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"
(One, two, one, two, three, four)
Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old
All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold
All the kids are talking slang I won't pretend to understand
All my friends are getting married, mortgages and pension plans
And it's obvious my angry adolescent days are done
And I'm happy and I'm settled in the person I've become
But that doesn't mean I'm settled up and sitting out the game
Time may change a lot but some things they stay the same
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all, yeah, I won't grow up
Oh, maturity's a wrapped up package deal so it seems
And ditching teenage fantasy means ditching all your dreams
All your friends and peers and family solemnly tell you you will
Have to grow up be an adult, yeah, be bored and unfulfilled
Oh, when no ones yet explained to me exactly what's so great
About slaving fifty years away on something that you hate
About meekly shuffling down the path of mediocrity
Well, if that's your road then take it but it's not the road for me
Won't sit down
Won't shut up
Most of all, I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all, yeah, I won't grow up
And if all you ever do with your life
Is just photosynthesize
Then you'll deserve every hour of these sleepless nights
That you waste wondering when you're gonna die
Now I'll play and you sing
The perfect way for the evening to begin
Now I'll play and you sing
The perfect way for evening to begin
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all, yeah, I won't grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
Most of all I will not grow up
Well I guess I should confess that I am starting to get old
All the latest music fads all passed me by and left me cold
All the kids are talking slang I won't pretend to understand
All my friends are getting married, mortgages and pension plans
And it's obvious my angry adolescent days are done
And I'm happy and I'm settled in the person I've become
But that doesn't mean I'm settled up and sitting out the game
Time may change a lot but some things they stay the same
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all, yeah, I won't grow up
Oh, maturity's a wrapped up package deal so it seems
And ditching teenage fantasy means ditching all your dreams
All your friends and peers and family solemnly tell you you will
Have to grow up be an adult, yeah, be bored and unfulfilled
Oh, when no ones yet explained to me exactly what's so great
About slaving fifty years away on something that you hate
About meekly shuffling down the path of mediocrity
Well, if that's your road then take it but it's not the road for me
Won't sit down
Won't shut up
Most of all, I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all, yeah, I won't grow up
And if all you ever do with your life
Is just photosynthesize
Then you'll deserve every hour of these sleepless nights
That you waste wondering when you're gonna die
Now I'll play and you sing
The perfect way for the evening to begin
Now I'll play and you sing
The perfect way for evening to begin
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all, yeah, I won't grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
And most of all I will not grow up
And I won't sit down
And I won't shut up
Most of all I will not grow up
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wow, what a song
=)
FOR ALLYS2:
i think it's actually:
"if all you ever do in your life is photosyntheSIZE then you deserve every hour of those sleepless nights wondering when you're gonna die"
and by that, i think he is saying that if all you're gonna do is get into a groove in life where it's the same thing every day for you (and you just get energy from the sun, maybe working a 9-5 job and don't really live a life outside of that endless cycle) then you don't really live.
i'm drunk, hopefully that made sense.
PhotosynthesISE. He is english, after all :)
i think Westers half right, i think by<br /> <br /> "And if all you ever do with your life<br /> Is photosynthesize"<br /> <br /> he is refering to the cycle where all you do is do enough work to make yourself barley enough food to survive on,<br /> basically the same point.
You're a better person for admitting you were drunk while trying to find meaning in a song.<br /> <br /> It also makes it much more humorous.<br /> <br /> Great Comment Awesome Job!
How can this song have no comments?!
I know the meaning is pretty obvious, so there's no need to come on and say "it's about accepting the fact that your not part of the hip generation anymone but saying fuck it and refusing to be seen as past it"
But still, people should just be on here to say "wow, what a song"
I agree with the above, but offer the more straightforward (I feel) explanation that photosynthesising is about be about being plant-like in quality. In other words, essentially having your life stand still while the world goes by around you. You are firmly rooted in a rut-like state where you, however unintentionally, refuse to acknowledge adventure or risk - As the drunen Wester13 said "just getting energy from the sun" but "don't really live a life".
*drunken.<br /> <br /> macfarlanerd - I'm not sure that's exactly what he means, but nice out-of-the-box thinking.
love how its set up so wierd -.- i mean seriously its like a blob of text lol
^^ Took the words right out of my mouth :D
Truth be told I am starting to get a bit tired of this song... but that's because I have been listening to it at least four times a day for the past week. Give it a few days and it'll be blasting out of my bedroom again :) :) :)
Quite a few errors in the lyrics, none of which I want to write down. Lol =)
Yeah, sorry there's a few errors in this guys, I posted this when Frank first put it up on the myspace before the record was released, so I was going by my ear and a ferw of the words are hard to hear...
I don't really get the photosynthesis idea.. what does he mean by "And if all you ever do with your life is photosynthesise..."?
The statement regarding photosynthesize is about taking a passive role in living your life and/or complacency with your state of being.<br /> <br /> So in the lyric "If all you ever do in your life is photosynthesize, then you deserve every hour of those sleepless nights wondering when you're gonna die" he's saying, if you lead a passive life, just letting the world tick by, then you deserve the agony of (1) knowing you will die, and (2) doing nothing about the knowledge of your death (such as leading an active life). This statement is an indictment of those who do not actively pursue life and new experiences.
Think about it, photosynthesis is the trading of co2 for o2. What he's saying to me is that if the only important thing you do with your life is create co2 for the trees (aka breathing) than you deserve everything you get for not doing shit with your life and wasting it being mundane and boring.
That's not exactly what photosynthesis is (it converts CO2 into sugars using sunlight), but I agree with it symbolizing a passive role in your 'destiny'.
Kmac2464 way to go epic comment i agree dude people who waste their life couldave been so much more instead of being lazy fucktards who stay on their couch most of the day.<br /> (why u mad bro?) i dont... really... know...lol
Spend a week with me and you'll know what this song is about lol, i'm 41 (married then divorced and kids) but i'm still the party guy i was when i was young and won't ever change it, not even my kids want me to be the normal run of the mill father,... and the bonus is,... people who meet me think i'm 28-30! :)