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"
I can't remember 1989
I can't remember what you looked like
'Cause I was dimed
Wasn't the whole world at the time?
A robot heart for my sleep in girl
She knows CPR
So I can come back to life
Ya, I can come back to life
I'm tired of walking around with my hand on my gun
Tired of watching them wind you up to see if you'll run
Tonight I'm going to go out and have me some fun
I'm tired of walking around here with my hand on my gun
I had me a vision that I was a fireman
In a time of fires
And I was paralyzed
A robot heart for a theme park world
Whatever keeps us alive
Whetever keeps claim to us being civilized
I'm tired of walking around with my hand on my gun
Tired of watching them wind you up to see if you'll run
Tonight I'm going to go out and have me some fun
I'm tired of walking around here with my hand on my gun
I can't remember 1989
I try but I forget what you look like
Baby, I ain't dimmed
Ya, it still keeps me up at night
A robot heart for a robot boy
Who dreamed he was a lion
Our lives in these empty spaces aside
I'm tired of walking around with my hand on my gun
Tired of watching them wind you up to see if you'll run
Tonight I'm going to go out and have me some fun
I'm tired of walking around here with my hand on my gun
Alright
I can't remember what you looked like
'Cause I was dimed
Wasn't the whole world at the time?
A robot heart for my sleep in girl
She knows CPR
So I can come back to life
Ya, I can come back to life
I'm tired of walking around with my hand on my gun
Tired of watching them wind you up to see if you'll run
Tonight I'm going to go out and have me some fun
I'm tired of walking around here with my hand on my gun
I had me a vision that I was a fireman
In a time of fires
And I was paralyzed
A robot heart for a theme park world
Whatever keeps us alive
Whetever keeps claim to us being civilized
I'm tired of walking around with my hand on my gun
Tired of watching them wind you up to see if you'll run
Tonight I'm going to go out and have me some fun
I'm tired of walking around here with my hand on my gun
I can't remember 1989
I try but I forget what you look like
Baby, I ain't dimmed
Ya, it still keeps me up at night
A robot heart for a robot boy
Who dreamed he was a lion
Our lives in these empty spaces aside
I'm tired of walking around with my hand on my gun
Tired of watching them wind you up to see if you'll run
Tonight I'm going to go out and have me some fun
I'm tired of walking around here with my hand on my gun
Alright
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The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
I love this song, especially the line "I was a fireman in a time of fires". I can't come up with a clear interpretation of the song, though.
MGB songs do seem a little hard to interpret, don't they?
good tune.......it`s about not being able to stop anything from happening in this day and age , so he gives up and decides to take the world as it comes and be careless
I think it's about a relationship with a girl and being tired of being on edge, the whole "on again off again" Ross and Rachel relashionship shit. The feeling of always being close to the end of a relationship and having to coax her back again and again. IT's all very exhausting
This is definetly my favourite Matt Good tune. I've always had a passion for it for some reason and it always reminds me of so much science fiction I have read over my lifetime, the whole fireman issue reminds me of farenheit 451 by bradbury, and the whole robot part and walking around with my hand on my gun reminds me of roland from stephen king's dark tower series. It's always so much to take in, as if he is losing himself in everything or becoming paranoid hence the whole hand on the gun. It's just a fantastic song in general, I normally try not to read to deep into things but I have heard this song so many countless number of times and it's always great.
"it`s about not being able to stop anything from happening in this day and age" -flanbo86
That's how I interpret it, except even with all this he still gives a damn. "baby I ain't dimed...but yeah, it still keeps me up at night."
This song has even more meaning today, with curent Iraq war, soldier defending a cause they don't even like. Matt posted on his blog lately that this song could relate to many soldier out there fighting for something they don't even believe in, some US soldier have even replied to him on his website saying they felt like that... very "actual" song considering it has been writen before sept. 11.
I whole-heartedly agree with the fact that it could be about not being able to stop anything from happening in this day and age. I think that it is definitely written in a time when he must have been going from the frustration of knowing this to being at somewhat peace with it.
I sometimes feel that things should be done better today, but say to myself that i alone cannot do much. I guess that is just what everyone is saying in the spinning heads.
I agree with the interpretation that it is Matt realizing that the world is changing and there isnt anything that he can do about it. He is tired of fighting it and relinquishes in favor of just not caring anymore. The "robot heart for the robot boy who dreamed he was a lion" line in particular hits me hard every time. We all think of ourselves as rebellious and edgy and willing to stand up to the way things work for a better world. We have this fire in our teens for doing it all differently and not just accepting it all like we think our parents have. But as life wears on you over the years, you realize you weren't the lion you thought you were, you begin to realize that you are a robot like everyone else. And when you have a wife and a few kids, a mortgage, a career, and have put many of your dreams away, you find that your only choice is just to accept what you have and where you are and enjoy what you can in the moment (tonight, I'm gonna go out and have me some fun) and just not fight it anymore