Alone Again (naturally) Lyrics
(weeps uncontrollably)
this song always kind of creeps me out ... because the tune is so gleeful, and the words are so...sad.
beautiful. a friend pointed out that's why he likes it "because you can be depressed but act happy"
Yeah I noticed that too. It reminds me of the smiths.
Yeah I noticed that too. It reminds me of the smiths.
@catherineks exactly, it's a little weird...makes you feel joy and sad... so sad lyric
@catherineks exactly, it's a little weird...makes you feel joy and sad... so sad lyric
The upbeat tune hides the sorrow, because we are alone with it, just like all the guests left his wedding, leaving him alone. The sorrow is hidden for the same reason that he is left alone, because humans are calloused or stupid. So the strange contrast of upbeat music and the most despairing lyric reflects the macabre circumstance of daily human life.
The upbeat tune hides the sorrow, because we are alone with it, just like all the guests left his wedding, leaving him alone. The sorrow is hidden for the same reason that he is left alone, because humans are calloused or stupid. So the strange contrast of upbeat music and the most despairing lyric reflects the macabre circumstance of daily human life.
Isn't this song about a man that gets stood up at his own wedding. He is suposed to kill himself by jumping off a tower. His take is that people you love and care about will leave you no matter what. They will die or they might just leave you. But either way they break your heart and you are alone.
But wow that feels like real life. When you ask out someone you really like and they say yes but stand you up. You were so gleeful and now you are reduced to a crying sack of nothing left bare and vonurable.
catherine hit the nail square on the head about being depressed but still managing to act happy. sometimes it's because our shame makes us want to avoid, and try to deny, the fact that problems exist in our lives and so we build a superficial shell around ourselves for our own sake, and other times the wall of superficiality is built for the benefit of others, for fear of the consequences of letting our true selves show. In either case, it is my gut feeling that hiding behind walls of superficiality leads to even deeper inner turmoil that leads some, as the person in this song, to beleieve that even God Himself has deserted them.
oh my god, my girlfriend had this on her itunes for years and i never found myself liking it until last night so i whacked it on my ipod, thought "yeah why not it'd be nice to sleep to" but never actually heard any lyrics cus it was always played through the twangy speakers of a laptop. So i was listening to it this morning on the train, paying close attention to the words thinking ah how nice then i heard "climbing to the top I will throw myself off" I's like wha-wha-WHAAT?! Then I scrolled back to the begining and listened from the start, but when he speaks of his father and trying to encourage his mother to hold together I feel my bottom lip shake, my eyes get itchy and watery, I cant take my breath back in, and i know if i sniff it'll be obvious to someones that im listening to something that just rips you right apart. Some songs just really kick you about.
Your comment made me smile and laugh a bit. Isn't it great when you like a song's melody then finally listen to the lyrics and they give the song even deeper meaning? Karaoke has introduced many people to lyrics of songs they never really knew.
Your comment made me smile and laugh a bit. Isn't it great when you like a song's melody then finally listen to the lyrics and they give the song even deeper meaning? Karaoke has introduced many people to lyrics of songs they never really knew.
I remember this when I was four years old and I understood it was sad, but still liked it. I could never imagine losing my parents and now I have, prematurely. And "I cried and cried all day". Still hard to accept.
I remember this when I was four years old and I understood it was sad, but still liked it. I could never imagine losing my parents and now I have, prematurely. And "I cried and cried all day". Still hard to accept.
Im sorry to hear that mate. I've forced myself to accept my parents' inevitable and eventual passings and it still hurts before its happened.
Im sorry to hear that mate. I've forced myself to accept my parents' inevitable and eventual passings and it still hurts before its happened.
This is one of those all time great songs that I can just listen to again and again and never tire of it. I've probably heard it hundreds of times over the years. I suppose it's meaning if fairly transparent: a man is stood up for an important date, or, possibly, his beloved has backed out on their wedding plans, and he is suicidally depressed. He doubts God's mercy or even existence, not understanding why he is now alone. He feels abandoned by God, not recognizing that he has already (probably) abandoned God by making an idol of his fiance.
My favorite verse:
It seems to me that there are more hearts Broken in the world that can't be mended Left unattended What do we do? What do we do?
Indeed. What DO we do? How about recognize we're all in this together, have compassion for ourselves and be kind and loving to everyone? How about loving All and Everyone from the 4th Chakra of universal compassion, rather than staying in the lower chakras where "love" is attachment and full of egoic agendas that inevitably lead to suffering?
And then he talks about how his mother mourned his father's passing, the only man she ever loved. I see that this song is about trying to justify God's ways, trying to grok the inexplicability of our su ffering. Of course there is no bumper sticker answer. But the saints and sages of every religion have provided the answer, for those who want to know.
Yes, "Love's sweet idolatry," it is called, and Juliet says "the god of my idolatry." And what if He makes simple humans who cannot understand your fourth chakra, and we are subject to this? "Why have You forsaken me," He said, and only John was there to hear, and his bride stood 'im up! We forget the 65 years is a gift, and the glass is half full, but that is despair, and why this is a great song of despair. More than his own sorrow, the aloneness of his mother is what gets him, The saints live in...
Yes, "Love's sweet idolatry," it is called, and Juliet says "the god of my idolatry." And what if He makes simple humans who cannot understand your fourth chakra, and we are subject to this? "Why have You forsaken me," He said, and only John was there to hear, and his bride stood 'im up! We forget the 65 years is a gift, and the glass is half full, but that is despair, and why this is a great song of despair. More than his own sorrow, the aloneness of his mother is what gets him, The saints live in luxury by contrast, having a place to which to ascend. The lover is ascending, but caught in the middle or at the beginning. More hearts broken in the world than can (italics) be mended, but we can share this question and this suffering.
Left standing in the lurch at a church Where people saying, "My god, that's tough She's stood him up, No point in us remaining. We may as well go home."
Is is just me, or does this guy have shitbags for friends? If my buddy were stood up at his wedding, I wouldn't be like, "oh, I may as well go home". I'd be like, "Dude, come with me to a place I know about; I got the first sixteen rounds."
Yea, "...As I did on my own." That he was left alone allows his despair to become suicidal. The one thing we can do is be there, to not leave one another alone with these things, even if we cannot change them. Plant of Zeppelin says "I will share your load" (In the Light). "Church" and God are important in this song, and he might not have been deserted.
Yea, "...As I did on my own." That he was left alone allows his despair to become suicidal. The one thing we can do is be there, to not leave one another alone with these things, even if we cannot change them. Plant of Zeppelin says "I will share your load" (In the Light). "Church" and God are important in this song, and he might not have been deserted.
I love this song, I have been depressed before and almost killed myself but nobody and I mean nobody knew aout it at all.
Beautiful song, so poignant and yet covered masterfully with a major key.
Well, I heard this song was written after both his parents had died and he felt completely alone. So often we just assume they will always be around; but that's not reality. I understand it because having lost a parent; you do feel this huge hole. And sometimes, just seeing your friends around their parents etc makes you feel the loss so much more. One time while making a short trip with a friend, we caught some bad weather. Upon arriving safely the relief shown across her mother's face. In that instant, I felt so sad because I knew I'd never be able to have that relief of seeing my own mom again.
I know the feeling. But, not to ruin it for you, this isn't his personal story. As he says, "You don't have to experience something to write about it, only understand it".
I know the feeling. But, not to ruin it for you, this isn't his personal story. As he says, "You don't have to experience something to write about it, only understand it".