I am not the only traveler
Who has not repaid his debt
I've been searching for a trail to follow again
Take me back to the night we met

And then I can tell myself
What the hell I'm supposed to do
And then I can tell myself
Not to ride along with you

I had all and then most of you
Some and now none of you
Take me back to the night we met
I don't know what I'm supposed to do
Haunted by the ghost of you
Oh, 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
Oh, take me back to the night we met

I had all and then most of you
Some and now none of you
Take me back to the night we met
I don't know what I'm supposed to do
Haunted by the ghost of you
Take me back to the night we met


Lyrics submitted by rockisgroovy, edited by godofanime

The Night We Met Lyrics as written by Benjamin Emery Schneider

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid

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The Night We Met song meanings
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  • +23
    My Interpretation

    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"

    bucknut1998on April 05, 2017   Link
  • +13
    General Comment

    It's a song about lost love and the heartache that comes with it. The relationship has come to an end and the singer seems to be regretful for even starting the relationship. After a break up people tend to understand how much they have invested into a relationship. When the singer says: 'I had all and then most of you Some and now none of you' it shows the gradual deterioration of the relationship. The singer gets flash backs, about how the relationship started and he seems so regretful to the point he wishes he could turn back time and prevent the whole relationship. We've all been there, when you have invested so much to someone and the whole thing ends, then you feel lost and nothing's the same again. The singer is still tortured by his partner's ghost and their memories together. The melody is so haunting but beautiful at the same time.

    so15200on April 15, 2017   Link
  • +7
    My Interpretation

    This is based off my reaction and thoughts as to what this song means with reference from "13 Reasons Why" and why this song was chosen to be the main song.

    "Take me back to the night we met" (The singer wants to go back in time.)

    "And then I can tell myself What the hell I'm supposed to do"

    (He knows now just how the relationship/situation ended and knows what decisions he can make to save it.)

    And then I can tell myself Not to ride along with you

    (I like to think that when he says: "Not to ride along with you" he means not going with the flow or "riding along" but instead doing and saying the things he truly feels, now that he has seen the outcome.)

    "I don't know what I'm supposed to do Haunted by the ghost of you"

    (The singer still loves the one he lost. He does not know how to move on from the past that is set in stone, instead, he relives "The Night We Met".)

    dustpickleon April 24, 2017   Link
  • +5
    Song Meaning

    This song is about having underlying problems while you are falling in love. Doesn't sound too healthy, does it?

    A traveler who has not repaid his debts is someone who has taken something they involving the person they love. Perhaps they led them on or had other issues going on in their life. The speaker is implying that the person opposite them has as well. The song is coming from after this has happened--they're looking for their muse and this is why they want to go back to the "night they met," or at least the night before all of this happened.

    The "not to ride along with you" goes back to the traveling or exposition of the song. This part resonates with me personally because I literally got a ride from this person, ironically. The speaker regrets what happened on this night because they did not want to fall for this person. They lost them, for whatever reason (perhaps they were going through their own problems), and they cannot forget them.

    That night was full of "terrors" because of impending romance--it can be dangerous. Life is already terrifying and depressing enough without romance involved. We all have our inner demons.

    Overall, the speaker does not know how to get over them and the only way to resolve the situation would be to never talk to them the night they met. This is because they have fallen very deeply. It's hard to believe that this song was not written specifically for the Netflix series because it fits perfectly with the flashback and what Clay was feeling. I'm also surprised this song was not written for my life because, wow the relevancy.

    cursive57on April 29, 2017   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    For whatever reasons, they are haunted by their relationship. Since they don't want to be haunted, they wish they never got into the relationship in the first place. If they could go back in time he would go out of his way to not invest in the relationship. He'd rather have chosen another path.

    jaybles22on April 02, 2017   Link
  • +3
    My Interpretation

    When I first heard, and re-listened to, this song from “13 Reasons Why”, I was focused on the loss felt by the characters in the show, and internalizing my own grief over my fathers recent death.

    I interpreted this song as missing someone after they are gone. Wanting to go back to the day you first met them in order to relive that moment, and all the moments after with them.

    “And then I can tell myself Not to ride along with you” I must admit I have contemplated suicide so that I can see him again - these lyrics loosely ‘tell me’ not to.

    “When the night was full of terrors And your eyes were filled with tears When you had not touched me yet” This could reflect my birth, right before my dad first held me.

    The rest is just not knowing what do to with him gone.

    Reading the other comments and talking about the song with others, it’s clear that it’s originally about someone who never wanted to get together with a now ex.

    laurenturowon April 25, 2017   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I really like your song it's really good xx

    kenzie1134on April 25, 2017   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    No matter the pain, you should never want to forget or change meeting a person who was everything! I stumbled upon this song and I would ever ever change meeting someone.. it was a the ride that changed my life with a dance sipping the "The Beast!" I only wish to change losing someone I never dreamt possible..

    jennylynn2on May 02, 2017   Link
  • +2
    Memory

    In uni I feel in love with a girl I couldn't be with. Sometimes I wished we had never met, as it would have made my life so much easier ... unrequited love.

    This song reminds me of this period in my life. I use to feel that she haunted me in my dreams ... and she ruined my relationships at that time because none could compare to her (in essence as the song says "Haunted by the ghost of you"). She was not my partner, but I couldn't love another with her around (or even after we'd had an unceremonious break in our friendship ... as we both loved one another, but we couldn't act upon it).

    Love is a difficult thing ... we can not chose to love or be loved. Sometimes it just happens, and we sometimes may wish to change the past to avoid the heartache if that loves fail. But ultimately we grow from each and every one of these experiences (no matter how hard or gut wrenching it was at the time ... we do move on ...... to a degree)

    sokornyon May 03, 2017   Link
  • +2
    My Interpretation

    To me, the song is about a love that began with some form of heartbreak, the love between the two, and eventual decline of the relationship.

    I am not the only traveller, who has not repaid his debts - this says to me, that looking back on the relationship, he feels he was not the only one at fault. Searching for a trail to follow again - having trouble finding a new path after the breakdown of the relationship Take me back to the night we met - shows not so much regret about the relationship as blatant as it sounds, but instead more metaphoric as he does not want to feel the pain he is feeling post breakup Being ‘haunted by the ghost of you, is again referring to having trouble moving on from the past, as opposed to the more literal ‘death’ associated with 13 reasons why.

    Still, such a fitting song for the series, and the combination of discovering this song, and binge watching the full series in about 2-3 days, sent me into a horrible depression for weeks. Thoughts of past relationships, family I don’t speak to enough... etc. Both excellent pieces of their respective art forms to have that effect on me, not being an emotional or previously depressed person.

    setvio98on July 05, 2018   Link

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