Beach House – Better Times

My Interpretationthis song obviously struck a chord with me, so i got fairly carried away with it. long read!

i don't think this song is necessarily about cheating. i think this song describes two people who willfully neglect &/or ignore their feelings for each other. i think the song is a final confession, from one side, of hurt feelings & disappointment. suiting the very first line ("i want you to know the truth") even better, the person on the other side seems to be completely unaware of the other. that or they just don't believe the other cares enough to truly be hurt, which is no accident

in the beginning one was more confident in their feelings, therefore they were more determined & willing to wait for the other to finally come around, hence the following lines:
"got a will that's been around for days
goes far if you want it
but it needs to behave"

by the time that person came around ("but then you come around/big mistake"), the other was too hurt from neglect, wanting no part of it anymore. they're both fed up at this point, too bitter & resentful to give it a chance, hence the lines, "i don't want to know/we don't need a sign to know better times"

the "running around" isn't necessarily meant to be literal. the two people in question seem to go back & forth with their feelings quite often. they get carried away with their true emotions when they feel especially guilty ("running around 'cause you beat yourself up")
they run away with their feelings & ultimately scare the other off yet again ("and you made a crack & the one that you love is gone")

i think the question "how much longer can you play with fire before you turn into a liar?" is what the narrator is asking themself as much as the other party. they're both liars. they both go back & forth with their feelings & convince themselves of one thing rather than embracing the truer feelings that would make them vulnerable to the other

i love the big transition toward the end of the song, beginning with the line, "i've been around before..."
they're both fed up & hurt, more than they would ever care to admit. they both feel mostly bitterness & resentment toward each other, which is why both still think the other isn't "looking anymore." the more positive & firmly-rooted feelings still remain as well, just nestled a little deeper. for whatever reason, throughout their trials & tribulations their timing was always off & they would ultimately "go up in smoke"

they've screwed each other up completely & have had enough, which makes the low, drawn-out line of "i don't want to know" so perfect

it brings to light my constant questioning of pride (which i have a lot of) & whether it is to be considered a fault or a virtue. i love this song & it has fault written all over it lol

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  @s3cantofx
  +1

  Brilliant interpretation

  Flag relvason January 04, 2011  

Song MeaningThis is my personal story and how I can relate to this song.

I'm currently getting over a sort of a breakup. It's not really a breakup, because he was never truly&fully mine. He is still in a relationship with another girl for 11 years now. I wasn't really his affair either, we never had sex.. It was a strong emotional bound that we shared over the last couple of months.

When I met him in June, it was a matter of minutes till I knew that we connected on a higher, very different level. It was an instant realization that he is the one I can see myself with when I'm 80 or at least someone like him - I knew he had a girlfriend. This is how it started: biking together to work in the morning, texting about love, music & life during work hours, stalking each other on spotify, silence in the weekends - when he was with her.

I never hated weekends so much in my whole life, I couldn't wait for Mondays to finally go to work - and see him. I also had a bf at that time, but knowing him made me realize that I'm not happy at all, so I broke up. At that time I didn't even know that he felt the same way for me.

At some point he started to mention that he is confused, that we should stop texting, that he is in love with me. I've never been so happy and sad at the same time. And of course ashamed, he had a girlfriend. It was impossible to stop texting.

In October I had to move to Vienna for my studies and I fell in a huge depression. It was hard for me to leave my friends, the city that I truly love and him. We kept contact although we said we shouldn't/ wouldn't.

Now we were talking about "love" and not just "being in love". Which made everything even worse, knowing he still lives together with his girlfriend. Calls, letters, fights about having to take a decision, lame excuses that it wouldn't be a good time now, sleepless nights, depression and deep sadness followed. I booked a flight back to A. for NYE to celebrate with my friends and of course to see him.

Throughout December we called or Skyped every single day for hours, I was confident that he would finally break up and we can be together. My flight to A. was on a Thursday.

The Tuesday before we had a huge fight after I saw on Instagram that he celebrated Chrismas with her family. It hurt to see that he was playing happy family just 3 days before I was about to come. I told him that he has to decide and I can't do this any longer and that there is never a good timing for breaking up. In February they are celebrating the 11th anniversary, I guess that's not a good timing either.

Next day we Skyped again and he told me that he thinks that he broke up last night.
After so many months of waiting and all this pain that he put me through, thinking that he broke up one day before I was about to arrive was just not enough. He didn't seem to be sure about it - and I felt it.
Next day I landed in A. and he was waiting for me at the airport - to tell me that he got back together with her in the evening.
My heart broke at Schiphol... and this is how I can relate to this song:

Been a fool for weeks
Cause my heart stands for nothing and your soul's too weak.

I gave him my heart, time, patience & understanding and he doesn't have the courage to admit to himself that the love for his girlfriend is just habit after all these years. If he would have really lover her, he would have never done this to her.


Got a will that's been around for days
Goes far if you want it
It needs to behave

I've had this desire to see him for 3 months and it could have happened, but he just decided to block it and push me away again. So know I have to kill my desire, because this is going nowhere. And it kills me.


But then you, you come around
Big mistake

I was a huge mistake and very selfish of him to come to the airport to tell me that. I've never felt so hurt like this before. The moment I saw him, my heart was beating so fast - I thought we finally can be together - and then he took everything away.


Running around 'cause you beat yourself up
And you made a crack and the one that you love is gone
How much longer can you play with fire before you turn into a liar?

He's been involved in this "emotional affair" for months, which is way worse than just having sex with another girl. How much longer can he play with fire, how much longer can he lie to his girlfriend, to me and to himself? And yes, one of the girls he claims to love is now gone.


I don't want to know
We don't need a sign to know better times

I'm still waiting for better times and hope I can make it through the pain he caused me.

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  @AleWo

General Comment'Thought you -weren't- lookin' anymore'

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  @MIghtyChorizo

General Commentmy favourite off the album!

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  @backy

General Commenti love the melody in this song with the guitar how it sounds like it slides

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  @Halcyone

General CommentTo me this song is about infidelity. "Got a will that's been around for days, Goes far if you want it ,It needs to behave." As if they need to control themselves but can't. "How much longer can you play with fire before you turn into a liar?" Infidelity was the first thing that came to mind when listening to the song. I don't know if that's apparent to everyone else or not?

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  @Foorever
  0

  @ forever, I agree with you. It's so easy to forget that their song lyrics are so beautifully written and have a cohesive meaning. I get lost in their melodies. This is one of those songs that I hadn't really paid much attention to in terms of lyrics before. But once I really listened, I too felt that it was about infidelity. She starts off by saying "I wanna know the truth," but then changes her mind throughout the song, saying "I don't want to know." She suspects something, but doesn't know if she cant stand to hear him say it. You referred to the will that "goes far" and "needs to behave," which I believe shows that she has noticed certain tendencies in this person. Perhaps they've been close to cheating before. "How much longer can you play with fire before you turn into a liar," to me, reinforces the idea that maybe this person is a flirt and has put himself in compromising positions before. She wondering how long he can flirt before he actually crosses the line and "turns into a liar" (cheater). The end sounds like a break up: "the one that you love is gone" and "we come and we go up in smoke."
  
  I'm going to see them tomorrow. I'm so excited I learned to appreciate this song today.

  Flag CaterpillarPlaygroundon May 06, 2010  

Song MeaningI thought it was "Ive been around before and you won't love me anymore". It's just about l ing the wrong person and what it's like from the inside looking out. Happens too often.

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  @Hersingfall