Wake Up Alone

I definitely can relate to the storyline of this song.. wake up, alone, and prepare for the day ahead. I make sure I'm always occupied doing something so "I don't have to think about thinking". But just as I feel myself becoming happy, it vanishes as the day ends.. everything is winding down, I'm not busy anymore, and so he's on my mind. Then I dream about him.. only to be reminded of the fact that he's not here when I wake up.. alone.

Amy is great :-)

I think there is actually a lot of symbolism on this song. For instance, on the verse:

This face in my dreams seizes my guts He floods me with dread Soaked to the soul He swims in my eyes by the bed Pour myself over him Moon spilling in And I wake up alone

There are a lot of words that evoke drinking/liquids (floods, soaked, swims, pour, spill). This to me suggests drinking as an escape to her pain.

The next lines:

If I was my heart I'd rather be restless The second I stop the sleep catches up and I'm breathless This ache in my chest As my day is done now The dark covers me and I cannot run now My blood running cold I stand before him It's all I can do to assure him When he comes to me I drip for him tonight Drowning in me we bathe under blue light

They have a lot of words that are contradicting - some evoke movement whilst some evoke stillness, (restless, stop, breathless, run, stand), which to me suggest instability and anxiety, feelings which are exhausting and emotionally draining. These are the feelings she is having after her break-up, and I think the drinking described previously fuel these emotions and fantasies of her being with him (which in the end lead to more pain the next day when she wakes up alone).

The song refers to her drinking, over-dosed, black out and meet with the death, and eventually when she wakes up she understand that the drinking doesnt coveres the hole in your heart. because this is not someone that loves you so you wake up alone.... It's okay in the day.. I'm staying busy (explaining in the next sentence) Tied up enough so I don't have to wonder where is he (her drink\ she black-out more than ones so she know the death is coming) Got so sick of crying So just lately (when i come back to drink) When I catch myself (with a glass in hand), I do a one-eighty (in my behavior and smash the glass). .I stay up, clean the house (like before) At least I'm not DRINKING Run around just so I don't have to think about thinking. (when you drink, you don't think. you just say. so she run to don't have to think if she is wasted or not).

He's fierce in my dreams, seizing my guts (death) He floats me with dread (the death with alcohol) Soaked in soul (again, death is soaking her SOUL) He swims in my ice by the bed (again) Pour myself over him (pour= like bartender) Moon spilling in (i guess it refers to the drink tequila sunrise. spelled by the bartender) And I wake up alone..... (i'm still alone. the drinking didn't forgot it or replaced it).

If I was my heart I'd rather be restless (so death wont come) (because) The second I stop, the sleep catches up (black-out) And I'm breathless (could also be she wrote WASTED but changed it. sing it instead). 'Cause his ache in my chest (where my heart is also). As my day is done now (death) The dark covers me (dark like black (out)) and I cannot run now (i cannot escape now). My blood running cold (her drink is in her blood,refers to Flaming shot/ after you die the blood gets cold). I stand before him (before the death/ before the drink). ..... Drowning me (and my liver) we bathe under blue light (i think it refers to the drink BLUE LAGOON... because drowning under blue light can be drowning in blue lagoon, swim-pool, sea...)

and so on....

AMY MAY YOU REST IN PIECE. I'M ONLY 14 YEARS OLD AND I LOVE YOU. MAY GOD BE EVER IN YOU'RE FAVOR. EVEN NOW.

Pretty sure I'm the only person who thinks this song isn't about a break up. I think the guy Amy sang about was still very much in her life. What makes me think that is the line 'we bathe under blue light', she's singing in the present. I think it could be about an on/off relationship she was having with this guy. If you've heard her previous album Frank then this might make a little more sense. She sings a lot about relationships where people use each other purely for the physical benefits, but I think she got attached. The same theme can be heard in Tears Dry on Their Own, a relationship where she knew was getting used but she didn't mind. In this song I think the waking up alone could be about how the guy doesn't commit to her, he's no there in the morning, he's no her boyfriend, he probably doesn't love her. He might be on her mind all the time because she is falling for him. The 'bathe under blue light' could also be referring to the faint blueish/blackish light in the early hours of the morning when the room starts to get lighter and it almost looks blue. The line 'pour myself over him' I think refers to how she's given him everything, literally given herself over to him but no love has been given in return. I don't know, when I hear this song I just don't see it as a break up. I feel like even the way she sings it she sounds more frustrated than heartbroken, restless not necessarily upset. She has Love is a Losing Game and Back to Black as break up songs, the tone to them is different from this song. I really feel like its a song about being used but that's just my opinion :)

I love LOVE this song. But i think the actual lyrics are ---

It's okay in the day I'm staying busy Tied up enough so I don't have to wonder where is he Got so sick of crying So just lately When I catch myself I do a 180 I stay up clean the house At least I'm not drinking Run around just so I don't have to think about thinking That silent sense of content That everyone gets Just disappears soon as the sun sets

This face in my dreams seizes my guts He floods me with dread Soaked to the soul He swims in my eyes by the bed Pour myself over him Moon spilling in And I wake up alone

If I was my heart I'd rather be restless The second I stop the sleep catches up and I'm breathless This ache in my chest As my day is done now The dark covers me and I cannot run now My blood running cold I stand before him It's all I can do to assure him When he comes to me I drip for him tonight Drowning in me we bathe under blue light

His face in my dreams seizes my guts He floods me with dread Soaked to the soul He swims in my eyes by the bed Pour myself over him Moon spilling in And I wake up alone And I wake up alone And I wake up alone And I wake up alone

his face in my dreams, seizing my guts, he floors me with dread so consumed he swims in my ICE by the bed POUR myself over him, oh room spinning

I think that's correct, I can only assume that the DRINKING reference is correct cuz if there's one thing we know about Amy, it's that she isn't a haggard 23 year old for nothing. wink wink, nudge nudge know what i'm sayin?

she likes the drinky poo

his face in my dreams, seizing my guts, he floors me with dread so consumed he swims in my ICE by the bed POUR myself over him, oh room spinning

I think that's correct, I can only assume that the DRINKING reference is correct cuz if there's one thing we know about Amy, it's that she isn't a haggard 23 year old for nothing. wink wink, nudge nudge know what i'm sayin?

she likes the drinky poo

This song is, in my opinion, the best and most underrated on the album. I recently heard that Amy won a songwriting award for Rehab, which I think is funny because Wake Up Alone is so much more poetic. I usually don't like it when people use the word 'visceral' to describe music, but in this case, it's appropriate. This song describes a situation that is completely relatable to anyone who has ever been heartbroken to the point of feeling physical pain. The lines '...seizing my guts' and 'the sleep catches up and I'm breathless' hit so hard. The added details (her drinking problem, the fact she's trying to busy herself to avoid thinking about it, etc.) make even better.

Bottom line: This is the best song on the album as far as lyrics go.

It's so true when trying to get over heartbreak. You keep yourself busy all day and you're okay until you're lying in bed and it's then you can't avoid thinking about it, especially when dreaming and when you wake up in the morning...

I agree its the most emotional song on the album and probably underrated...anyone who has experienced obsessive love will identify with the lyrics...I particularly love the water metaphors to describe her feelings though ... soaked to the soul he swims in my eyes by the bed pour myself over him moon spilling in....