You took the tunnel route home
You'd never taken that way with me before
Did you feel a need for change?
Apologies on your fingernails
Love flickered in the city of lights
Like intermittent radio waves

I don't need your tears
I don't want your love
I've just got to get home

And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay.
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us

You went where the horses cry
You'd never taken that way with me before
Did you feel a need for a change?
Guilt smeared across your lips
I was tired and cold from the window
You're tired nothing has changed

I don't need your tears
I don't want your love
I've just got to get home

And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us

And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us

And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us

And I feel like I'm breaking up
But I wanted to stay
Headlights on the hillside
Don't take me this way
I don't want you to hold me
I want you to pray
'Cause it's bigger than us


Lyrics submitted by schattenperle

Bigger Than Us Lyrics as written by Harry Mcveigh Charles Cave

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Bigger Than Us song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

62 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +5
    General Comment

    She cheated on him. Simple as that.

    The video is not related, it's just a very nice video with an interesting concept.

    Coming from a bad break up, this song is just amazing, reflecting just how you can feel about someone you love deeply, that has betrayed you.


    You took the tunnel route home, you've never taken that way with me before. Did you feel the need for change? ***This lines clearly define some sort of mockery and bitterness towards her... She cheated, so, he's asking her if she did it just because it was something different, or out of boredom about their relationship (you've never taken that way with ME before)

    Apologies on your fingernails, love flickered in the city of lights, Like intermittent radio waves ***As it usually happens, when he found out, she apologized and probably said a lot of crap, he knows it's not heartfelt, hence she was just apologizing "from" her fingernails

    I don't need your tears I don't want your love I just gotta get home. ***Again, when someone cheats, crying is their way of making up for the fact they've betrayed you. Assuming he really loved her, he's devastated, he wants nothing to do with her at the moment, he just "gotta get home"

    And I feel like I'm breaking up, and I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me this way, ***He was really commited to the relationship, he wanted to stay in it.

    I don't want you to hold me, I want you to pray, This is bigger than us ***He's bargaining, mixed with denial and hope about this situation, he really don't want to let go, but he can't forgive as easily. Trust me, if you've ever been in this sucky situation, you know what if feels like.

    You went where the horses cry, you've never taken that way with me before. Did you feel the need for change? ***You wonder over and over "why did she do it?" so it's congruent that it's similar to the very first line of the song

    Guilt smeared across your lips, I was tired and cold from the window You're tired, nothing's changed. ***She feels guilty, but that's just not enough in this situation, he needs more, but maybe he realizes that she's done this for a reason, she's subconsciously tired of him, or out of the relationship, and even though she might try to fix this with her words, nothings changed from the fact that she cheated.

    I think that sums it up. Amazing song.

    dag_102on July 17, 2011   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    For me, the meaning of this song could be generalized in that way, that "she" was caught by something big, may it be love for someone else, death, whatever. For him, the only way to stand this circumstance is to break up with her.

    The video may seem very confusing, but I figured out some explanation for me. I think the video goes beyond the story told by the lyrics and shows the only possibilty for him to stay with her: The candy bar symbolizes the big something that takes hold of her and is the reason for him to break up with her (even though he still loves her madly, I think). The only way to get her out of this mess she's in, was to consult kind of a higher instance. In the video, it would be Harry McVeigh who gets the girl out if the candy bar and in the end back into the arms of the boy. But since there aren't any higher instances (except you believe in God or stuff like destiny) in the real life, the lyrics don't mention this intervention by a higher instance and because of that stays as nihilistic as it appears to the reader/listener.

    Bibabieston December 11, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I think all the car references like "tunnel route", and "headlights on the hillside" are about being in a relationship that you know is doomed to fail. Like you can see the relationship moving toward a tragic end, or in the song's case a car crash.

    The singer can tell "she's" driving them in the wrong direction, so he obviously feels she's at fault. But what has she done? What's bigger than the both of them? Maybe it's something so big that he already knows it can't be fixed between them.

