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"
Though you see me now, the mere ghost of a man,
I once had the heart of a lion.
Commanding my ship, between many a shore,
The ol' Jolly Roger a-flyin'.
Mine was a name that put fear into men,
And regret into plenty o' lasses.
Lo, how I wish I could take back those days,
As I stare at these empty beer glasses.
I think of the times past when I had it all,
I toyed with men's wives and their daughters.
And in my pursuit of this ill-gotten wealth,
I stabbed and I slashed and I slaughtered.
And for what? (HEY! )
The men that I've fought,
Are matched by the number of women I've bought.
And for what? (HEY! )
I've killed and I've shot,
And reddened the cold tears of children with blood.
And if I could go back and make my amends,
I'd make all those mistakes again.
And kill every last one of those bastards, my friend!
My ship was the last sight that many would see,
As we narrowed the gap with our quarry.
Sound of the cannons and splintering wood,
Did herald our pass into glory.
We seized all the bounty and scuppered the ship,
Our hearts hadn't time for no wounded.
I took my share and the crew got the rest,
And on into port we did bound it.
Life has many pleasures and we had our fill,
Of food and of wenches and beer.
When we tired of the port or had drunken it dry,
The time to set sail had come near.
And for what? (HEY! )
We heed no law,
The other man suffers so we can have more.
And for what? (HEY! )
We lived every day,
The noose of the hangman a hairsbreadth away.
And if I could go back and make my amends,
I'd make all those mistakes again.
And kill every last one of those bastards, my friend!
Oh, I have seen wonders you never have dreamed,
And taken my fair share I must say.
Holds full of booty I happily seized,
From crews who would not see a new day.
Spanish gold came and went, and gemstones were sold,
And I knew more lay on the horizon.
Yet the beer was too good, and gals were too sweet,
And now in my old age, it's gone.
These memories were bought with the lives of good men,
A price that I paid without scruple.
So many so suffered so I could get drunk,
And swagger from brothel to brothel.
Now for what? (HEY! )
It's been many years,
The screams of the vanquished still ring in my ears.
But for what? (HEY! )
I've blood on my hands,
I wait for my place in the halls of the damned.
And if I could go back and make my amends,
I'd make all those mistakes again.
I'D KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE BASTARDS, MY FRIENDS!
I once had the heart of a lion.
Commanding my ship, between many a shore,
The ol' Jolly Roger a-flyin'.
Mine was a name that put fear into men,
And regret into plenty o' lasses.
Lo, how I wish I could take back those days,
As I stare at these empty beer glasses.
I think of the times past when I had it all,
I toyed with men's wives and their daughters.
And in my pursuit of this ill-gotten wealth,
I stabbed and I slashed and I slaughtered.
And for what? (HEY! )
The men that I've fought,
Are matched by the number of women I've bought.
And for what? (HEY! )
I've killed and I've shot,
And reddened the cold tears of children with blood.
And if I could go back and make my amends,
I'd make all those mistakes again.
And kill every last one of those bastards, my friend!
My ship was the last sight that many would see,
As we narrowed the gap with our quarry.
Sound of the cannons and splintering wood,
Did herald our pass into glory.
We seized all the bounty and scuppered the ship,
Our hearts hadn't time for no wounded.
I took my share and the crew got the rest,
And on into port we did bound it.
Life has many pleasures and we had our fill,
Of food and of wenches and beer.
When we tired of the port or had drunken it dry,
The time to set sail had come near.
And for what? (HEY! )
We heed no law,
The other man suffers so we can have more.
And for what? (HEY! )
We lived every day,
The noose of the hangman a hairsbreadth away.
And if I could go back and make my amends,
I'd make all those mistakes again.
And kill every last one of those bastards, my friend!
Oh, I have seen wonders you never have dreamed,
And taken my fair share I must say.
Holds full of booty I happily seized,
From crews who would not see a new day.
Spanish gold came and went, and gemstones were sold,
And I knew more lay on the horizon.
Yet the beer was too good, and gals were too sweet,
And now in my old age, it's gone.
These memories were bought with the lives of good men,
A price that I paid without scruple.
So many so suffered so I could get drunk,
And swagger from brothel to brothel.
Now for what? (HEY! )
It's been many years,
The screams of the vanquished still ring in my ears.
But for what? (HEY! )
I've blood on my hands,
I wait for my place in the halls of the damned.
And if I could go back and make my amends,
I'd make all those mistakes again.
I'D KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE BASTARDS, MY FRIENDS!
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