Went Away

This is definitely one of my favorite songs on Given To The Wild. It's incredible, the guitar and drums are amazing and something really special. I really do not know what this song is about but to me it brings back memories of someone you love slowly fading away. 'Dirty toes, Un-showered' and 'every sign that you're wired again' reminds me on someone being in the hospital, living off the mains and not being able to do anything for themselves. 'Somewhere sunk behind those eyes A man I've always known' again makes me think this is someone fading away with not much life left. Also the lyrics 'A man I've always known That never went away' makes me think it's someone close. Just my thoughts though.

Look at you with slimmer lines Dirty toes un-showered Unholy sight the state of you And every sign that you’re wired again Just look at you in the trolley line Wild eyed you’re still flying A little less and a little more In the middle ground you’re still miles away So hold me close don’t let me go I need you so Tell me something I don’t know That I need to know Hold those arms around my neck I need you so Somewhere sunk behind those eyes a man I’ve always known And if you go to sea again We’ll see it out to horizons To see it all it’s a little late And better never but it’s happening So hold me close don’t let me go I need you so Somewhere sunk behind those eyes a man I’ve always known That never went away Hold me close don’t let me go I need you

Awesome song off an incredible album.

i think the person speaking in the song is talking to his father

I passively listened to the album repeatedly when it came out and even though I saw the band in March this song hadn't stood out to me until I saw them perform on Jools Holland, now I can't stop playing it. I don't know the meaning behind but it seems to me Orlando is possibly singing about a male relative, perhaps a brother who used to be so close but has distanced himself and got into trouble with drugs, turning himself into a different person to the one he used to know.

However, like with most songs that strike a chord with me I relate it to my own life, my now ex boyfriend went travelling a few months ago but before he left I noticed something was changing in him. The first lines of the song make me think of his vagabond like way of life he is leading at the moment.

A little less And a little more In the middle ground You're still miles away - this was how I felt when he first left, that despite all I could do to keep busy I could not escape the fact he was so far away and for so long.

Tell me something I don't know That I need to know - I didn't know what would happen when he returned, or that he even if he still had the same feelings for me that he used to. He wouldn't say.

(I never went away) Hold those arms around my neck I need you so - I am still here leading the life that he left behind, and I had been going through a really tough time with work and family problems, and all I wanted was for him to be back with me and hold me.

His experience was obviously changing him even more and he broke up with me over skype a few weeks ago. I feel that if he never went away we could have worked things out and never reached that point.

And if you go To sea again We'll see it out To horizons To see it all It's a little late And better never but it's happening - I interpret this as of course I would prefer that he didn't leave in the first place, or wouldn't in the future but I would deal with it. I feel that I would have the strength as long as we were united.

Somewhere sunk behind those eyes A man I've always known That never went away - I would like to believe there is still a part of him that is who he used to be and could be again, the person he would still be if he hadn't gone.

VERY self absorbed but when I feel so lost I do find myself making strong connections to songs just because they make me feel less alone

It's about a person they know who has a history of drug abuse or mental illness, or both... (they often go hand in hand.)