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"
Time it took us
To where the water was
That's what the water gave me
And time goes quicker
Between the two of us
But oh my love, don't forsake me
Take what the water gave me
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
And oh, poor Atlas
The world's a beast of a burden
You've been holding on a long time
And all this longing
And the ships are left to rust
That's what the water gave us
So lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
'Cause they took your loved ones
But returned them in exchange for you
But would you have it any other way?
Would you have it any other way?
You couldn't have it any other way
'Cause she's a cruel mistress
And a bargain must be made
But oh, my love, don't forget me
When I let the water take me
So lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the over flow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
To where the water was
That's what the water gave me
And time goes quicker
Between the two of us
But oh my love, don't forsake me
Take what the water gave me
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
And oh, poor Atlas
The world's a beast of a burden
You've been holding on a long time
And all this longing
And the ships are left to rust
That's what the water gave us
So lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
'Cause they took your loved ones
But returned them in exchange for you
But would you have it any other way?
Would you have it any other way?
You couldn't have it any other way
'Cause she's a cruel mistress
And a bargain must be made
But oh, my love, don't forget me
When I let the water take me
So lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the over flow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Pockets full of stones
Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow
Lyrics submitted by KatherineKissMe, edited by Mellow_Harsher
What the Water Gave Me Lyrics as written by Florence Welch Francis Eg White
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"And oh, poor Atlas The world's a beast of a burden You've been holding on a long time"
I'm pretty sure is
"And oh, poor Atlas was a beast of burden You've been holding up a long time"
Atlas is the beast of burden, not the world.
I don't think that makes as much sense. If Atlas was the one holding the Earth on his shoulders, it would make sense that the Earth was his burden. It's hard to tell though :)
"Was a beast of burden" is correct. "The world's a beast of burden" doesn't make any sense. The world is the burden, and he's the beast that carries it.
And incidentally, Atlas was forced to bear the weight of the heavens, not the world.
I think it's a play on words.<br /> The world is a burden, yes, but it's a rather LARGE burden at that. You might even say it's a BEAST of one.<br /> Just as I might call Bruce Lee a "beast of a man"<br /> In other words, "beast of" in this context just means "formidable".
I was wrong on this. The lyrics are "A beast of a burden". It makes sense either way, but those are the official lyrics.