What Now

My InterpretationIt sounds like depression, when there is no pinpointed reason for your sadness ("whatever it is") or its just been built up over a period of time. You don't know why you feel the way you do and you can't help but feel that way. Everyone, sometimes including yourself("I shouldn't be crying,") thinks you should be happy, and that you have no reason not to be. And even though it may seem like you have everything together ("I'm supposed to be in love,") it just doesn't feel that way. You feel like you have to pretend to be happy towards others ("just playing games with them all.") You put on a front and no one even realizes your suffering and it seems like no one gets it, ("The more I swear I'm happy the more that I'm feeling alone.") The chorus, in my opinion, says how confusing it is. You don't know why you feel the way you do, how to end it, and where to go next.
Depression is like that sometimes, its been that way in my case, it comes from seemingly nowhere and it is just truly difficult to understand yourself.

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My InterpretationRihanna is talking about trying to move on from a break up with someone you truly loved, but she is still suffering, such as when she says "I shouldn't be crying, tears were for the weak. The days I'm stronger, know what, so I say that's something missing." No matter how much she is trying to move on, she still misses him and feels incomplete. From my own experience, I know the feeling of grieving, confusion, and depression after a break up, no matter how long ago it was. You still try to live your life though. Rihanna is really opening up in this song because in this stage of a break up, you don't want people to know you're suffering because you should be over the person, so you keep all your feelings to yourself and have people believe your facade while you cry yourself to sleep every night.

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My InterpretationThis song is about a past love and personal growth. She's being honest with herself in this song, her spirit is stunted and she's going through the days wanting to feel something. "There's no one to call cuz' I'm just playing games with them all.". She wants to feel something real and raw and not just be. Should she wait until she feels something, or just settle?
Is it ironic that the song is so beautifully written. Those same feelings of emptiness she's expressing , yet not knowing they're being expressed.

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General CommentMeaning quite straightforward to me ..
She's describing how it feels to be on the other side for once.. She's obviously a player and loves to have fun with men , she's always in charge she has the upperhand ..she's stronger than them, stronger than love .. until this day when she meets this man that ll make her discover her true self .. so deep she could never have imagined .. now she's no longer in control of anything; she doesn't own anyone anymore ..she's enslaved to her own feelings..gone is the player.. guess it's too late to try n figure it out ..u may think of yourself as stronger or smarter than others but when it comes to love, u never get to say ur word, and if you're not gonna share it with the person you love it's gonna be your worst nightmare ever ..

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General CommentWhilst the lyrics refer to Rihanna combatting her relationship issues, the lyrics are an exact replica for depression. I have suffered from mental illness over the last few years and listening to this song, it feels the words are coming out of my mouth. The numbness, the games, the acting, the loneliness, the confusion, the battle, the misunderstanding, the lies, the pain, but whilst she may seem to be that bad person, she is really the victim. The attempt to find love but really feeling numbness regardless of the seemingly good things around her. The imagery used, the colours, the dramatisation...... the darkness, I can't help but feel myself singing this song when Im feeling at some of my lowest points. Someone suffering from depression could have very well wrote this song, completely unrelated to love & relationships.

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General CommentThis song made me feel like she is losing her love for her current partner, and possibly developing feelings for someone other than them. "I found the one he changed my life. But was it me that changed, And he just happened to come at the right time. I'm supposed to be in love"

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General CommentWhat exactly does she mean by I'm not mugging?
Love the song! Just don't understand that bit..

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General CommentThe CORRECT lyrics are

I been ignoring this big lump in my throat
I shouldn't be crying, tears ARE FOR WEAKER DAYS
BUT I'M STRONGER NOW, OR SO I SAY
That's something missing

Whatever it is, it feels like it's laughing at me through the glass of a two-sided mirror
Whatever it is, it's just sitting there laughing at me
And I just wanna scream

What now? I just can't figure it out
What now? I guess I'll just wait it out
What now? Ohhhh what now?

I found the one he changed my life
But was it me that changed
And he just happened to come at the right time
I'm supposed to be in love
But I'm NUMB AGAIN

Whatever it is, it feels like it's laughing at me through the glass of a two-sided mirror
Whatever it is, it's just sitting there laughing at me
And I just wanna scream

What now? I just can't figure it out
What now? I guess I'll just wait it out
What now? Please tell me
What now?

There's no one to call cause I'm just playing games with them all
The more THAT I swear I'm happy, the more that I'm feeling alone
'Cause I spent every hour just going through the motions
I cant even get the emotions to come out
Dry as a bone, AND I just wanna shout

What now? I just can't figure it out
What now? I guess I'll just wait it out
What now? Somebody PLEASE tell me
What now?

I don't know where to go
I don't know what to feel
I don't know how to cry
I don't know ow ow why
I don't know where to go
I don't know what to feel
I don't know how to cry
I don't know ow ow why
I don't know where to go
I don't know what to feel
I don't know how to cry
I don't know ow ow why

So what now?

