Black & Blue

From what I've read the lyricist Andrew wyatt had a time of heavy substance abuse. I think the lyrics are about the periods of relapse. The title Black & Blue may even translate to black (slang for heroin, a la back to black Amy Winehouse) and blue - periods of depression in and out of addiction.

"How long has it been, shall we get into it again?" and "Hello my friend, I see you're back again & Hello mystery, don't bother to explain" could relate to being back on the drugs. Read the lyrics with that in mind and they may make more sense.

BTW I reckon the whole album, lyrically speaking, is about Wyatt's drug issues but it's just a personal theory based purely on a hunch, so take with a pinch of salt.

Amazing record though. Spanning some of my favorite genres in a fresh way with full artistic honesty. A beautiful listen.

This song is so awesome.. In my opinion the way I personally interpret this song is dating someone for an extended period of time, but it never being an "official" relationship. The person who wants more out of the relationship is having an internal conflict with themselves. They realize what they want ( and official relationship) with the person they're dating will probably never happen.

" I won't waste my time with my revelation" The person feels there's no need telling the person their dating how they really feel about their relationship because they know it's not going to change anything. Their "dating" relationship will keep going on the way it is unless they accept the situation for what it is or get out of dating relationship because it will never be an official b/f, g/f committed relationship.

" Hello mystery don't bother to explain, how bout maybe it's all been in my head" The person feels like everything between them and the person their dating is all a misconceived lie. They do everything a committed relationship entitles, but it's not. The other person may tell them things/ act a certain way towards them, but it's not really the reality of the situation. They feel like everything that is going on between them will turn out to be more then what it actually is because of these things. Or maybe they person just wanted to perceive these things as the relationship as being something more then what it actually is ( how bout maybe it's all been in my head). The person is tired of the black and blue relationship. Meaning they are tired of the way the relationship is. They hate how when they are together, they are together and act like an official relationship when they are together, but it's still not an official thing. They almost don't know how to act around the person they are dating because it's that huge gray area of dating. The person wants more and knows nothing is going to come of it.

That's what I think anyways.. I can relate to this song in so many ways.

I feel this song is about suffering from depression, it describes it perfectly..

I am definitely going with the Depression side of this song. Having just recently gone through one of my (thankfully rarer) bad weeks of depression, I can tell you this;

The Dog is normally referred to as the Black Dog for Depression..feeling black and blue is a way of saying, deeply depressed....black is the depression. Many people say they are feeling 'blue' when down too, so Black and Blue is more so!

Hello Friend I see you're back again...said in an almost poignant way of realising the depression is back. Hello Mystery don't bother to explain...meaning he can't understand how depression works in the brain. Which is also coinciding with the next line about being in his head, chemicals in the brain misfiring, rather than an external source.

For this character, it has been awhile, and he feels let down he is going through the depression again. Makes everything look too much of an effort to take care of anything.

So it is really about realising the depression is back and having to live through it again...feeling black and blue, bruised emotionally from this rotten dog which keeps barking at him.

This song is so fucking good. I don't know specifically what the lyrics mean, but it speaks to me on a deeper level that I can't explain and it always makes me cry.

"Out of the laundry bin, I found my innocence again" i really like the imagery of this part. it might describe how you feel in your sober, depression-free moments. you might feel like you've found your innocence again (the person feels probably guilty for being depressed because "maybe, its all been in (his) head", saying his feelings are unjustified)you feel good actually and your mind is finally clear.but you feel worn out just like the clothing in the laundry bin, simply because depression leaves its marks on you. it's just really exhausting.

It's obviously about TheDress

"Hello my friend, I see you're back again"

His friend came back again trying to convince him the dress is black and blue.

"Hello mystery, don't bother to explain"

He is very confident that the dress is white and gold, he doesn't need anyone to tell him it is black and blue because it's white and gold. Right?

"How 'bout maybe it's all been in my head"

He starts to second guess himself and starts to think maybe he is crazy

"Hey world, I'm tired of this black & blue, black & blue"

He is tired of people saying the dress is black and blue. He's just done with the dress.

I feel this song is about reconciling with someone after a period of uncertainty or fall out. Black & Blue describes the unsureness and coldness.

i think it's kind of like someone who used to be important showed up out of the blue, thus there's the mystery - the singer's saying don't bother to explain why you came back. i don't know, any other ideas?

Honestly, I don't believe it's about a person at all. I've listened very closely to the lyrics and he doesn't say, "Well, I'm tired of this black and blue" the actual lyrics are: "World, I'm tired of this black and blue." The black and blue might be about being bipolar. I know the feeling.