City of Black & White

In a recent interview, this is what Mat Kearney had to say about City of Black and White:

"City of Black and White was another song that I wrote with a friend. And actually wrote it in this apartment overlooking the Bosphorus River in Istanbul, which separates Europe and Asia, which is very odd, but the city is on both sides, you know it's like, literally divides the continents in half, and then there was like this new door opening up to a new project and a new idea. City of Black and White came out of that. And it was one of the first songs that I wrote."

I guess this doesn't really explain the song, rather the origins of how it was written, or what inspired it.

I absolutely love the parts where he's saying "Won't you just stay?" The idea behind it is simple, but the emotion is powerful and very easy to relate to.

I love how this song plays with colors. It has a beautiful mood throughout it. "I don't wanna wait until to tomorrow to tell you how I'll feel the rest of my life" is an amazing line. I think it's about him knowing he loves a girl and he needs to simply let her know before she gets away... or something like that. It could mean a million things, really.

in my opinion, it actually seems really literal. two people who can't be together (say, because of racial reasons) fall for each other anyway. the singer is saying "i don't want to wait until tomorrow" to mean he doesn't want to wait until times are better, and everyone is more accepting of interracial relationships. he doesn't want to wait that long to tell the other person how he really feels about them. idk. just my thoughts :3 this song is beautiful though <3

This song started playing on Pandora and instantly had so much meaning to me. He starts off saying, "The city is black and white, tell me what is your color?" To me that means that when she is around, the only thing that appears in color (Or makes sense) to him, is her. Her color (aura) being the same as his, meaning they give off the same energy.

"Faded greens and blue street lights" I'm interpreting this line in my own experience; My eyes are usually green, his are blue. Since this reminds me of him I thought that necessary, haha.

"Baby it is you, that opened my eyes. Burning like fire on the water" She made him see life differently, fire can't burn on water, it seems unreal/impossible that someone could have so much impact on him/his life.

"I'm on the top step looking down and their coming up to me, It's where the whole world wants to be found." He feels on top if the world, everyone in this world just wants to find love and they are all searching for the same feeling he is describing.

"Golden rings" Wanting to marry her, in the chorus he says, "I don't want to wait until tomorrow to tell you how I'd feel the rest of my life." He doesn't want to waste time pretending that he isn't in love with her and wants to take advantage of their time by making her happy. The subsequent line he explains her perspective on that, "You don't want a waste another minute to realize." She wants to discover what he can teach her and the ways he can love her.

"There's white flag waving where my heart is on the ground." Waving the white flag typically means surrender. He is done searching so he is content with where he is and doesn't want to leave or to see her go. "Won't you just stay."

Not sure about this, "The dark side of the evening" Possibly means hiding? Not necessarily from anyone in particular but just wanting to be alone with her. Later on he says, "Won't you just stay now with the light poles, over a dark street, no one else knows." Same idea.

"So take my hands. I'll carry you, you can carry me." He wants to adventure with her and support her but also wants that in return.

This song has an intense amount of emotion and is easy to relate to. It resonates with my current circumstance perfectly. Lately I have felt on top of the world, even when life throws a curve ball I am just too positive to let it get me down. A relationship is about building each other up and making sure your partner/love interest knows how you feel about them and ensuring that they feel great about themselves. It's an incredible feeling knowing that this person can take you places you've never been and make you feel ways you have never felt. It's even more amazing when you find someone who strives to give you their whole heart, teach you and walk side by side with you through life. I found that with somebody and it an indescribable emotion. ♥

I recently wrote an interpretation of this song. This evening, I had a discussion with my boyfriend about Yin and Yang. I looked deeper into it's meaning other than it meaning opposites; Here is what I found.

"Yin is characterized as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, and passive; and is associated with water, earth, the moon, femininity, and nighttime. Yang, by contrast, is fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, and aggressive; and is associated with fire, sky, the sun, masculinity and daytime."

I shouldn't have to go into too much detail with the lyrics and meanings for that to resonate. I just wanted to add this to my first interpretation.