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"
Don't fuck with perfection, this really is a masterpiece
the brainchild of assholes with everything to lose
hell bent on forcing the burden of a religion
that demands if you're fucked, you'll stay fucked forever
try to kill the sound of all your hopes and dreams
it's easy street inside the gears of their machines
yeah, we do what we can to get by
like holding back the urge to walk into traffic and when
the workers' rights start cutting into the profits, what's left
eleven hours days leave you just enough to forget them
it's just a choice between a gun or a bottle, don't know
which one you'll teach for when you punch out tomorrow
so now get busy dying, or get busy forgetting
there's no way to win in a world that you never made
it's reliable failure we've all come to know
at the end of the day misery is all alone
the American dream is just saltpeter and shame
and now we're desperately grabbing a fistful of rain
try to kill the sound of all your hopes and dreams
it's easy street inside the gears of their machines
well we do what we can do
yeah, just do what you can to get by
and stay right where they want you
what's there to hold onto
things that will haunt you
night after night after night
stay right where they want you
you might believe that it's all true
can you ignore what will haunt you
every single night
all our fears just to keep us down
there's nothing here on our side of town
nothing's saved, it's been replaced
now it's buried in the rubble of a world that we never made
the brainchild of assholes with everything to lose
hell bent on forcing the burden of a religion
that demands if you're fucked, you'll stay fucked forever
try to kill the sound of all your hopes and dreams
it's easy street inside the gears of their machines
yeah, we do what we can to get by
like holding back the urge to walk into traffic and when
the workers' rights start cutting into the profits, what's left
eleven hours days leave you just enough to forget them
it's just a choice between a gun or a bottle, don't know
which one you'll teach for when you punch out tomorrow
so now get busy dying, or get busy forgetting
there's no way to win in a world that you never made
it's reliable failure we've all come to know
at the end of the day misery is all alone
the American dream is just saltpeter and shame
and now we're desperately grabbing a fistful of rain
try to kill the sound of all your hopes and dreams
it's easy street inside the gears of their machines
well we do what we can do
yeah, just do what you can to get by
and stay right where they want you
what's there to hold onto
things that will haunt you
night after night after night
stay right where they want you
you might believe that it's all true
can you ignore what will haunt you
every single night
all our fears just to keep us down
there's nothing here on our side of town
nothing's saved, it's been replaced
now it's buried in the rubble of a world that we never made
Lyrics submitted by aristuma21
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.