Budapest

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, fell for Sophie, a love forbidden by Emperor Franz Joseph, now [Sophie] could never share [Franz Ferdinand's] rank ... could never share his splendours, could never even sit by his side on any public occasion. There was one loophole ... his wife could enjoy the recognition of his rank when he was acting in a military capacity. Hence, he decided, in 1914, to inspect the army in Bosnia. There, at its capital Sarajevo, the Archduke and his wife could ride in an open carriage side by side ... Thus, for love, did the Archduke go to his death

The song is cast on such a background,

Oh to you, you, I'd leave it all:

is when you contemplate the price of your love, and still realize it's the purest avatar

Castillo, artifacts, are items associated with royalty consistent to the opening prose

Budapest is a story of a forbidden love, and the thrills that surround it, we all know, there's nothing like a forbidden love

I really like this song - especially the lines

"My friends and family They, don’t understand They fear they’d lose so much If you take my hand"

It reminds me of some of the experiences LGBTQ+ people have when entering a relationship. I find if quite comforting to hear this, though.

At its core, I think this is a love song. The singer would leave everything–his home, his wealth, etc.–for the one he loves.

Someone suggested that this song is related to Archduke (and heir to the Austria-Hungarian throne) Franz Ferdinand. I looked up the specifics of Franz Ferdinand, who is most famous for being assassinated (an event which led to WWI). Apparently, he was only supposed to marry a member of a reigning or formerly reigning dynasty in Europe, but he fell in love with an archduchess’ lady-in-waiting, Sophie Chotek. He would not consider marrying anyone else. Eventually, he was allowed to wed Sophie on the condition that she and their children would not inherit his titles, privileges, or throne. I think the Franz Ferdinand story is plausible, especially since I can't think of another reason for the singer to mention Budapest.

If you want to see a word-by-word analysis of the lyrics to "Budapest," check out my blog, toriphelps.wordpress.com/blog/

It means he would leave everything he had just to be with her. This song has a really good meaning and its realistic because I think a lot of people feel that way at a point in their life. They would leave everything just to be with that one person.

I read that George had never been to Budapest, Hungary before this song was written, so he had written it about being miles from Budapest when he was supposed to go there by train, but he was too hung over according to Wikipedia. Had Joel Pott, the co-writer, been to Budapest before the song was written?

Another way in which this song could be taken [if it didn't have the word 'Baby' in it] is someone asking for God to show himself. It reminds of Ill Mind of Hopsin 7 where he says 'Show yourself and then boom it's done, I no longer doubt the shit you're the one.'

They would give up all of their worldly possessions and leave it all for him, it's a pretty straightforward interpretation, but of course some of the lyrics don't fit with it. I agree with the Archduke Franz Ferdinand interpretation, but like Serj Tankian says, the meaning is whatever the listener makes it.