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My InterpretationThis song is about abandonment issues. Along with first verse implies feeling low or depression. I can deeply relate to lyrics and I'm nor in depression nor feeling low right now. And she's talking about her inner child, saying ''...But something's missing'' ''Whatever it is, it feels like it's laughing at me through the glass of a two-sided mirror'' Her inner child, aka her emotions. Song is already about numbness. Now there was a saying I heard from a spiritual teacher from YouTube that demons are just very extreme mirrors of the inner child. I don't know where she got that idea but this accommadation makes more possible that she's talking about her inner child that is missing.
And she cannot understand her emotions due to her defense machinism occured because of her narcissistic parent/parents.
''I found the one, he changed my life
But was it me that changed
And he just happened to come at the right time
I'm supposed to be in love
But I'm numb again''
She's talking about she caught that being in love feeling with that person so he changed her life (or herself was changed), but can't hang on the emotion because of her problems so she's numb again.
If we say her one of or both of her parents is narcissictic, that implies well too. Her mother or father messed with her reality so badly, with gaslighting (that's what narcissistics do often) so she reached a level that she doesn't know how to feel. Her parent gets angry at her when she does cry cause she/he doesn't understand her emotions and gets pissed. So she doesn't know how to cry. She feels she doesn't worthy of a relationship because of narcissistic's absent unconditional love, so she doesn't know where to go.
''There's no one to call 'cause I'm just playing games with them all
The more I swear I'm happy, the more that I'm feeling alone''
She can't commit to anybody because she's scared because of her parent's feedback at the very first, so she pretend she's happy in front of acquaintances. She doesn't feel that they're her friend so she says ''There's no one to call 'cause I'm just playing games with them all''
And in video she's like she's unable to control her body, it seems like a nervous breakdown and she says ''I just wanna shout''. Borderline gets its name from being always in a border of a nervous breakdown. And she fits other traits as well and most likely to occur when there is a narcissistic in family.
I just created this account to submit this because I felt I should share my thoughts and experiences. Because I can imagine someone who feels deeply related to lyrics but doesn't know why and ended-up looking here. I'm practicing self-love and I came to a point where I can say ''I don't need Love, I'm Love''. If you're going through something like this in your life YOU MUST PRACTICE SELF-LOVE and SELF-PARENTING yourself. If you google it you will understand. You can carry all the traits of Borderline but still not be a one of them, because this traits is what you get anyway from a narcissistic parent, in my experience. I don't know if I'm or not. Thank you for your time.

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My InterpretationThis song is about abandonment issues. Along with first verse implies feeling low or depression. I can deeply relate to lyrics and I'm nor in depression nor feeling low right now. And she's talking about her inner child, saying ''...But something's missing'' ''Whatever it is, it feels like it's laughing at me through the glass of a two-sided mirror'' Her inner child, aka her emotions. The song is already about numbness. Now there was a saying I heard from a spiritual teacher from YouTube that demons are just very extreme mirrors of the inner child. I don't know where she got that idea but this accommadation makes more possible that she's talking about her inner child that is missing.
And she cannot understand her emotions due to her defense machinism occured because of her narcissistic parent/parents.
''I found the one, he changed my life
But was it me that changed
And he just happened to come at the right time
I'm supposed to be in love
But I'm numb again''
She's talking about she caught that being in love feeling with that person so he changed her life (or herself was changed), but can't hang on the emotion because of her up and downs so she's numb again.
If we say her one of or both of her parents is narcissictic, that implies well. Her mother and/or father messed with her reality so badly, with gaslighting (what narcissistics do often) so she reached a level that she doesn't know how to feel. Her parent gets angry at her when she does cry cause she/he doesn't understand her emotions and gets pissed. So she doesn't know how to cry. She feels she doesn't worthy of a relationship because of narcissistic's absent unconditional love, so she doesn't know where to go.
''There's no one to call 'cause I'm just playing games with them all
The more I swear I'm happy, the more that I'm feeling alone''
She can't commit to anybody because of her parent's negative feedback at the very first, so she pretend she's happy in front of “friends”. She doesn't feel that they're her friend so she says ''There's no one to call 'cause I'm just playing games with them all''
She fits traits of borderline and she says ''I just wanna shout''. Borderline gets its name from being always in a border of a nervous breakdown and it seems that way. And it’s more likely to occur when there is a narcissistic in family.
I just created this account to submit this because I felt I should share my thoughts and experiences. Because I can imagine someone who feels deeply related to lyrics but doesn't know why and ended-up looking here. I'm practicing self-love and I can say I’m getting better everyday. If you're going through something like this in your life you must practice self-love. If you google it you will understand. You can carry all the traits of Borderline but still not be a one of them, because this traits is what you get anyway from a narcissistic parent, in my experience. I don't know if I'm or not but it wouldn’t influence me if I am because I’m just trying to understand myself, I’m not trying to put a label on me.

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