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"
MY BODY’S LIKE A CHILD
CLINGING TO MY BRAIN
IN DIVININTY SCHOOL
I MADE STRAIGHT A’S
WELL I DID EVERY GOOD THING
I’M SUPPOSED TO DO
I EVEN TRADED ONE WAY FOR MORE THAN TWO
SO BABY IF THAT’S TRUE
AND I REALLY GOT TO MAKE IT
OR IF I REALLY WANT TO TAKE IT ALL THE WAY
I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
YEAH, I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
WELL, ALL THE OTHER BOOKS OTHER PEOPLE WROTE
WERE MY CLOSEST THING TO LOVER’S NOTE
TIL I WOKE UP BLIND
TRIED TO READ THE NEWS
I DID MATH IN MY BRAIN TIL I GOT CONFUSED
SO BABY WHAT DO I KNOW?
ABOUT HUMAN NATURE
WELL I COULD WRITE YOU A POEM BOUT THE HEART OF MAN
BUT IT’D BE HALF TRUE
I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
OH MAN I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
TOO
WELL I WON’T KNOW HOW TO TREAT YOU
UP UNTIL I MEET YOU
WELL, YOU’RE A MYSTERY TO ME BABY
WRAPPED IN MY-DEOLOGY
BUT I KNOW IM HANGING OUT IN A SMOKEY BAR
AND I DONE DROVE HER IN MY PARENTS’ CAR
BUT I BEEN CLUTCHING MY BOOK IN THE HALLS OF MEN
AND I KNOW
ME AND MY BOOK, WE AIN’T NO BETTER THAN THEM
SO BABY IF THAT’S TRUE
AND I REALLY GOT TO FACE IT
OR IF I REALLY WANT TO CHASE IT ALL THE WAY
I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
OH YEAH I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
TOO
WOO
WELL ALL THE OTHER BOOKS
OTHER PEOPLE WROTE
AIN’T NEVER GOING TO FLOAT
EVERYBODY’S BOAT
BUT I KNOW
I AIN’T A VIOLENT KIND OF GUY
NOW BABY,
TELL ME HOW YOU SEE
BUT DON’T SAY YOUR EYES
CLINGING TO MY BRAIN
IN DIVININTY SCHOOL
I MADE STRAIGHT A’S
WELL I DID EVERY GOOD THING
I’M SUPPOSED TO DO
I EVEN TRADED ONE WAY FOR MORE THAN TWO
SO BABY IF THAT’S TRUE
AND I REALLY GOT TO MAKE IT
OR IF I REALLY WANT TO TAKE IT ALL THE WAY
I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
YEAH, I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
WELL, ALL THE OTHER BOOKS OTHER PEOPLE WROTE
WERE MY CLOSEST THING TO LOVER’S NOTE
TIL I WOKE UP BLIND
TRIED TO READ THE NEWS
I DID MATH IN MY BRAIN TIL I GOT CONFUSED
SO BABY WHAT DO I KNOW?
ABOUT HUMAN NATURE
WELL I COULD WRITE YOU A POEM BOUT THE HEART OF MAN
BUT IT’D BE HALF TRUE
I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
OH MAN I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
TOO
WELL I WON’T KNOW HOW TO TREAT YOU
UP UNTIL I MEET YOU
WELL, YOU’RE A MYSTERY TO ME BABY
WRAPPED IN MY-DEOLOGY
BUT I KNOW IM HANGING OUT IN A SMOKEY BAR
AND I DONE DROVE HER IN MY PARENTS’ CAR
BUT I BEEN CLUTCHING MY BOOK IN THE HALLS OF MEN
AND I KNOW
ME AND MY BOOK, WE AIN’T NO BETTER THAN THEM
SO BABY IF THAT’S TRUE
AND I REALLY GOT TO FACE IT
OR IF I REALLY WANT TO CHASE IT ALL THE WAY
I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
OH YEAH I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT YOU
TOO
WOO
WELL ALL THE OTHER BOOKS
OTHER PEOPLE WROTE
AIN’T NEVER GOING TO FLOAT
EVERYBODY’S BOAT
BUT I KNOW
I AIN’T A VIOLENT KIND OF GUY
NOW BABY,
TELL ME HOW YOU SEE
BUT DON’T SAY YOUR EYES
Lyrics submitted by macgibbons
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.