This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
I had so much to say
But no words to speak
The feelings were strong
But I was only weak
So there we were again
Tragic and absurd
Choking on every line
And every final word
A few pages from an old diary
A dusty shelf, an unread history
All these words and memories
Are all of you that's really left for me
And a fading memory
Can't cloud the pain
When the voice is gone
The words still remains
And the years that fall away
Can't stop the rains
When illusion's gone
The truth still remains
A few lines from life's long soliloquy
A dying voice in one part harmony
All these words and memories
Are all of you that's really left for me
And a fading memory
Can't cloud the pain
When the voice is gone
The words still remains
And the years that fall away
Can't stop the rains
When illusion's gone
The truth still remains
A final moment of clarity
A touch, a look, a last apology
All these words and memories
Are all of you that's left for me
And a fading memory
Can't cloud the pain
When the voice is gone
The words still remains
And the years that fall away
Can't stop the rains
When illusion's gone
The truth still remains
Where is the way
where is direction
the ever open arms
of over protection
Where is the hope
where is laughter
the wild winter dreams
of happy ever after
Deep in the night
Underneath the darkest skies
Searching for some sign or some distant light
Searching yet unheard
Repeating every line
And every final word
They remain, they remain
You still remain
All these words and memories
And everything you were to me
They remain, they remain
You still remain
And here I am again
Tragic and absurd
Repeating every line
And every final word
But no words to speak
The feelings were strong
But I was only weak
So there we were again
Tragic and absurd
Choking on every line
And every final word
A few pages from an old diary
A dusty shelf, an unread history
All these words and memories
Are all of you that's really left for me
And a fading memory
Can't cloud the pain
When the voice is gone
The words still remains
And the years that fall away
Can't stop the rains
When illusion's gone
The truth still remains
A few lines from life's long soliloquy
A dying voice in one part harmony
All these words and memories
Are all of you that's really left for me
And a fading memory
Can't cloud the pain
When the voice is gone
The words still remains
And the years that fall away
Can't stop the rains
When illusion's gone
The truth still remains
A final moment of clarity
A touch, a look, a last apology
All these words and memories
Are all of you that's left for me
And a fading memory
Can't cloud the pain
When the voice is gone
The words still remains
And the years that fall away
Can't stop the rains
When illusion's gone
The truth still remains
Where is the way
where is direction
the ever open arms
of over protection
Where is the hope
where is laughter
the wild winter dreams
of happy ever after
Deep in the night
Underneath the darkest skies
Searching for some sign or some distant light
Searching yet unheard
Repeating every line
And every final word
They remain, they remain
You still remain
All these words and memories
And everything you were to me
They remain, they remain
You still remain
And here I am again
Tragic and absurd
Repeating every line
And every final word
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him.
There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
i think its about someone missing their significant other who has passed away. They read a diary and it triggers the memory of them dying, they then talk about where you go when you die. the next 2 verses seem to talk about them searching for someone new to light their candle, but with no luck. so their at home still looking at things they remember
I recently had my daughter listen to this song and write an essay about it in order to get out of punishment for bringing home a bad grade in English. She did an excellent job, but this made me go back and listen to the song again and do my own interpretations.<br /> <br /> I don’t think that you can really dig in to this song with the lyrics alone. The music has its own story and enhances the emotion of the lyrics. The first 4 lines of the song describe feelings that the author cannot express with words, and I think that the music provides what is missing for him.<br /> <br /> I do agree that the main subject is someone who is gone, probably dead, but I do not feel that it is a significant other/spouse. There are hints that suggest a parent or a grandparent; these are the people that we usually have regret because of unspoken words. An old diary, a dusty shelf, and unread history… these all suggest someone older than the author, someone who has a past that was not necessarily made (or shared) with him. Another clue is the line “open arms of over protection”. I think our parents at one time or another have overprotected us all, and as we get older and we lose those people, we yearn for the protection that we felt from them.<br /> <br /> The majority of the song is filled with regret and frustration. He has the regret of not speaking or expressing himself prior to this loss, and he has the frustration from the pain caused by his regrets. Even though he has memories, including words (both spoken and written), and images of this person… he feels like they are an illusion, which cannot hide the truth that this person is gone. The spoken words that he sings of could very well have been the last words that he heard from this person.<br /> <br /> He begins to look for all of the things that this person taught and promised him (the way, the direction, the hope, the laughter), and he is possibly looking for a sign that his memories are real.<br /> <br /> In the end he realizes that his memories are real, and that because of his memories that person still remains. <br /> <br /> The last 4 lines of the lyrics now mean something opposite from their original meaning. The doubt that he had about his memories is now what has become tragic and absurd.<br /> <br /> We should all learn from this and realize that the loved ones we have lost do live on in our hearts and in our memories, even though they are physically gone, there is nothing that can change our memories of the past that we share with them.<br />
This sounds like a song about a man who has finally left an abusive and troubled relationship, with his ex-spouse. He looks back on that period in his life with mixed emotions, but the realization that there is no love there anymore, just an empty heart, and emotionaless memories of that love.<br /> <br /> That's my take on it, but perhaps I'm inserting too much of my own experience into it? :)
@Dissposition : This song is about the death of Jim Matheos' father, according to two interviews he gave on the subject. Very difficult and emotional subject, and it connects with me on a deep personal level even though my own father is still living.