Skyscrapers

this is what i hear when i listen: there is a girl that is absolutely perfect for the narrator but he's gone and told her that he 'sees her as a friend' or some such bullshit while he goes and sleeps with a bunch of pointless women. it ain't pretty, but those are the paces that he put himself through to have this moment of clarity where he realizes that she's all he's ever loved and she's always been there and he's sorry, please forgive me yadda yadda. she is a skyscraper...so huge, in his face and hard to miss, yet he was blind. just listen to that voice. he's really regretting what he said and did and he's really in love and is begging her forgiveness. total prince. gotta love it.

I think it's an apology song. If you did your research, you'll find out about the singer's failing marriage and how he wrote most of the songs when he was waiting for her answer. If you replace "Skyscrapers" with "(insert girl's name here)", the song is crystal clear. That's just my thought's, though.

For me, it's about somebody who has been so wrapped up in his depression and focusing only on the negative (looking down at the ground), that he failed to see all the good that was around him until it was too late. Love was right in front of him, but he couldn't see it because his vision was distorted by the depression, and it slipped away.

The protagonist used to have "big city dreams", (which is much reflected on in their song "Bye Bye Baby") but when he finally makes it, he realizes that it's not all that; in fact, it's quite lonely. To make matters worse, when he left the band's hometown (presumably Chicago), he probably said some bad things about the city because it wasn't as glorious as other cities, and that he would never have to see it again.

This song is about his return, and he is apologizing to the city when he says that "[He} didn't mean a word [he] said" and "All [He] ever loved was standing right before [his] eyes, and that [he] was blind".

Basically, a "There's no place like home" type song.

It even has a Chicago-style Jazz sound to it, so there's that! :)

The lyrics are ambiguous and vague at times, but I'm quite sure that Skyscrapers is about a jumper who is sorry for not having sooner realized that the solution to all of his problems was "right here all the time." ... "Skyscrapers, please forgive me I didn't mean a word I said" The author of the lyrics establishes right away that the protagonist clearly is 'not right' because he is talking to skyscrapers as though they have feelings and can be offended by words. ... "Skyscrapers, I was just tangled up in my own head" It's funny, because offering inanimate objects apologies is probably a bigger sign you might be "tangled up" in your own head. ... "And somehow in all the madness I thought that I was seeing straight" Ironic, because affirming life is usually what is thought of as seeing straight, not jumping off skyscrapers. ... "It ain't always pretty, but it seemed there was no other way" Did you know jumping to your death could be sometimes pretty? YES! But I guess living life out to its fullest is clearly not acceptable. ... "And I guess, all I ever loved Was standing right before my eyes And I, oh I, I was blind" One might hope LIFE was all he ever loved, and that his love of LIFE is what blinded him from seeing skyscrapers. But, to remain more consistent with the rest of the story, it is more likely that the object of his love is skyscrapers and not life, because he's just that crazy. ... "So skyscrapers, please forgive me I'm standing here a repentative, man" More nonsense, as if skyscrapers are going to care that he is ready to jump for penance. As if jumping were a acceptable form of penance to start with. ... "Oh skyscrapers, I'll never look down again, again" I guess he might have lost his nerve or gotten scared and balked at a prior attempt after looking down?
... So, em, I guess I should thank you ... OK GO? For being so creative and imaginative and giving us all the much needed song about a crazy jumper. You really took the coo coo out of the clock for this song. To all who don't see this as suicidal ideation, your dead wrong. It has nothing to do with Chicago, or big cities. It's about a jumper, people.

an astoundingly beautiful song. Simple melody with haunting lyrics. Im digging the bass and the snare drums, fuck it everything works well in this song, and I'm sure it has to do with city life and the day to day shit that a city dweller has to go through. Love, life, and just trying to get by

This song is really great. The song I'd feel like singing if I ever decided leaving Chicago was a good idea.

It's amazing <3 the chorus gives me the shivers

The ending instrumental makes me feel so many different things all at once. OK Go, you've done it again.

I'm not exactly sure what this song was actually about, but to me it was about living life without spirituality. I live my life as an atheist and although none of the God stuff makes any logical sense, there is always a fear in the back of my head that when I die I'll be confronted by a God who is pissed off at me for not believing. That could just be in part due to the fact that I am one of the few atheists who live in Texas. Anyway, the skyscrapers are, in my mind, symbolic of God.