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"
Down by the boathouse at Shaker Lake
When there wasn't nothing but love to make,
They were two young lovers wishing on the stars above.
Well, they carved their initials in an old birch tree
With a heart and an arrow and a 'sixty-three.
You had to be blind not to see
It was a perfect love.
It was a perfect love.
Ooh, yeah, yeah.
Well, they worked one summer together at the '64 World's Fair.
They met Robert Kennedy there.
Well, that was
Right before the fall.
And they saved up a little bit of money for his career,
And they talked about the future underneath the giant sphere.
And all around them, the little voices were singing
It's a small world after all.
Yes it is, small world after all.
And it was perfect love.
It was a perfect love.
Ooh, yeah, yeah.
(Under the moon and stars above it was a perfect love)
Now they were dizzy from dancing on Rockaway Beach.
They came to Rockaway.
Yeah, and everything they dreamed of was still within reach
Dreaming, dreaming as the years roll by,
Like they always do.
Well, they had their share of hard times, too.
But whatever they were, they never let it get them down.
Now, they just go walking down a country lane;
See the leaves changing in the misty rain.
And only one thing remains the same, whoa. Ooh, yeah, yeah.
Just a perfect love
Ooh, yeah, yeah.
(Under the moon and stars above it was a perfect love)
When there wasn't nothing but love to make,
They were two young lovers wishing on the stars above.
Well, they carved their initials in an old birch tree
With a heart and an arrow and a 'sixty-three.
You had to be blind not to see
It was a perfect love.
It was a perfect love.
Ooh, yeah, yeah.
Well, they worked one summer together at the '64 World's Fair.
They met Robert Kennedy there.
Well, that was
Right before the fall.
And they saved up a little bit of money for his career,
And they talked about the future underneath the giant sphere.
And all around them, the little voices were singing
It's a small world after all.
Yes it is, small world after all.
And it was perfect love.
It was a perfect love.
Ooh, yeah, yeah.
(Under the moon and stars above it was a perfect love)
Now they were dizzy from dancing on Rockaway Beach.
They came to Rockaway.
Yeah, and everything they dreamed of was still within reach
Dreaming, dreaming as the years roll by,
Like they always do.
Well, they had their share of hard times, too.
But whatever they were, they never let it get them down.
Now, they just go walking down a country lane;
See the leaves changing in the misty rain.
And only one thing remains the same, whoa. Ooh, yeah, yeah.
Just a perfect love
Ooh, yeah, yeah.
(Under the moon and stars above it was a perfect love)
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Perfect Love Lyrics as written by Marc Cohn
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
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
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
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”
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.
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.