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"
Nelly: I saw you yesterday, your eyes all a-glazed, oh no.
Was it too much for you to take?
Did you want the pain to go away?
K'naan: Yeah, I'll take it.
I knew I had to leave that trash on my sleeves;
Got caught up in the streets,
I couldn't really breath.
Oh, no {Oh, no}
So, then I took a gun,
Looked up into the sun,
The tears began to run,
Remembered when I was little one {Oh, no}
That day, the mist in the morning
Made me feel like I was alone and
My soul in-a started swelling
Was it you, behind me, calling?
That day, the mist in the morning
Made me feel like I was alone and
My soul in-a started swelling
Was it you, behind me, calling?
Together:
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Nelly: Remember?
K'naan: Remember there was that one summer you went away to school?
Nelly: My parents got a new job and I had to change schools.
K'naan: And there was that one time you went away to camp?
Nelly: Letters everyday until I got back.
K'naan: But, you said 'I'll keep in touch' but my life got too rough.
Nelly: You were always so touched.
K'naan: Well, I guess I had enough.
Nelly: That day, in the misty morning
Was it you, behind me, calling?
Remember when we used to swing in the lawn and
sing that song 'till one of us would fall
Together: Lalalalala, etc.
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Are you going away? Are you going away?
I think I saw you on the bus today
I think I felt you in the wind today
I think I saw you in the street today
I think I felt you in the trees today
I think I felt you in the rain today
I think I saw you in the grocery store
I saw you in the back of the cab
I saw in the back of that cab
Anyways, guess I'm going away.
Guess I'm going away (Bye bye)
Guess I'm going away.
Guess I'm going away.
Was it too much for you to take?
Did you want the pain to go away?
K'naan: Yeah, I'll take it.
I knew I had to leave that trash on my sleeves;
Got caught up in the streets,
I couldn't really breath.
Oh, no {Oh, no}
So, then I took a gun,
Looked up into the sun,
The tears began to run,
Remembered when I was little one {Oh, no}
That day, the mist in the morning
Made me feel like I was alone and
My soul in-a started swelling
Was it you, behind me, calling?
That day, the mist in the morning
Made me feel like I was alone and
My soul in-a started swelling
Was it you, behind me, calling?
Together:
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Nelly: Remember?
K'naan: Remember there was that one summer you went away to school?
Nelly: My parents got a new job and I had to change schools.
K'naan: And there was that one time you went away to camp?
Nelly: Letters everyday until I got back.
K'naan: But, you said 'I'll keep in touch' but my life got too rough.
Nelly: You were always so touched.
K'naan: Well, I guess I had enough.
Nelly: That day, in the misty morning
Was it you, behind me, calling?
Remember when we used to swing in the lawn and
sing that song 'till one of us would fall
Together: Lalalalala, etc.
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Are you going away? Are you going away?
Are you going away? Are you going away?
I think I saw you on the bus today
I think I felt you in the wind today
I think I saw you in the street today
I think I felt you in the trees today
I think I felt you in the rain today
I think I saw you in the grocery store
I saw you in the back of the cab
I saw in the back of that cab
Anyways, guess I'm going away.
Guess I'm going away (Bye bye)
Guess I'm going away.
Guess I'm going away.
Lyrics submitted by thecriclover99
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