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"
Pappy with the Khaki sweatband bowed goat potbellied barnyard that only he noticed
The old fart was smart
The old gold cloth madonna
Dancin' t' the fiddle 'n saw, he ran down behind the knoll
And slipped on his wooden fishhead
The mouth worked 'n snapped all the bees back to the bungalow
Momma was flattenin' lard with her red enamel rollin' pin
When the fishhead broke the window
Rubber eye erect and precisely detailed
Airholes from which breath should come is now closely fit
With the chatter of the old fart inside
An assortment of observations took place
Momma licked her lips like a cat
Pecked the ground like a rooster
Pivoted like a duck
Her stockings down caught dust and doughballs
She cracked her mouth glaze, caught one eyelash
Rubbed her hands on her gorgeous gingham
Her hand grasped sticky metal intricate latchwork
Open to the room, a smell of coal mixed with bologna
Rubber bands, crumpled wax-paper bonnets, fat goose legs 'n special jellies
Ignited by the warmth of the room
The old fart smelled this through his important breather holes
Cleverly he dialed from within
From the outside we observed that the nose of the wooden mask
Where the holes had just been a moment ago
Was now smooth, amazingly blended, camouflaged in
With the very intricate rainbow trout replica
The old fart inside was now breathin' freely
From his perfume bottle atomizer air bulb invention
His excited eyes from within the dark interior glazed
Watered in appreciation of his thoughtful cleveration
The old fart was smart
The old gold cloth madonna
Dancin' t' the fiddle 'n saw, he ran down behind the knoll
And slipped on his wooden fishhead
The mouth worked 'n snapped all the bees back to the bungalow
Momma was flattenin' lard with her red enamel rollin' pin
When the fishhead broke the window
Rubber eye erect and precisely detailed
Airholes from which breath should come is now closely fit
With the chatter of the old fart inside
An assortment of observations took place
Momma licked her lips like a cat
Pecked the ground like a rooster
Pivoted like a duck
Her stockings down caught dust and doughballs
She cracked her mouth glaze, caught one eyelash
Rubbed her hands on her gorgeous gingham
Her hand grasped sticky metal intricate latchwork
Open to the room, a smell of coal mixed with bologna
Rubber bands, crumpled wax-paper bonnets, fat goose legs 'n special jellies
Ignited by the warmth of the room
The old fart smelled this through his important breather holes
Cleverly he dialed from within
From the outside we observed that the nose of the wooden mask
Where the holes had just been a moment ago
Was now smooth, amazingly blended, camouflaged in
With the very intricate rainbow trout replica
The old fart inside was now breathin' freely
From his perfume bottle atomizer air bulb invention
His excited eyes from within the dark interior glazed
Watered in appreciation of his thoughtful cleveration
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Gentle Hour
Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo
This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.