Got a Call

She receives a phone call in the middle of the night that she's been waiting for from an ex-lover. She longs for him to prove he still loves her. (Got a call/the one i've been waiting for/in the middle of the night)

Although her feelings still linger for him, she hangs up on him, knowing he has hurt her before and will again. (Darkness dares to the dial tone/Said I know what you do and know it's the same to you)

Her feelings for him/confusion/yuckiness overcomes her, but instead of crying herself to sleep, she cheers herself up with another love - music. (Can't keep down the girl who loves music/As I sing myself to sleep)

She dreams of the relationship she wishes she had with him. (The most beauty I've seen lives in a dream where we laugh and want to live for the little things)

She wouldn't return to him even if he wasn't with another girl. He wasn't good to her, but during their time together, she loved him full-heartedly, even if they had a casual romance. (Not even if I could get you back, I don't try/You weren't all that good, but I loved you like you were mine)

She quietly wonders if her feelings for him linger for more reasons than her love for him & his disrespect. (Is it the only thing?/I keep it like a secret)

She's depressed & in a funk, but she's no longer longing for him. (Though it always rains, a billion hearts stop bleeding)

She's alone without a lover nor a companion. She parties to fill that void, and she's good at it/popular. Though, at the end of the night, she hates the reminder that well everyone else has someone, she's alone. And that he is in love with another girl. Presumably, he left her for that girl. (Alone and no one knows how to feel/ And I party all the time/Yeah I know how to kill, but I hate how it feels/that everyones in love with someone else)

Overall, I think the song & it's title reflect loving a past flame, but having the strength to not long for them and ability to distinguish between your perfect relationship with them & the reality that would be.

My personal lyric corrections with (my personal interpretations in parentheses). In general, I agree with serendipitousencounter, and this song speaks volumes to me at this point in my life...

Got a call the one I'd been waiting for in the middle of the night. Said I know what you do and know its the same to you can't keep down a girl who loves music. (She gets the call from her ex, the one she'd always hoped would want to come back to her, even after she had given up wanting to be with him. She finds herself saying to him that she's not interested in catching up, she knows what he does these days, and she isn't still down about him, she's found refuge in her true love, music.)

In the darkness dance to the dialtone as I sing myself to sleep. The most beauty I've seen lives in a dream where we laugh and want to live for the little things. (She's hung up on him, let him dance to the dialtone as she sings, undoubtedly dancing herself to her own song. Perhaps she is singing of what they could have been--our relationships are often one thing in our dreams and another in reality. The most beautiful thought she ever had was of the two of them living a way they never could: laughing together and living with appreciation for the little things, not the stresses that tore them apart.)

Not even if I could get you back, I don't try You weren't all that good, but I loved you like you were mine Here's the only thing, I keep it like a secret: although it always rains, a billion hearts stop bleeding. (She's found she's not interested in having him back. Things never did become what she dreamed they could be, in spite of her deep love. But here's the thing, and she holds it close as a sacred though: although the pain never quite recedes, billions have been heartbroken and yet they all do stop hurting as badly as in the beginning, when the yearning for what once was is strongest.)

Play solo(?), and no one knows how to fill, and I party all the time. Yeah I know how to kill, but I hate how it feels that everyone's in love with someone else. (Her therapeutic outpouring of music, which took his place in her life, has improved remarkably and now she knows how to kill an audience. But she hates how it feels to see all the people coming to her shows together, leaving together and in love, while she knows she's going back home with only the music to accompany her.)

And even if I could get you back, I don't try You weren't all that good, but I loved you like you were mine Here's the only thing, I keep it like a secret: although it always rains, a billion hearts stop bleeding.

Well, the last couple lines in the chorus say

"I keep it like a secret though it always rains, a billion hearts stop bleeding"

But thanks, I think the rest is spot on!

Darkness dares to the diatone "Darkness dares to the dialtone" T think there are a few others,

But I think this song is about a girl who lost her direction after a breakup, she loved him even though he wasn't good to her, and now the only beauty she finds is in her dreams, im not sure exactly what the call is, my guess is that was the call when he broke up with her, and she was expecting it. She wouldn't take him back if she had the chance, but she is trying to keep how much she loved him and how bad she is taking it a secret.

I hear "Here's the only thing..." instead of "it's the only thing" and "In the darkness, dance to the dial tone" instead of "dares"..

something else is being said around "alone"...is it even alone? haha sometimes her lyrics are so hard to decipher.

i don't think it's about a break-up per se. i think it's about not being able to be in a relationship because of her life on the road as a musician. the call sounds like it's coming from a guy she had feelings for, but he can't reciprocate because he's paranoid about the things she does on the road, the partying, etc.

reflecting on this, she tries to deny her pain, claiming he wasn't that great anyway. yet, she admits that she loved him like they were together, although all she has are the dreams of what they could have had.

the thing that gets her by, that she cherishes like a secret weapon, is that although she's going through these personal struggles (though it always rains), people can relate to the heartbreak in her songs and that may help heal their wounds (a billion hearts stop bleeding).

the last verse kills me. "i party all the time, yeah i know how to kill, but i hate how it feels that everyone's in love with someone else."

i know, as a young single gal myself, that exact feeling. you spend a lot of time partying, drinking, having fun. but sometimes at the end of the night, you can't escape that horrible feeling of going home alone to no one, and it seems like everyone is in love with someone else.

Why does it seem like she says, "Yeah I know how *it kills but I hate how it feels... Seems off for the next lyric...." Everyone's in love with someone else. " Unless she means killing spiders or something like that. ????????

"How to kill" sounds weird I guess is how what I mean. Maybe ending the relationship, since she no longer bleeds, nor cares what he's up to. She knows what he is about now and is over it. Doesn't mean she still doesn't want a dude to be simply happy with.