    DianeLuvsMunkyon December 01, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    PS: The candy bar was chosen because the girl in the video was involved in the commercial for this candy bar. Maybe, the "bigger than us"-thing in the video was her work for the commercial and can therefore easily be used to show how she's caught in this whole thing by putting her directtly in the candy bar.

    Bibabieston December 11, 2010   Link
  • +2
    Lyric Correction

    Here are the correct lyrics:

    You took the tunnel route home, you've never taken that way with me before. Did you feel the need for change? Apologies on your fingernails, love flickered in the city of lights, Like intermittent radio waves

    I don't need your tears I don't want your love I just gotta get home.

    And I feel like I'm breaking up, and I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me this way, I don't want you to hold me, I want you to pray, This is bigger than us

    You went where the horses cry, you've never taken that way with me before. Did you feel the need for change? Guilt smeared across your lips, I was tired and cold from the window You're tired, nothing's changed.

    I don't need your tears I don't want your love I just gotta get home.

    And I feel like I'm breaking up, and I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me thisway, I don't want you to hold me, I want you to pray, This is bigger than us.

    And I feel like I'm breaking up, but I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me thisway, I don't want you to hold me, I want you to pray, This is bigger than us.

    And I feel like I'm breaking up, but I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me thisway, I don't want you to hold me, I want you to pray, This is bigger than us.

    Lircs1234on December 12, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    ITS about a girl who has to tell her boyfriend she has cheated, and she takes him for a drive and while they are driving he realizes she has something to tell him hence "Apologies on your fingernails" she was biting her nails telling him she was nervous and " guilt smeared across your lips" she obviously atleast kissed another man, and then once she finally tells him he just looses it and just has to get out of there and crashes the car because she puched him over the edge

    musicbuggon December 01, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    you guys don't get it the candy bar was demonstrating how she was trapped in her life and she needed someone to help break her out of her own comfort zone.

    TVtalkerMANon December 22, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i love this song so much!! the lyrics have really confused me though not to mention the video :/ i think it might be that the boy in it is a younger version of the lead singer and so he's reminicing about a childhood sweetheart (the girl in it) that he clearly cared for and would do anything to be with her but she kept hurting him "And I feel like I'm breaking up, and I wanted to stay, Headlights on the hillside, don't take me this way,I don't want you to hold me" and "this is bigger than us" meaning that their relationship was way more mature than them... i think then the rest of it is the older, wiser him is saying that he doesn't want her anymore and that things WILL improve eventually with time "I don't need your tears I don't want your love" BUT in the end he carries her back to the young boy because even though he knows she messed him up, he wouldn't have changed a thing becuase she's made him into who he is today and the she gave him some really happy memories.... okay i've gone on for to long!! haha

    silver94on January 20, 2011   Link
  • +1
    Translation

    The band Hooverphonic did a great cover version of Bigger than us, which you can find on youtube. youtube.com/watch

    MosheLosjeon February 23, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Im reading the lyrics and watching the video and I take the lyrics and video interpretation as the girl is dying inside because maybe she cannot be the person she wants to be so she plays the role of something she's not (a candy bar) and the boy is trying to reach out to her. in the end when she is broken out of the candy bar (shell) she is a beautiful girl underneath... hence her inner beauty is beautiful.... and the kid only wants to help her realize that. The lyrics that help me come to that conclusion are: "You went where the horses cry, you've never taken that way with me before. Did you feel the need for change? Guilt smeared across your lips, I was tired and cold from the window You're tired, nothing's changed."

    I feel that this song is about coming to terms with who you are... an acceptance song... Im not trying to bring my sexuality into it but coming with the aspect of coming to terms with being gay... I know how she feels... being trapped in a shell and wanting to be free but not being able to until you come out or someone shows you that you still matter under the facade you put up...

    ball6542on February 25, 2011   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.