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"
It's 2:45 the baby takes his first breath
The mother never knew he only had a few left
The father gets a call in the middle of the night
His breath gets short and his chest gets tight
But he's sixteen and he's driving too fast
Takes a turn to the left, it would be his last
The body knows what happens if he turns to the right
The body in the car wouldn't die that night
But he's thirty two and invincible
The cancer he had it was visceral
He never saw it coming
Thought he had his whole life
Sick in the morning and he died in the night
We're all so
We're on the line
We're all, we're all
We're wasted, no no no
We're all wasted
We're wasted, no no
We're all wasted
He's seven years old, got his bat in his hand
He's looking for his father and he doesn't understand
Cause dads too busy he's got some deals on the way
His son sits alone as the children play
And he's eighteen he couldn't wait to move out
His parents wonder what all the rush is about
They never bothered with his dreams only thinking of theirs
Wonder's why he doesn't call and why he doesn't care
But he's thirty two and invincible
Everything he is based on principle
He never had a truly happy moment in his life
He didn't want the kids and he didn't want his wife
We're wasted, no no no
We're all wasted
We're wasted, no no
We're all wasted
We're wasted
We're all wasted
We're all wasted, no no
We're all wasted
Twenty three now, got his life in his hands
He's looking all around and he doesn't understand
Cause life's too busy, things get in the way
We all feel alone every single day
Eighteen couldn't wait to move out
It's been five years and now he's starting to doubt
Whether all my dreams are just aimless stares
Looking out to someplace that isn't there
When I'm thirty two will I be miserable
With everything around based on principle
Well, I had a clue, wouldn't it be nice
To never be alone in this wasted life
We're wasted, no no no
We're all wasted
We're wasted, no no no
We're all wasted
We're wasted
We're all wasted
We're wasted, no no
We're all wasted
The mother never knew he only had a few left
The father gets a call in the middle of the night
His breath gets short and his chest gets tight
But he's sixteen and he's driving too fast
Takes a turn to the left, it would be his last
The body knows what happens if he turns to the right
The body in the car wouldn't die that night
But he's thirty two and invincible
The cancer he had it was visceral
He never saw it coming
Thought he had his whole life
Sick in the morning and he died in the night
We're all so
We're on the line
We're all, we're all
We're wasted, no no no
We're all wasted
We're wasted, no no
We're all wasted
He's seven years old, got his bat in his hand
He's looking for his father and he doesn't understand
Cause dads too busy he's got some deals on the way
His son sits alone as the children play
And he's eighteen he couldn't wait to move out
His parents wonder what all the rush is about
They never bothered with his dreams only thinking of theirs
Wonder's why he doesn't call and why he doesn't care
But he's thirty two and invincible
Everything he is based on principle
He never had a truly happy moment in his life
He didn't want the kids and he didn't want his wife
We're wasted, no no no
We're all wasted
We're wasted, no no
We're all wasted
We're wasted
We're all wasted
We're all wasted, no no
We're all wasted
Twenty three now, got his life in his hands
He's looking all around and he doesn't understand
Cause life's too busy, things get in the way
We all feel alone every single day
Eighteen couldn't wait to move out
It's been five years and now he's starting to doubt
Whether all my dreams are just aimless stares
Looking out to someplace that isn't there
When I'm thirty two will I be miserable
With everything around based on principle
Well, I had a clue, wouldn't it be nice
To never be alone in this wasted life
We're wasted, no no no
We're all wasted
We're wasted, no no no
We're all wasted
We're wasted
We're all wasted
We're wasted, no no
We're all wasted
Lyrics submitted by thoseguiltyeyes
Wasted Lyrics as written by Joseph Pepper William Pugh
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The core idea of the song (to me; it's message typically varies a little depending on the listener) is how easily our lives can become a huge waste. A baby dies in childbirth. A teenager dies because of reckless driving. A 32-year-old discovers he had cancer and the plans he had for his life are now obsolete because "he's sick in the morning and he dies in the night." A 7-year-old just wants to play with his dad, but his dad is too busy with work. A 32-year-old is depressed because he has lived his whole life based on meaningless principles (like the idea that everyone should get married and have kids). The 23-year-old is the person I relate to the most. He (presumably) just got out of college ("got his life in his hands"), but he doesn't understand what the next step in his life is supposed to be ("looking all around, but he doesnt understand"). Next you find out that when the 23-year-old turns 32 he will be miserable, and this is a reference to the 32-year-old previously mentioned.
As you hear the song, it sounds like he is just singing about a bunch of different people whose lives have been wasted, but in the end it all comes together to show that it was the same person the whole time, and it is very easy to see how each stage of the persons life leads to the others and the many ways a person can waste their life.