This time I need to know
I really must be told
If it's over
It's up to you you know
The things you want to hold
Are in pieces

Crashing down
Crashing down again
Crashing down
Crashing down my friends

I've got to move it on
I've got to sing my song
While I still can
Dispatch the last alarms
Hand out the last few charms
There's no surprises

Only love
Only love can win
Crashing down
Crashing down again

Only love, yeah
Only love will win
Crashing down
Crashing down again

This time I need to know
I really must be told
That it's over
I've lived my life alone
My every step foretold
To never linger
And yet it haunts me so
What are we letting go
Our spell is broken

Crashing down
Crashing down, my friends
Crashing down
Crashing down again
Only love, yeah
Only love will be enough
Yeah, only love will win

For every chemical
You trade a piece of your soul
With no return
And who you think you know
Doesn't know you at all
Their drain is needless

Someday we'll wave hello
And wish we'd never waved goodbye
To this romance
We'll drink up every line
And shoot up every word
Till there's no more

Crashing down
Crashing down, my friends
Only love
Only love can win

So cry these tears
We'll cry as all
We've held so long to fall apart
As the curtain falls
We bid you all goodnight


Lyrics submitted by Ice, edited by viKK

This Time Lyrics as written by William Patrick Corgan

Lyrics © Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

This Time song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

29 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +3
    General Comment

    A couple of corrections on the lyrics...

    "For every chemical, you trade a piece of your soul, with no return. And who you think you know, doesn't know you at all, Their drain is needless.

    Someday we'll wave hello, and wish we'd never waved goodbye to this romance, we'll drink up every line, and shoot up every word. Till there's no more"

    Source: Machina lyrics...right out of the CD case

    y2doggyon May 10, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    The song's about Darcy, the shady people she became involved with and her drug addiction. Her departure forced the pumpkins to breakup.

    oldmanfuryon January 08, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I was listening to this the other day and "someday we'll wave hello and wish we'd never said goodbye to this romance" got me thinking. If you haven't noticed, Billy still wears his wedding band, so maybe some of the song is inspired by what happened with his short marriage. Maybe letting go for the wrong reasons or something.

    This song means a lot more to me after a bad experience; someone letting go because of circumstance and nothing else.

    ghostchildon March 21, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    backfruey i think you're wrong, i feel it refers more to human relationship's chemistry than drugs. But then again it might be about jimmy's addiction too. This seems unlikely because it seems too personal to be about anyone else than the writer of the song, aka billy, who's never had big drug issues.

    I love the last 2 lines...

    You can play with the song order in this album. If you put this one in the end, it's like the sad climax ending. if you put With Every Light, it's the comforting optimistic ending. And if you put Age Of Innocence, it's the more mature and resigned ending.

    DistortingJackon July 07, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    As happy as I am that they're back together, it would've been nice to look back years later to say it ended with this band, this album, this song.

    Disgaeaon January 31, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    mary mother of a god...that song is beautiful. That hit me hard...especially the "someday we'll wave hello, and wish we'd never wave good bye"...sounds like a breakup that happened for the wrong reasons type of song. Perhaps Billy was referring to those unique situations when people breakup not because they don't love each other but because circumstances make things difficult. The song is just gorgeous though...and as i really read the lyrics for the first time it touched home. Reality bites...just like the movie says.

    y2doggyon August 03, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "Someday we'll wave hello, and wish we'd never waved goodbye to this romance"... Great song... i thought this song was related to the end of the band, but it can also be about the end of a relationship.

    Nowhere_Girlon August 13, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    SO Beautiful :( So sad...

    Nowhere_Girlon August 13, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    oops... i wrote "to this romance" but it's really to those brown eyes...

    Nowhere_Girlon August 13, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This Time is about the final break up of the pumpkins, one of the greatest bands ever - i realy must be told if its over (its hard to believe) - ive got to move it on/ive got to sing my song/while i still can (theres more to life than being in a band) - to never linger/what we are letting go. and of course - well wave hello and wish we never waved goodbye ( they will all regret breaking up and maybe they will reunite and it will be like they never parted). beautiful and a fitting tribute.

    whityon June 30, 2003   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
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
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
Magical
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.