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"
Milk thistle, milk thistle
Let me down slow
Help me go slow
I've been carrying on
I'm not scared of nothing
I'll go pound for pound
I keep death on my mind
Like a heavy crown
If I go to heaven
I'll be bored as hell
Like a little baby
At the bottom of a well
Fair child, fair child
How are you man?
Did you fix that storefront?
Did you start that band?
Don't be scared of nothing
You go pound for pound
You bring peace to midnight
Like a spotted owl
I'll be rooting for you
Like my favorite team
If somebody sweats you
You just point them out to me
All the sights and sounds
This little world's too crowded now
And there's only one way out
An elevator ride
Through the tunnel towards the light
And I'm nowhere bound
Keep going up and down
Up and down
Newspaper, newspaper
Can't take no more
You're here every morning
Waiting at my door
I'm just trying to kiss you
And you stab my eyes
Make me blue forever
Like an island sky
And I'm not pretending
That it's all okay
Just let me have my coffee
Before you take away the day
Lazarus, Lazarus
Why all the tears?
Did your faithful chauffeur just disappear?
What a lonesome feeling
To be waiting around
Like some washed up actress
In a Tinseltown
But for the record
I'd come pick you up
We'll head for the ocean
Just say when you've had enough
All the light and sound
This little world's too fragile now
And there's only one way out
But if you let me slide
I'll do my best to make things right
And I'm nowhere bound
Just going up and down
Up and down
Milk thistle, milk thistle
Let me down slow
Just help me go slow
I've been hurrying on
I was poised for greatness
I was down and out
I keep death at my heels
Like a basset hound
If i go to heaven
I'll be bored as hell
Like a crying baby
At the bottom of a well
Let me down slow
Help me go slow
I've been carrying on
I'm not scared of nothing
I'll go pound for pound
I keep death on my mind
Like a heavy crown
If I go to heaven
I'll be bored as hell
Like a little baby
At the bottom of a well
Fair child, fair child
How are you man?
Did you fix that storefront?
Did you start that band?
Don't be scared of nothing
You go pound for pound
You bring peace to midnight
Like a spotted owl
I'll be rooting for you
Like my favorite team
If somebody sweats you
You just point them out to me
All the sights and sounds
This little world's too crowded now
And there's only one way out
An elevator ride
Through the tunnel towards the light
And I'm nowhere bound
Keep going up and down
Up and down
Newspaper, newspaper
Can't take no more
You're here every morning
Waiting at my door
I'm just trying to kiss you
And you stab my eyes
Make me blue forever
Like an island sky
And I'm not pretending
That it's all okay
Just let me have my coffee
Before you take away the day
Lazarus, Lazarus
Why all the tears?
Did your faithful chauffeur just disappear?
What a lonesome feeling
To be waiting around
Like some washed up actress
In a Tinseltown
But for the record
I'd come pick you up
We'll head for the ocean
Just say when you've had enough
All the light and sound
This little world's too fragile now
And there's only one way out
But if you let me slide
I'll do my best to make things right
And I'm nowhere bound
Just going up and down
Up and down
Milk thistle, milk thistle
Let me down slow
Just help me go slow
I've been hurrying on
I was poised for greatness
I was down and out
I keep death at my heels
Like a basset hound
If i go to heaven
I'll be bored as hell
Like a crying baby
At the bottom of a well
Lyrics submitted by tester2586
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This song always gives my boyfriend and me goosbumps. It's our favorite song off the album, and it's just kind of a testament to being melancholy, to being used to feeling used and down, but to think that good would be too easy and boring. My boyfriend calls me "Milk Thistle" because of this song. Because of the allusion to the liver disease, the song meaning is very clear because he "Was poised for gratness", but is now "down and out". amazing lyrics, amazing vocals.