything...
Slippin in my faith until I fall You never returned that call woman, open the door don't let it sting I wanna breathe that fire again (this part is total desparation...he wants to feel that spark, that interest again. Open the door... He believes in this (faith) even if it wrecks him (fall).
She said I don't mind if you don't mind coz I don't shine if you don't shine put your back on me put your back on me put your back on me
But this gets pretty sad if you read it.,.... She doesn't really mind (meaning doesn't care.) what is in his head... cuz she isn't going to shine if he doesn't shine... (which he hasn't done...going back to the beginning about him SAYING he is going to leave, but never does). Basically, she's kind of giving up on him....cuz he's not all he said he would be. And she doesn't want to go into his mind or all that any more.
Basically her answer is, I don't care what you think or say anymore, cuz I'll never shine if you stay a dreamer in a small town. So no.
Then someone says.."Put your back on me" over and over... and I'm thinking its him. She's just broken it off, and he's not the one, so he is just pleading, give me a chance...put your back on me, and I'll take YOU places.... Very emotional... Very desparate..(and its how he sings the song as well).
Last line is kinda like Mr. Brighside, where you have basically just given in, and things move on... Stars are blazing like rebel diamonds etc... The guy is a dreamer and he's gone back to dreaming...or being very depressed....
I really think this song is pretty dark. Maybe not, but Killers like their songs with multiple meanings, (pop sound, but then edgy even morose undertone). Read my mind falls into that perfectly...