I took a little journey to the unknown
And I come back changed, I can feel it in my bones
I fucked with forces that our eyes can't see
Now the darkness got a hold on me
Holy darkness got a hold on me

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

How long, baby, have I been away?
Oh, it feels like ages though you say it's only days
There ain't language for the things I've seen, yeah
And the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams
The truth is stranger than in all my dreams
Holy darkness got a hold on me

I have seen what the darkness does
(Say goodbye to who I was)
I ain't never been away so long
(Don't look back, them days are gone)
Follow me into the endless night
(I can bring your fears to life)
Show me yours and I'll show you mine
(Meet me in the woods tonight)

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Yeah, the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams
Holy darkness got a hold on me

I have seen what the darkness does
(Say goodbye to who I was)
I ain't never been away so long
(Don't look back, them days are gone)
Follow me into the endless night
(I can bring your fears to life)
Show me yours and I'll show you mine
(Meet me in the woods tonight)

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da

Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da
Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da
La-da-da-da-da-da-da-da


Lyrics submitted by samlikemusic

Meet Me in the Woods Lyrics as written by Ben Schneider

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Meet Me in the Woods song meanings
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17 Comments

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  • +5
    My Interpretation

    This song is about a guy who looked into the abyss and came back a changed man. Thus the lyrics "I have seen what the darkness does (Say goodbye to who I was)". The whole idea seems to be that there are some experiences in life that change you so completely that your old personality sort of fades away to be replaced by something different and still your own. It's a really beautiful song and presumably reminds other people in addition to me that there are some things that really do "matter" for lack of a better word.

    christianxon May 28, 2017   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I have a somewhat more whimsical interpretation that will really display the adaptability in interpretation based on the lens through which the listener is viewing the lyrics. Anyway, this interpretation has no bearing on the LH story line but none the less...

    I imagine the speaker as an astronomer/astrophysicist that is enraptured and awestruck by (presumably) his work and the beauties of space in general. Every line makes perfect sense if looked at in this way.

    Add in the fact that LH has visited the Jet Propulsion Laboratories in Pasadena and they have generally star/moon/space centric shots in their music videos, I would like to think that I'm not completely off.

    On a somewhat related note, I think the beauty of music in the abstract is that it doesn't matter what the writer intended, all that matters is what the melodies and lyrics make you feel. In that sense I hope LH doesn't lift the veil on the intentions of their writing as this would make some people "right" and some "wrong". We're all right and we can all enjoy it together while simultaneously finding an individual pleasure in thinking the song was written for our particular situation.

    Happy Saturday.

    Patches3on January 30, 2016   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    It's about being with someone through their darkest times. For me it's about being depressed/mental illness, for someone it's about addiction, for another it's about grief, etc. Meet me in the woods/meet me in the dark and share yours with me. Holy darkness isnt necessarily about the devil but a kind of pain in your soul.

    Emilysw02on August 28, 2019   Link
  • +2
    My Interpretation

    I know their songs are supposed to have a whimsical story to go along with them, but I interpret this song to be about someone's battle with (severe) depression, possibly following a life changing event. As someone who has been there, and who currently struggles with depression, I can identify with the lyrics on a personal level, and I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it because I could relate to it in that way.

    "I have seen what the darkness does... say goodbye to who I was" and "I f*cked with the forces that our eyes can't see... Now the darkness got a hold on me" really stood out to me, and led me to the conclusion that the song was about mental illness. Further, "I ain't ever been away so long", "follow me into the endless night" and "show me yours and I'll show you mine" all lead me to believe this is an issue the person has dealt with before, with the last line I quoted particularly pertaining to something like self harm/emotional scars.

    At the end of the day, all art is subjective, and the interpretation is left up to whomever is looking at/listening to it. As I've said, this was my own personal interpretation, and I really love this song. Check out other Lord Huron songs, though, because they are amazing (the Strange Tails album is just a good album all around).

    cocoloco17on March 14, 2019   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    To me it means being depressed and the woods are that depression. When you go out, you come out scarred forever.

    I think it also means meeting someone else to talk about it, going back into the woods to talk about each other's experiences.

    emily10661on December 28, 2020   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    About drug addiction ruining his outlook on life, going into the woods means being under the influence of hard drugs

    iLikeToEaton May 15, 2021   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Definitely about him taking a dmt trip that changed him forever.

    Starchosenon February 21, 2023   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    This song is the documentation of the speaker making a deal with the devil.

    I took a little journey to the unknown And I come back changed, I can feel it in my bones

    these lyrics clearly mean that the speaker went to the unknown, or the higher realm, the spirit world, where he did something that left him an altered man.

    I fucked with the forces that our eyes can't see Now the darkness got a hold on me Holy darkness got a hold on me

    here the speaker documents that he fucked with the hidden reality, the occult, magic, he fucked with those forces that we cannot see but that lay accessable to those who study that art. We can conclude that these forces were demonic because of the addition of "now the darkness got a hold on me", then to reinforce that it is a darkness of a biblical nature the conjuction "holy" is added to the repeat verse. Essentially the speaker made a deal with the devil in a biblical sense and his aforementioned feeling of being changed is the result of the absence of the soul that he sold to the devil as he devil is generally regarded as making a deal for ones soul.

