Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
We were caught up and lost in all of our vices
In your pose as the dust settles around us
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
Eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
Oh-oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
And the walls kept tumbling down (oh, where do we begin?)
In the city that we love (the rubble or our sins?)
Grey clouds roll over the hills (oh, where do we begin?)
Bringing darkness from above (the rubble or our sins?)
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
Oh, how am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
If you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
I was left to my own devices
Many days fell away with nothing to show
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
We were caught up and lost in all of our vices
In your pose as the dust settles around us
And the walls kept tumbling down
In the city that we love
Grey clouds roll over the hills
Bringing darkness from above
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
Eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
Oh-oh, where do we begin?
The rubble or our sins?
And the walls kept tumbling down (oh, where do we begin?)
In the city that we love (the rubble or our sins?)
Grey clouds roll over the hills (oh, where do we begin?)
Bringing darkness from above (the rubble or our sins?)
But if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
Nothing changed at all?
And if you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like
You've been here before?
Oh, how am I gonna be an optimist about this?
How am I gonna be an optimist about this?
If you close your eyes
Does it almost feel like nothing changed at all?
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Eh-eh-oh, eh-oh
Lyrics submitted by psychedelicglee, edited by noelsguitar, henrymo, thatismahogony, Ashleeeee, amrj, tuckerka, marlize105, Jbail2322
Pompeii Lyrics as written by Daniel Campbell Smith
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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So what are we going to to about this? Do we pick ourselves up, and continue the cycle (the rubble), or are we going to change the real problem? (our sins).
It kind of matches with Pompeii because they could've avoided the disaster, but they ignored the earthquakes and paid the price.
I completely agree with your explanation of a meaning to this song. But this song leaves me feeling like something has been unanswered. I was hoping to find the answer on songmeanings.com but it has yet to be discovered.
You explain the never-changing life and the results from its realization but what then? what then?
(I created an account just to reply to this song meaning and your post)
Here's my interpretation: Both on a large scale (wars, poverty, etc.) and a small scale (hopelessness, poor relationships, etc.), our world falls apart due to our own faults ("vices" in the song — selfishness, greed, general wrongdoings). We look around and recognize that our society and our own personal lives are flawed.
Over and over in anyone's life, there are problems and difficulties. Yet, when we "close our eyes" (stop thinking about the problems themselves), we realize that despite our recognition of these flaws, we really haven't changed our attitudes at all to help make things better ("nothing's changed at all"). For that reason, we keep making the same mistakes over and over again — we've "been here before," and we're making the same mistakes again, one reason why the metaphor of Pompeii and it's destruction is brilliant for this song. We want to change everything that's going wrong, when maybe we should be looking to change ourselves and our own shortcomings.
One of the most powerful lines of the song conveys this message — "Where do we begin? The rubble or our sins?" In other words, do we just clean up and hide our messes, or do we dig for the root of the problem first? It seems to suggest that the first option will lead to continued failure and an endless cycle of destruction.
There's definitely more here, but I think that's part of it. And like many songs, there are multiple valid interpretations, but I think this idea of our cyclical flaws is definitely in there. Fantastic song, even better lyrics.
I totally agree. This song poses a strong connection between an apocalyptic situation and daily life. The line "if you close your eyes does it almost feel like you've been here before" explains this. In other words, if you forget just what you're sensing and focus on what you're feeling, this isn't the first time you've felt doomed, hopeless, lost. Really, it's exactly this feeling that impacts and determines your reality, less so than the actual situation.
"Where do we begin, the rubble or our sins?" echoes this idea. After a tragedy, how does one begin to recover—rebuilding the physical destruction, or making amends for the personal damage one has caused to both themselves and others. Furthermore, it shows the panic and confusion that results, but that despite this panic, using "we" suggests that the intent to rebuild and learn has brought the victims of tragedy closer.
(Not saying you specifically said this, but nonetheless) I don't think it makes sense to interpret the apocalyptic/life-shattering event that seems to be the focus of the song as a punishment or retribution for "sins" or for being "caught up in lust and all of our vices" so much as it highlights how in this kind of event can cause one to alter their priorities toward more collective, humanistic goals.
The song makes me think about trying to make a relationship work, but failing time after time, because, in line with your interpretation, we make up after each crises (the rubble), but we don't change our characters (our vices, our sins) which are causing new crises over and over again. So when we close our eyes, and stop to be distracted by the particularities of the current crisis situation, we realize that nothing changed at all in the underlying dynamics. How, in these circumstances, can we be optimistic about the future?
To me, I see someone who has been stuck in a continuous cycle, getting nowhere. As a twenty-something recent college graduate, I definitely relate. The first lines seem to really sum it up for me: "I was left to my own devices.
Many days fell away with nothing to show." I imagine him working away at some dead end job with years going by. And then he stops and looks back at his life and sees that nothing has changed. Nothing is really happening and he starts to wonder when it will really begin. Even though he's always been an optimist, he's having a hard time being positive about his situation.
It's about that singular moment between something terrible happening, and having to face the consequences. We've all been there; glass breaks on the ground, someone rear ends us while we're driving, a loved one dies--and we close our eyes just for a moment, delaying the inevitable acceptance.
We know we will have to ask ourselves, how am I going to deal with this? But if I close my eyes, I can pretend it didn't happen, just for a second...
It's the moment at the top of a very unpleasant roller coaster.
It reminds me of graduating from high school, time flying by, waking up when you're 30 and realizing you've wasted your youth, doing exactly what you were doing when you were 20 and hanging out with the same, or similar people. I know a lot of people who feel like this.
"I was left to my own devices, many days fell away with nothing to show."
It's the modern version of the midlife crisis.
It seems fairly straightforward to me.