@[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.
Drink up, baby, stay up all night
With the things you could do, you won't but you might
The potential you'll be that you'll never see
The promises you'll only make
Drink up with me now and forget all about
The pressure of days, do what I say
And I'll make you okay and drive them away
The images stuck in your head
People you've been before
That you don't want around anymore
They push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still
Drink up, baby, look at the stars
I'll kiss you again, between the bars
Where I'm seeing you there, with your hands in the air
Waiting to finally be caught
Drink up one more time and I'll make you mine
Keep you apart, deep in my heart
Separate from the rest, where I like you the best
And keep the things you forgot
The people you've been before
That you don't want around anymore
They push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still
With the things you could do, you won't but you might
The potential you'll be that you'll never see
The promises you'll only make
Drink up with me now and forget all about
The pressure of days, do what I say
And I'll make you okay and drive them away
The images stuck in your head
People you've been before
That you don't want around anymore
They push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still
Drink up, baby, look at the stars
I'll kiss you again, between the bars
Where I'm seeing you there, with your hands in the air
Waiting to finally be caught
Drink up one more time and I'll make you mine
Keep you apart, deep in my heart
Separate from the rest, where I like you the best
And keep the things you forgot
The people you've been before
That you don't want around anymore
They push and shove and won't bend to your will
I'll keep them still
Lyrics submitted by EnjOy IncUbus
Between the Bars Lyrics as written by Steven Paul Smith
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
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
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
American Town
Ed Sheeran
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.
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.
I don't actually think there's supposed to be another person involved here, I don't think it's romantic, exactly. It's about the power of addiction, the call of drink. He used to be someone else, someone with potential, but he knows he'll never live up to it because he can't get out of the grip of his addiction. The alcohol lets him "forget all about the pressure of days" and disappear in to another night that goes on too long. The people he's been before were people with ambition, friends, a life, and he can't stand to listen to those voices any more, only the drink can make them silent again. His pain can be relieved and he can experience beauty again through alcohol, but as long as he relies on this he won't ever be free - kisses between the bars of his cell. Of coure, maybe I'm just projecting, but I know Elliot was an addict himself and I know really well what it feels like to start drinking again and know that it'll go on for one more night... how wonderful it is to have that best friend in the world back, and also know that you'll be worse off than where you started in the morning.
This.
I am posting a reply here because no one will read my buried one explaining this, and this is a great song and want to fill in some points from the original post. The song is sung by alcohol (I think he might have said this once in an interview), anyways, like imagine a bottle of whiskey sitting on a table in front of him, the bottle is singing the song to Elliott while he plays it. "I'll kiss you again, between the bars" The bottle is saying that Elliott will take another drink when he stops playing (writing the song) for a second. (Bars = bars of music), "Where I'm seeing you there," that is where (actually when) the bottle and Elliott keep "meeting" between the bars, then "With your hands in the air", when you are writing a song and stop for a drink you lift your hands out over the guitar and reach for the drink, and in his case just "Waiting to finally get caught" back into his addiction.
Oh one more really cool part of this song I wanted to share, If you are listening to this song with the understanding that alcohol is actually singing the Song to Elliott, listen to how Elliott sings the line "Do what I say", he purposely changes the tone of his voice to make it a really dark sounding command. The alcohol is not really giving him a choice. It really drives home the point that he is in deep with this addiction. Well,you can't write songs like this without actually suffering a lot, he must of really suffered to write it for us to enjoy. RIP!
Totally agree. I was just doing something unrelated when this song came into my mind. The lyrics hit me like they never had before, and, sadly, I started seeing myself in it. The first few lines hit me in the gut. It's so true, what you said and what he said.
@kaffeine_krazy really really well done....this song is so haunting and now even more so...thanks for your interpretation<br />
@kaffeine_krazy I always thought the bars were like bars on a music sheet with music notes and lyrics....<br />
@kaffeine_krazy Love this whole interpretation - really unlocked another level of depth to the song for me! <br /> <br /> A few people have hypothesised that the song is a dialogue with a previous lover struggling with alcoholism, (which I also find really compelling) and personally, I see the first signal of that in the first line, where Elliott uses the word 'baby'. Now, that's a totally normal thing to call a lover, but in the context of the interpretation above, I think it's adding quite a subtle layer of emotion. <br /> <br /> For me, it brings to mind the image of a baby pining for a bottle of milk, a metaphor which I think works beautifully with the song's themes of vulnerability and dependency. Most would agree that a baby is a bit of a symbol of innocence, so it makes sense if the singer is speaking to a former version of himself, as yet untainted by drugs and alcoholism. <br /> <br /> Tragically, in the present day, the only way he can find his way back to that state of wide-eyed adolescence is via the comfort and warmth of the bottle. <br /> <br /> Reading that back, it seems pretty tenuous to base so much analysis on one word and I'm sure I'm just going off on a bit of a ramble. Even still, I love the way it links in with the rest of the song as a little detail and hope you do too.
@kaffeine_krazy "Promises you'll only make" is another lyric that supports your thesis here. He's referring to the constant breaking of promises that addicts do to lived ones as well as themselves. <br /> There's a literary theory that I believe applies to music... once the song is out, it's meaning no longer belongs to the author but to the reader (listener in this case) . The song is now yours to interpret based on your life & experiences. Great interpretation in my humble opinion