As I lay here with you
The shame lies with us
We talk of love and trust
That doesn't matter

Though we may be the last in the world
We feel like pioneers
Telling hopes and fears
To one another

And oh what a feeling
Inside of me
It might last for an hour
Wounds aren't healing
Inside of me
Though it feels good now
I know it's only for now

The feeling is intense
You grip me with your eyes
And then I realise
It doesn't matter


Lyrics submitted by Fistan

It Doesn't Matter Two song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

12 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +3
    General Comment

    It' about ex-lovers who still love each other and see from time to time. They talk about love and trust maybe about their new releationships. The shame part is about how they've ruined their's with lust maybe?. they feel that not a lot of people are like them. with that special connection. "Wounds aren't healing Inside of me Though it feel good now" It's like some kind of therapy for them to overcome this failed releationship. And it's depressing because it works just for a an hour. But it doesn't matter. because they feel good. and thats all they can do now.

    looploopon January 24, 2014   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    This song is very depressing. Instead of focusing on the joy of the moment, he's focusing on the fact that he will soon be unhappy again. I like this song because I can relate to it and have had that feeling before, but it's kind of a downer at the same time.

    IndyModeon August 23, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Im pretty sure this song describes the Very First sexual encounter of two teenagers. I can really relate to it as it reminds me of how I felt during and after my first time at age 19.

    Sozlukon November 30, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is amazing the way it sets a mood. You actually feel like you're there having meaningless sex that leaves you feeling empty inside.

    raid357on July 14, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Just figured the true meaning of this song after knowing it for more than 3 decades. Been systematically cheating my wife with a beautiful girl who is 20 years younger. Sex is out of this world and it was supposed to stay like that.. but lately we were tempted to open up emotionally, despite of knowing there is no chance for a future together.

    Yesterday we stayed together for the first time until early morning hours. Once the action was over, we stayed in bed, looking in each others eyes and continuously kissed until she fell sleep, with her pretty head on my chest, feeling safe.

    Woke her up an hour later and drove her back home. On the way back I played Black Celebration album in my car and it gave me the shivers. This song is about cheating with someone that can fill these gaps in your soul and can ignite your every passion and fire. Despite these strong emotions and the butterflies, we know it's only for now.

    This is another example of Martin's concept of pleasure and pain. I've been missing her every single moment but still won't leave the love of my life to have a future with her. I know it's only for now.

    [Edit: Typos ]
    ViolatorUltraon September 05, 2023   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Such an amazing song. There was a time in my life when I was sure it was written about me.

    Martin Gore is a genius.

    mopo976on July 14, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Is it wrong that I find this song uplifting?

    iandkinzelon January 25, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Lol, hot. Martin describing sex, even though not exactly in a positive light, is almost unbearably sexy.

    LuvMartinGoreon April 13, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this song is about two people that are betraying their boyfriend/girlfriend.. "As I lay here with you The shame lies with us We talk of love and trust That doesn't matter" it is that they are having a good time together, they talk about love, but it doesn't matter. how can you talk about love if you're betraying someone? They both now that it's not going to last forever, even if they want to..

    devotion46on January 15, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    hi out there, i have some questions (because i'm not a native english-speaker)

    a) "as i lay here with you" - does that necessarily mean to have made sex with someone, or to make sex with someone, or is it also possible that it is meant to lie with someone on the couch watching tv (as teenagers sometimes do)

    b) the line "that doesn matter" - does it relate to "love and trust" - or does it relate to "we talk"? for me it makes really a difference. if (like it would be in the first case) the matter of fact that these people talk of love doesn't matter, the meaning of this song is a different one than if someone would speak of unimportant love.

    c) "the shame lies with us" - does it mean that they feel embarrassed or that they made something thats not moral? (or is it a question of interpreting?)

    at least i want to share my own thoughts about this song with you: for me it's also depressing, and i imagine the situation of two teenagers, who feel a deep love, and who maybe make their first sexual expieriences. But nevertheless, they know that in the most cases the "first love" is not the love that stays forever. Maybe also they know that love is just a biological thing, something that produces strong feelings, which give the impression they hold on forever - but as they reason, they notice that these feelings are illusive. and maybe they know that very often love ends with immense pain...

    olduvaion February 08, 2011   Link

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

Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Punchline
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.
Album art
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Album art
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it. “I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.