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"
Ooh, ooh
Ooh, ooh
Ooh
I don't know why I feed on emotion
There's a stomach inside my brain
I don't wanna be heard, I wanna be listened to
Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name? (Oh)
Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name, your name?
I scream, you scream
We all scream, 'cause we're terrified
Of what's around the corner
We stay in place
'Cause we don't wanna lose our lives
So let's think of something better
Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus
One that everybody knows
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Singing songs that nobody wrote
My brain has given up, white flags are hoisted
I took some food for thought, it might be poisoned
The stomach in my brain throws up onto the page
Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name?
Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name?
I scream, you scream
We all scream, 'cause we're terrified
Of what's around the corner
We stay in place
'Cause we don't wanna lose our lives
So let's think of something better (better)
Oh
Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus
One that everybody knows
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Singing songs that nobody wrote
Quickly moving towards the storm, moving forward, torn
Into pieces over reasons of what these storms are for
I don't understand why everything I adore
Takes a different form when I squint my eyes
Have you ever done that? When you squint your eyes
And your eyelashes make it look a little not right
And then when just enough light comes from just the right side
And you find you're not who you're supposed to be?
This is not what you're supposed to see
Please, remember me? I am supposed to be
King of a kingdom, or swinging on a swing
Something happened to my imagination
This situation's becoming dire
My tree house is on fire
And for some reason I smell gas on my hands
This is not what I had planned
This is not what I had planned
Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Singing songs that nobody wrote
Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus
One that everybody knows
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Singing songs that nobody wrote
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Ooh, ooh
Ooh
I don't know why I feed on emotion
There's a stomach inside my brain
I don't wanna be heard, I wanna be listened to
Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name? (Oh)
Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name, your name?
I scream, you scream
We all scream, 'cause we're terrified
Of what's around the corner
We stay in place
'Cause we don't wanna lose our lives
So let's think of something better
Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus
One that everybody knows
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Singing songs that nobody wrote
My brain has given up, white flags are hoisted
I took some food for thought, it might be poisoned
The stomach in my brain throws up onto the page
Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name?
Does it bother anyone else that someone else has your name?
I scream, you scream
We all scream, 'cause we're terrified
Of what's around the corner
We stay in place
'Cause we don't wanna lose our lives
So let's think of something better (better)
Oh
Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus
One that everybody knows
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Singing songs that nobody wrote
Quickly moving towards the storm, moving forward, torn
Into pieces over reasons of what these storms are for
I don't understand why everything I adore
Takes a different form when I squint my eyes
Have you ever done that? When you squint your eyes
And your eyelashes make it look a little not right
And then when just enough light comes from just the right side
And you find you're not who you're supposed to be?
This is not what you're supposed to see
Please, remember me? I am supposed to be
King of a kingdom, or swinging on a swing
Something happened to my imagination
This situation's becoming dire
My tree house is on fire
And for some reason I smell gas on my hands
This is not what I had planned
This is not what I had planned
Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Singing songs that nobody wrote
Down in the forest, we'll sing a chorus
One that everybody knows
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Singing songs that nobody wrote
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Hands held higher, we'll be on fire
Lyrics submitted by bookhouseboy23, edited by fr0st2k
Forest Lyrics as written by Tyler Joseph
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great version of a great song,
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"I don't know why I feed on emotion There's a stomach inside my brain"
He enjoys other people's feelings so much, that he actually hungers for them. Could be, that he even actively provokes intense feelings in others. Maybe his own emotions are too terrifying so he uses the others' as a distraction. Or maybe he feels numb and uses the others' emotions to feel anything at all.
"I don't wanna be heard I want to be listened to"
People generally hear what they want to hear. He longs for someone to take the effort of listening to his meaning behind his words rather than just consuming them. By just consuming words the other person ignores the speaker/writer, which can cause a feeling of dispensability and/or invisibility in him.
"Does it bother anyone else That someone else has your name?"
We are unique, so why should we share our name with someone else who is a completely different person? It is rather sad that we are used to being just another jane or joe and not even realize let alone worry about it. Phrasing this as a question challenges the reader/listener to question this fact.
"I scream, you scream, we all scream 'Cause we're terrified of what's around the corner We stay in place 'Cause we don't want to lose our lives So let's think of something better"
Fear of the unknown is very common, which makes us walk the same roads and do the same things as always and as everyone else around us. Even when we get bored or fed up or revolted by our routines we shrink from trying new things, because it frightens us. He challenges us to overcome our fear and find better ways of dealing with it rather than just ignoring it and thereby staying slave to habits induced by culture or upbringing.
"Down in the forest We'll sing a chorus One that everybody knows Hands held higher, We'll be on fire Singing songs that nobody wrote"
I can't help but think that this is about sex which in this context stands for letting out our real self when we are with the right person. True, it could simply mean loud screaming our frustration out in the safe recluse of the forest, but I personally wouldn't call that "singing". Also in this part he talks about "we" not "I". "Hands held higher" implies that we can't help but simply surrender to showing our true self to the one person that matters once we feel unobserved by others.
"My brain has given up White flags are hoisted I took some food for thought It might be poisoned The stomach in my brain Throws up onto the page"
He has fought a battle against surrendering to open up, lost it and as a result he has changed. The brain that used to feed on the emotions of others to hide behind is now coming out of its closet and instead shows its real self in writing about itself.
"Quickly moving towards a storm Moving forward, torn Into pieces over reasons of what these storms are for"
By leaving the safe place of the known (hiding) he moves forward to the unknown (opening up) which feels threatening. He continues forward even if that means great discomfort and uncertainty.
"I don't understand why everything I adore Takes a different form when I squint my eyes Have you ever done that? When you squint your eyes And your eyelashes make it look a little not right And then when just enough light Comes from just the right side And you find you're not who you're supposed to be?"
By squinting we narrow our field of vision so we can focus on certain things. Focussing and dividing that part into small pieces (eyelashes that cut like lines through the vision) makes us see things more clearly. When we are in the right frame of mind this can lead to insights about ourselves. The role(s) we play in our everyday life start to feel wrong. We realize that we live a life imposed on us and that that the things our ego appreciates are insignificant when facing the bottom line of existence aka our true self.
"This is not what you're supposed to see Please, remember me I am supposed to be King of a kingdom or swinging on a swing"
These are the thoughts of resistance that come up when walking new paths. We realize that others can see the change in us and that frightens us. Our changing is meant to stay a secret at least until we know our new self and feel safe with it, so we implore the world to stay focussed on the image we used to portrait. In this case either a person in control of himself and others or a harmless, happy child.
"Something happened to my imagination This situation's becoming dire My tree house is on fire And for some reason I smell gas on my hands This is not what I had planned"
Imagination is the first step on the road to self awareness. What if. But sooner or later instead of just being someone else in our minds we sooner or later start acting differently. This feels extremely scary and causes a feeling of chaos and destruction. The tree house resembles a recluse inside a recluse, a safe place in the middle of nowhere. Destroying the tree house means not withholding anything any longer from the one special person who is allowed to see our true self to the very bone of our existence. Being able and willing to do so even surprises ourselves. Opening up was not intended, it just happened out of its own accord.
That's what I get from these lyrics. Thanks for reading :-)