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"
Well this is just a simple song
To say what you done
I told you about all those fears
And away they did run
You sure must be strong
And you feel like an ocean
Being warmed by the sun
When I was just nine years old
I swear that I dreamed
Your face on a football field
And a kiss that I kept
Under my vest
Apart from everything
But the heart in my chest
I know that things can really get rough when you go it alone
Don't go thinking you gotta be tough, to play like a stone
Could be there's nothing else in our lives so critical
As this little hole
My life in an upturned boat, marooned on a cliff
You brought me a great big flood
And you gave me a lift
To care, what a gift
You tell me with your tongue
And your breath was in my lungs
And you float over the rift
I know that things can really get rough when you go it alone
Don't go thinking you gotta be tough, to play like a stone
Could be there's nothing else in our lives so critical
As this little hole
Well this will be a simple song
To say what you've done
I told you about all those years
And away they did run
You sure must be strong
And you feel like an ocean
Being warmed by the sun
Remember walking a mile to your house, a glow in the dark
I made a fumblin' play for your heart and the extra, the spark
You wore a charm in the chain that I stole especially for you
Love's such a delicate thing that we do, we've nothing to prove
Which I never knew
To say what you done
I told you about all those fears
And away they did run
You sure must be strong
And you feel like an ocean
Being warmed by the sun
When I was just nine years old
I swear that I dreamed
Your face on a football field
And a kiss that I kept
Under my vest
Apart from everything
But the heart in my chest
I know that things can really get rough when you go it alone
Don't go thinking you gotta be tough, to play like a stone
Could be there's nothing else in our lives so critical
As this little hole
My life in an upturned boat, marooned on a cliff
You brought me a great big flood
And you gave me a lift
To care, what a gift
You tell me with your tongue
And your breath was in my lungs
And you float over the rift
I know that things can really get rough when you go it alone
Don't go thinking you gotta be tough, to play like a stone
Could be there's nothing else in our lives so critical
As this little hole
Well this will be a simple song
To say what you've done
I told you about all those years
And away they did run
You sure must be strong
And you feel like an ocean
Being warmed by the sun
Remember walking a mile to your house, a glow in the dark
I made a fumblin' play for your heart and the extra, the spark
You wore a charm in the chain that I stole especially for you
Love's such a delicate thing that we do, we've nothing to prove
Which I never knew
Lyrics submitted by Konversekid, edited by SoWhy, bassmaster
Simple Song Lyrics as written by James Mercer
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Several days a month you made The mile to my house, And had me do a stroll with you.
Just a little touch that makes the whole thing resonate a bit more. It's funny that people hear that one as a breakup song or a bit of wistful nostalgia for something lost, but in light of this song it would seem that it's more a fond remembrance of the start of the same relationship.