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've so much to say
And yet I cannot speak
Come and do my bidding now for I have grown too weak
My weary eyes have seen
All that life can give
Come to me, o young one, for you I can forgive
I stood where no man goes
And conquered demon foes
With glory and passion no longer in fashion
The hero breaks his blade
Cast this shadow long
That I may hide my face
And in this cloak of darkness the world I will embrace
In all that I endure
Of one thing I am sure
Knowledge and reason change like the season
A jester's promenade
Lying at my feet, I see the offering you bring
The mark of Cain is on our faces, borne of suffering
Oh, I long to hear you say it's not been wrong
I stand before you now, a riddle in my song
The answer is that sweet refrain
Unheard it always will remain
Beyond our reach, beyond our gain
Trapped in life's parade
A king without a crown
In this joy of madness, my smile might seem a frown
With talons wrought of steel
I tore the heart of doom
And in one gleaming moment I saw beyond the tomb
I stood where no man goes
above the din I rose
Life is amusing, though we are losing
Drowned in tears of awe
And yet I cannot speak
Come and do my bidding now for I have grown too weak
My weary eyes have seen
All that life can give
Come to me, o young one, for you I can forgive
I stood where no man goes
And conquered demon foes
With glory and passion no longer in fashion
The hero breaks his blade
Cast this shadow long
That I may hide my face
And in this cloak of darkness the world I will embrace
In all that I endure
Of one thing I am sure
Knowledge and reason change like the season
A jester's promenade
Lying at my feet, I see the offering you bring
The mark of Cain is on our faces, borne of suffering
Oh, I long to hear you say it's not been wrong
I stand before you now, a riddle in my song
The answer is that sweet refrain
Unheard it always will remain
Beyond our reach, beyond our gain
Trapped in life's parade
A king without a crown
In this joy of madness, my smile might seem a frown
With talons wrought of steel
I tore the heart of doom
And in one gleaming moment I saw beyond the tomb
I stood where no man goes
above the din I rose
Life is amusing, though we are losing
Drowned in tears of awe
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More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
No Surprises
Radiohead
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.
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.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
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.
To me this song is talking about Jesus . 1st verse Jesus is hanging on the cross and is to weak to speak from the abuse he has taken he has seen all that human life can give. This was one of his purposes. His followers must do his bidding. He asks all sons of God to come forward refering to them as young one becouse only he can forgive sin. We then jump forward to just after the crucifiction when Jesus is dead he is conquering " demon foes " meaning the devil and his demons. "The hero breaks his blade" Im still trying to pinpoint that one. " Cast the shadow long " when jesus died on the cross the bible says a the earth went dark. "That I may hide my face" meaning the shame and hurt Jesus felt when he took on the sin of the world. The Bible says God the father couldnt look upon his son when he was carrying the sin of the word. "In this cloak of darkness" meaning the cloak of sin. "Lying at my feet I see the offering you bring" meaning before Christ was crucified the jewish law required an offering to God because the " mark of Cain is on our faces " the mark of cain meaning the mark of sin. Cain commited the first act of murder in the bible by killing his brother able. "Trapped in lifes parade a king without a crown" meaning when Jesus was on earth he was still the king of all kings however he did not where a crown as the traditional king might. "My smile might seem a frown meaning when he was on the cross he was in great pain and "frowning" but he was doing what he knew had to be done and so was happy becouse of this. "With talens wrought of steel I tore the heart of doom" meaning Jesus defeated satan and the "doom" at its very heart that mankind faced. On the third day Jesus was dead he beat the grave and at that "moment he saw beyond the tomb" Jesus had stood where no man goes and above the din I rose is talking about how Jesus acended to heaven "din" meaning the world. The bible says the devil is like a lion seeking whom he may devour. Remember daniel in the lions din? The earth is as a lions den. The last line is from the point of view of a man "life is amusing though we are losing drowned in tears of aw. The bible teaches it is apointed to man once to die "losing". "Drowned in tears of aw." Thpugh we must face death what we will inherit and what Jesus did for us is enough to make you weep in joyful and thankfull tears of aw. I dont know what the writer intended but this is my interpretation. I think its pretty accurate.