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"
Two tickets’ll get you a tour of the fair
we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, keep up or get lost .
it’s safe to say that you’ve got no idea what you’re in for .
In time you’ll see what we’ve done here .
Hey kid in the back with the backpack why don’t you come up front ?
get up front . Just give it a rest now,
just give it a rest now you wouldn’t want to
cause a scene un front of all these people
Stop before you lose your mind .
Are you freaking them out ?
Are you speaking out loud ?
All apologies - it seems that this disease
demands the expertise of someone with a knack
for seeing through the wall of bullshit that I’ve built .
Would you take a look at the time ?
The tour has barely just begun,
and yet we’re falling behind!
I could’ve found my way out of the sideshow tent
by now without you slowing me down .
You’re all so ugly inside and out .
Come one come all, come one come all !
this just might be the only audience we’ve ever had so…
Welcome to the death of love and war .
We’ve got the answers (keep up keep up)
We’ve been waiting for you or anyone at all
Let’s start the tour, shall we ?
Look at the animals play .
The sun goes down but nothing’s changed .
They can’t explain why we, as animals, would try to shape the world .
But as performers we won’t stop until its perfect,
and isn’t that just the silliest fucking thing you’ve ever hear ?
But there’s nothing we can do about right ?
Come one come all, come one come all !
this just might be the only audience we’ve ever had so…
Welcome to the death of love and war .
We’ve got the answers (keep up keep up)
We’ve been waiting for you or anyone at all
Shh… the aberrations seep… shall we wake them ?
Ladies and gentlemen, your eyes do not deceive you .
They couldn’t if they tried .
it’s my pleasure to present the most bizarre of human animals,
the freaks, the worthless fucking…
Come one come all, come one come all !
this just might be the only audience we’ve ever had so…
Welcome to the death of love and war .
We’ve got the answers (keep up keep up)
We’ve been waiting for you or anyone at all
Come one come all, come one come all !
Well its almost time to start the show,
so welcome to the end of what you know keep up, keep up (keep up keep up)
We’ve been waiting for anyone at all
Ah, lalalalalalalalalala
It’s almost time to start the show .
So everybody out there, sit down and shut the fuck up
[Nonus the Hobo]
Pardon me, my boy .
A moment’s all I ask of you - for now .
And if you’d offer up your minutes we’d return your change in hours .
Ours is quite a gripping tale of every ray your mind devours .
So take a look inside the flea circus .
Smile along with the fabrication as long as you can shelve your disbelief .
Breathe in each and every word from painted lips .
We know you’ll keep these exaggerated features in your head
we’ve got a lot of ground to cover, keep up or get lost .
it’s safe to say that you’ve got no idea what you’re in for .
In time you’ll see what we’ve done here .
Hey kid in the back with the backpack why don’t you come up front ?
get up front . Just give it a rest now,
just give it a rest now you wouldn’t want to
cause a scene un front of all these people
Stop before you lose your mind .
Are you freaking them out ?
Are you speaking out loud ?
All apologies - it seems that this disease
demands the expertise of someone with a knack
for seeing through the wall of bullshit that I’ve built .
Would you take a look at the time ?
The tour has barely just begun,
and yet we’re falling behind!
I could’ve found my way out of the sideshow tent
by now without you slowing me down .
You’re all so ugly inside and out .
Come one come all, come one come all !
this just might be the only audience we’ve ever had so…
Welcome to the death of love and war .
We’ve got the answers (keep up keep up)
We’ve been waiting for you or anyone at all
Let’s start the tour, shall we ?
Look at the animals play .
The sun goes down but nothing’s changed .
They can’t explain why we, as animals, would try to shape the world .
But as performers we won’t stop until its perfect,
and isn’t that just the silliest fucking thing you’ve ever hear ?
But there’s nothing we can do about right ?
Come one come all, come one come all !
this just might be the only audience we’ve ever had so…
Welcome to the death of love and war .
We’ve got the answers (keep up keep up)
We’ve been waiting for you or anyone at all
Shh… the aberrations seep… shall we wake them ?
Ladies and gentlemen, your eyes do not deceive you .
They couldn’t if they tried .
it’s my pleasure to present the most bizarre of human animals,
the freaks, the worthless fucking…
Come one come all, come one come all !
this just might be the only audience we’ve ever had so…
Welcome to the death of love and war .
We’ve got the answers (keep up keep up)
We’ve been waiting for you or anyone at all
Come one come all, come one come all !
Well its almost time to start the show,
so welcome to the end of what you know keep up, keep up (keep up keep up)
We’ve been waiting for anyone at all
Ah, lalalalalalalalalala
It’s almost time to start the show .
So everybody out there, sit down and shut the fuck up
[Nonus the Hobo]
Pardon me, my boy .
A moment’s all I ask of you - for now .
And if you’d offer up your minutes we’d return your change in hours .
Ours is quite a gripping tale of every ray your mind devours .
So take a look inside the flea circus .
Smile along with the fabrication as long as you can shelve your disbelief .
Breathe in each and every word from painted lips .
We know you’ll keep these exaggerated features in your head
Lyrics submitted by SacraficeEverything
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The whole album "The Circus" is about a circus, hence the name. But there are also a lot of references to mythology. "The Ringleader (Nonus The Hobo)", "The Animal's Tent (Decimus The Tramp)", and "The Performer's Tent (Mortus The Bum)" are based on the Parcae (The Fates) in Roman Mythology (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parcae). The parcae are "the personifications of destiny". Nona spun the thread of life, Decima measured the thread of life, and Morta cut the thread of life. A ringleader in a circus basically starts the show, just as Nona "started" life. The lyrics of "The Animal's Tent" are about pushing, or "measuring" life, and "The Performer's Tent" mentions people dying. (Morta = death) Also, in "The Animal's Tent", there is a lion called Sekhmet. Sekhmet is an Egyptian goddess who is depicted as a lion. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sekhmet). And then there are the bears on tricyles, Arcas and Callisto. Callisto was a nymph in Greek mythology who was turned into a bear, and Arcas was her son. (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callisto_%28mythology%29). And the elephant, Airavata, was named a white elephant in Hindu mythology that was supposed to have carried the god Indra (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airavata). And then there is the song "Gullinkambi's Return". Gullinkambi in Norse mythology is supposed to be one of three roosters Valhalla, though I am not sure why the name Gullinkambi was used for this song (Gullinkambi is also mentioned in "The Clowns And The Escape"). This is just what I know, I could be wrong.
They mentioned in an interview somehwere that Gullinkambi is the Ringleader. Nonus the Hobo is just the second part of this song.