    How long, baby, have I been away? Oh, it feels like ages though you say it's only days There ain't language for the things I've seen, yeah And the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams The truth is stranger than all my dreams Holy darkness got a hold on me

    These lines note that the realm that the man was in was a realm where time passes differently. Essentially the psychedelic realm. This is now equated to the spirit world/divine world mentioned earlier. This is again reinforced by the injuction that there isnt language for the things hes seen. This is a realm beyond language ie psychedelic. The later lines reinforce this again and then reinforce that the darkness now has a hold of him because of what he did there and the deal with the devil.

    I have seen what the darkness does (Say goodbye to who I was) I ain't never been away so long (Don't look back, them days are gone) Follow me into the endless night (I can bring your fears to life) Show me yours and I'll show you mine (Meet me in the woods tonight)

    This is his soul crying out to his lover and saying that he has seen the darkness, evil first hand and that she needs to say goodbye to who he was because he now has no soul. He exclaims that he's been away so long, this is to reinforced the nature of the realm he was in and the state he now feels himself to be in. He then tells her that if she follows him it will be into the endless night or evil, the abyss, further admitting his now evil nature. He also says that there he will make all of her worst dreams come true, he will bring her to hell because now he works for the devil. The next line is about how these deals are usually accompanied with a sign and that that sign is the mark of the beast and it can be used to recognize other satanists. Meet me in the woods refers to occult satanic rituals held in the woods.

    Yeah, the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams Holy darkness got a hold on me

    I have seen what the darkness does (Say goodbye to who I was) I ain't never been away so long (Don't look back, them days are gone) Follow me into the endless night (I can bring your fears to life) Show me yours and I'll show you mine (Meet me in the woods tonight)

    This song is thought to be a recollection of how many in entertainment have sold their souls to the devil for material success. A theory.

    devin10926on June 08, 2019   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is what I think the song is about

    "I took a little journey to the unknown And I come back changed, I can feel it in my bones I fucked with the forces that our eyes can't see Now the darkness got a hold on me Holy darkness got a hold on me"

    Although we are cursed with original sin, our soul gives us the power to recognize situations that are evil that we may have been caught up in (addictions, bad behavior, jealousy, envy, etc.). This evil is taking away our ability to stay in the present and focus on our relationships and the simple beauty of life. It makes us not be in the present moment.

    Honesty to loved ones and personal reflection/meditation is the strongest power that we have against evil forces.

    "How long, baby, have I been away? Oh, it feels like ages though you say it's only days There ain't language for the things I've seen, yeah Yeah, the truth is stranger than my own worst dreams The truth is stranger than all my dreams Holy darkness got a hold on me"

    The person has temporarily broken away from the evil force's grasp and realizes all the things that they have missed in their life, and causes them to forget things or special moments in the past and is astounded. "The truth is stranger than my own worst dreams" means that the truth of being in an addiction or grasp of whatever evil force causes you to not be aware of what is actually going on and to pacify your hold on reality. And, as you reflect on the past, you can't figure out how everything went to shit, so it is a very mysterious/powerful evil force that you did not see coming.

    "I have seen what the darkness does (Say goodbye to who I was) I ain't never been away so long (Don't look back, them days are gone) Follow me into the endless night (I can bring your fears to life) Show me yours and I'll show you mine (Meet me in the woods tonight)"

    They have made the choice to move on from their past evil ways and has now learned by experience and personal reflection. And the only way to conquer it is to remain in the present and live in the present. Their partner is going to help them overcome it and talk it through while at the same time the partner also may share secrets of their past, and together they will be a stronger couple and individuals because of it.

    I think the woods is a metaphor for the natural world in general. LIfe can be beautiful, but other times life can by scary. There is fear of the unknown in nature, and naturally we sin without real thought or awareness of what we are doing until we later realize that those actions are not who we really are.

    The couple although in the dark woods (uncertainties of life in the natural world), will move forward and help each other out and prevent each other from falling back into a relapse of the past sin.

    arthur1989on May 06, 2015   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    As a trail runner I like to bring this song (the whole album) on long trail runs.

    imho actually this song could also be looked at in terms of endurance trail running. Show me yours and I'll show you mine is the standard greet of 100 miler finishers (you get belt buckles for those..)

    I took a little journey into the unknown - very descriptive of any ultra race you haven't been on before,

    And I come back changed, I can feel it in my bones - most people experience profound changes upon finishing their first ultra.

    I fucked with the forces that our eyes can't see - there is elation and demons like nowhere else in life when you've been running for 20 hours.

    Now the darkness got a hold on me Holy darkness got a hold on me - runner's low.

    etc etc :)

    maciej1020on November 30, 2016   Link

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