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 see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love, both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a new born baby, it just happens every day
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up, when your whole world is black
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the settin' sun
My love will laugh with me before the mornin' comes
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Yeah
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
I see a line of cars and they're all painted black
With flowers and my love, both never to come back
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away
Like a new born baby, it just happens every day
I look inside myself and see my heart is black
I see my red door, I must have it painted black
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts
It's not easy facing up, when your whole world is black
No more will my green sea go turn a deeper blue
I could not foresee this thing happening to you
If I look hard enough into the settin' sun
My love will laugh with me before the mornin' comes
I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
I wanna see it painted, painted black
Black as night, black as coal
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky
I wanna see it painted, painted, painted, painted black
Yeah
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
Lyrics submitted by hermelinus, edited by morrolan, atp, BroccoliMan, rpn453, reach2portals2, Raven95, JulianDoes, jadedcynic
Paint It, Black Lyrics as written by Michael Jagger Keith Richards
Lyrics © Abkco Music Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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,
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/
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
No, no, no. You people are reading way too much into this. The lyric is quite simple. No drugs, no Vietnam, no affirmative action. The lyric is about the death of his girlfriend, and attending the subsequent funeral after. The red door referrs to his heart, which he now wants painted black, as to never be opened again. The man is grieving here after all. And the funeral: "...line of cars painted black, with flowers and my love, both never to come back". How much Poe do you need? Furthermore: "..i could not for-see this thing happening to you".. the protagonist blaming himself for not being able to help or stop the death from happening. Painting it black is a metaphore for his mood and how he does not wish to be consoled, merely left alone to "fade away and not have to face the facts". As far as the girls walking by in their summer clothes, they simply remind him of his loss and must therefore turn away, "...until my darkness goes".
I must say though I do have issue with incorrect lyrics posted at the end here. It doesn't say ..."I want to see your face painted black" the song simply says : "I want to see it painted, painted black, black as night..." And it does not say .."don't want to see the sun flying high in the sky..." it says: ..."I want to see the sun blotted out from the sky". If you listen with ear phones it is unmistakeable. Again this man is crushed, he wants everything to be black to reflect his malaise.
I see this song and "As Tears Go By" as two stages in the process of grieving. It's obvious from the lyrics that someone has died. "Paint it black" is the anger/denial/isolation stage, and "As Tears Go By" is the acceptance stage. The person in the "As Tears Go By" song's POV is still sad and melancholy (basically watching the kids play thinking of the kids they will never be able to have with their dead loved one, maybe) but time has passed and allowed them to heal a little. "Paint It Black" definitely expresses fresh rage and grief over having unexpectedly lost someone. ("I could not foresee this thing happening to you.")
@Karnenyen Thanks! But why this line "I see people turn their heads and quickly look away<br /> Like a newborn baby it just happens ev'ryday" is on funeral?<br /> And why "green sea"? :)<br />
@Karnenyen I had a similar idea to that (i'm listening to the VersaMerge cover for the song) and I just thought the red door was a literal thing, like her/his lover was murdered close to a door and the blood stained it. But I like your explanation better
@Karnenyen - petra10467on November 11, 2015<br /> During the funeral people feel down but just like death there is life... nothing a bitter person finds much emotion in either way. He wants no colors, so his green sea will not exist because it will be black???? It cannot turn to blue (be beautiful because it will be black.
@Karnenyen i changed the "don't want to see the sun flying high in the sky" part to the correct version. I'll admit, when I read that part I cringed badly.
@Karnenyen nice interpretation but they said that it isn't about anything specific. So not directly talking about a loved one. It is just about depression and wanting the outside world to mimic what he feelings.
@petra10467 I think that line means that as the hearse drives by, people on the streets turn their heads to look at it, recognize it as it means someone died, and quickly turn their gaze away unimpressed, because just like babies being born everyday, people die everyday. It's so natural and mundane that to a stranger on the street, it's not even worth a thought. <br /> <br /> I've been on that situation of driving behind a hearse and seeing people walk by going about their everyday life, while you feel like you are in another dimension because death, as simple as it is, it's such a strange concept to wrap your head around when it strikes someone you love. <br /> <br /> It adds to the whole strangeness of it, that to everyone else, it's just another day, life goes on, as if nothing.
This song is called by all thing in black