Midlake

Rulers, Ruling All Things

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Rulers, Ruling All Things Lyrics

I have been cruel and kind without knowing
I fell in the silence overwhelmed by these days
For I have been shown dear rulers, ruling all things
Thinking the world was mine to lay hold on
I breathe in the promise of maiden and man
But each have their own illusions to hold onto

I only want to be left to my own ways
The rulers of one leaving all things undone
I stood in the awe of the whole creations
Gathered among them was the morning
Giving all its rays

Thinking the world was mine to be lost in
I ran with freedom and sank in between
For I have the path of wonder
There before me

I only want to be left to my own ways
The rulers of one leaving all things undone
I stood in the awe of the whole creation
Gathered among them was the morning
Giving all its rays

Submitted by

pseudovox On Jan 14, 2010

I only want to be left to my own ways
The rulers of one leaving all things undone
I stood in the awe of the whole creations
Gathered among them was the morning
Giving all its rays

Thinking the world was mine to be lost in
I ran with freedom and sank in between
For I have the path of wonder
There before me

I only want to be left to my own ways
The rulers of one leaving all things undone
I stood in the awe of the whole creation
Gathered among them was the morning
Giving all its rays

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limpid

2017-06-13 22:26:39

pseudoVox

Submitter

2010-01-14 06:12:27

1 Meaning

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by musicnmeaning

9y ago

Such a beautiful and sad song.

The first verse speaks to me very deeply about how someone broke my heart.

"I have been cruel and kind without knowing"
-> However much I tried and believed my actions and words were loving, it seems I did something wrong, but I will never know what because she was unable to express emotion openly or honestly.

"I fell in the silence overwhelmed by these days" -> I was going crazy for a month before we split, trying to work out what I had done to make her contact me less and less straight after we had been on a very expensive holiday that she suggested we go on. I finally straight out asked her when she telephoned me "are we ok?" and my heart felt like it ripped in two during the silence before she replied, "I'm not sure".

"For I have been shown dear rulers, ruling all things" -> This was probably the biggest, and certainly the most painful event/lesson of my life - I am not religious but in that state of anguish, I did beg any higher power that might be out there to stop the pain, acknowledge that I had heard their lesson, that I had been shown how wrong I was about love.

"Thinking the world was mine to lay hold on I breathed in the promise of maiden and man But each have their own illusions to hold onto" -> Describes how naively optimistic I was about the love I gave her. I never dreamed she could become so cold and indifferent to me so quickly. I had no idea feeling such a positive emotion for someone could leave such a deep, lasting scar in me.

"I only want to be left to my own ways The rulers of one leaving all things undone" -> I entered a major depression for about two years - just wanting to hibernate or die. My whole understanding of love, which I regarded as the most significant thing in life until that point, had been totally shattered.

"I stood in the awe of the whole creation Gathered among them was the morning Giving all its rays" -> The sense of being completely out of my depth in life, its meaning for me destroyed - and how the sun pointlessly carried on shining on me and whoever she went on with.

My Interpretation

Such a beautiful and sad song.

The first verse speaks to me very deeply about how someone broke my heart.

"I have been cruel and kind without knowing"  
-> However much I tried and believed my actions and words were loving, it seems I did something wrong, but I will never know what because she was unable to express emotion openly or honestly.

"I fell in the silence overwhelmed by these days"
-> I was going crazy for a month before we split, trying to work out what I had done  to make her contact me less and less straight after we had been on a very expensive holiday that she suggested we go on. I finally straight out asked her when she telephoned me "are we ok?" and my heart felt like it ripped in two during the silence before she replied, "I'm not sure".

"For I have been shown dear rulers, ruling all things"
-> This was probably the biggest, and certainly the most painful event/lesson of my life - I am not religious but in that state of anguish, I did beg any higher power that might be out there to stop the pain, acknowledge that I had heard their lesson, that I had been shown how wrong I was about love.

"Thinking the world was mine to lay hold on
I breathed in the promise of maiden and man
But each have their own illusions to hold onto"
-> Describes how naively optimistic I was about the love I gave her. I never dreamed she could become so cold and indifferent to me so quickly. I had no idea feeling such a positive emotion for someone could leave such a deep, lasting scar in me.

"I only want to be left to my own ways
The rulers of one leaving all things undone"
-> I entered a major depression for about two years - just wanting to hibernate or die. My whole understanding of love, which I regarded as the most significant thing in life until that point, had been totally shattered.

"I stood in the awe of the whole creation
Gathered among them was the morning
Giving all its rays"
-> The sense of being completely out of my depth in life, its meaning for me destroyed - and how the sun pointlessly carried on shining on me and whoever she went on with.

Reason:

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by nicole1151 7y ago

@musicnmeaning Wow. Take every line by line interpretation and reverse the pronouns.

My husband of 17 years, the only man I had ever been with, the love of my life, the father of my two children, my constant companion and friend, out of seemingly nowhere, left me for my best friend.

I've spent the better part of the last decade trying to understand how he could have shocked me, not just me, everyone that knew us, including his entire family. In the end, despite knowing I did nothing wrong, it is always we who blame ourselves.

"If only he could have...

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