2 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A
All Our Lives Lyrics
I saw this old friend at the Everleigh Bar
Life hadn't treated him so well
A heart so cold, words so blue, and body home from hell
He said "If I could tell you one thing, I would tell you this:
There's only one mistake that I have made
It's giving up the music in my fingertips
By trying to get to heaven through my veins"
All our lives
I watched you search beneath the falling skies
This was no path to glory, you always walked before me
But you came back to warn me
All our lives
I saw this woman with tears in her eyes
Driving beside me yesterday
She turned her head, then I turned mine
And I watched her drive away
I thought "If I could tell her something, I would tell her this:
There's only two mistakes that I have made
It's running from the people who could love me best
And trying to fix a world that I can't change"
All our lives
I watched you search beneath the falling skies
This was no path to glory, you always walked before me
But you came back to warn me
All our lives
(All our lives)
I remember being young and staring at my hands in the middle of the night, the first light of the morning
A room like a church, voices down the hall, I barely made 'em out but sometimes you don't wanna know
(All our lives)
Now that I'm older I can tell you this, the mornings I miss, but I don't really miss the voices
You've got the choice, I've got the hands, skeletons and plans, you gotta let 'em go
All our lives
I watched you search beneath the falling skies
All our lives
I watched you search beneath the falling skies
This was no path to glory, you always walked before me
But you came back to warn me
All our lives
All our lives
I watched you search beneath the falling skies
This was no path to glory, you always walked before me
But you came back to warn me
All our lives
Life hadn't treated him so well
A heart so cold, words so blue, and body home from hell
He said "If I could tell you one thing, I would tell you this:
There's only one mistake that I have made
It's giving up the music in my fingertips
By trying to get to heaven through my veins"
I watched you search beneath the falling skies
This was no path to glory, you always walked before me
But you came back to warn me
All our lives
Driving beside me yesterday
She turned her head, then I turned mine
And I watched her drive away
I thought "If I could tell her something, I would tell her this:
There's only two mistakes that I have made
It's running from the people who could love me best
And trying to fix a world that I can't change"
I watched you search beneath the falling skies
This was no path to glory, you always walked before me
But you came back to warn me
All our lives
A room like a church, voices down the hall, I barely made 'em out but sometimes you don't wanna know
(All our lives)
Now that I'm older I can tell you this, the mornings I miss, but I don't really miss the voices
You've got the choice, I've got the hands, skeletons and plans, you gotta let 'em go
I watched you search beneath the falling skies
I watched you search beneath the falling skies
This was no path to glory, you always walked before me
But you came back to warn me
All our lives
I watched you search beneath the falling skies
This was no path to glory, you always walked before me
But you came back to warn me
All our lives
Song Info
Submitted by
brian On Oct 02, 2014
More Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness
Cecilia And The Satellite
Maps For The Getaway
Halls
Brooklyn, You're Killing Me
So Close
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
The first verse is a pretty blunt reference to heroin. Probably a musician that Andrew met in a bar who put music aside to fuel his addiction.
Overall I think this song is really about self-reflection, both in the way people view their own mistakes and the way the perceive others'. Like when he sees the woman driving in the car and crying, he feels connected to her knowing that they've both made mistakes. But as you get older, you learn from your experiences, and let the old ones go.
Saw Andrew at coachella, he briefly said this was about reuniting with an old friend. I agree with thisdesert about the reference to heroin abuse, and I think it's primarily about reuniting with a friend who went down that path.