I knew this because as i drove... Lyrics

full song title: I knew this because as i drove, the hole that was me and my life was getting smaller and smaller and was being filled with New Hampshire, or maybe it was the idea of New Hampshire, but who cares, as long as it was filling up the hole.


fold your arms like an aeroplane
cast over seas you could not navigate
for fear of an entry point

dear, do not go quietly!
do not go, do not go at all!
(you are needed here)

you were strong
but your body wasn't

and even if i know
it'll still hurt to hear it from you

so when you go
your arms will not part the sea
or even support their own weight

but it is time
(and even i know!)

but it will still hurt like hell when you go
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Cover art for I knew this because as i drove... lyrics by Empire! Empire! (I Was a Lonely Estate)

I feel like this is about someone who has a chronic disease of some kind (cancer, Alzheimer's, etc.) and is dying. They're weak from the illness("you were strong/but your body wasn't" and "your arms will not part the sea/or even support your own weight") and they know that they're dying, so they're trying to tell their loved ones ("and even if I know/it still hurts to hear it from you") to let them go. The narrator doesn't want them to just slip away ("dear, do not go quietly!") or to go at all, but death is an inevitable truth that we all have to face. He's knows that this person's absence will leave a hole in him (as referenced by the song title)

This could apply to a break up or watching someone drift away, but it feels more like a familial relationship rather than a romantic. Either way, it's someone who he is incredibly close to, someone who's death (whether figurative or literal) will turn him into a hole that needs to be filled.

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