I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it. All of Ryan's music speaks to me (not to be creepy or anything) on such a personal level. This song especially impacted me and so I'm going to take the time to write out what I think the lyrics are about and what they mean to me.
"Karina, if I told you what I wanted to
I wonder if you would have stuck around
Well I could take you walking down to Hoxton Square
With the lazy afternoon still kickin’around"
He's talking to a girl named Karina in his thoughts. He's thinking about what he should have said or done so that she would still be with him. Hoxton Square as stated by another comment is a place in England. He's basically just thinking about her and all the great times they could have had.
"Karina if I left it where I wanted to
Yeah, I wonder if you sit around and smile
When you’re dreamin’ of America, your father's ghost
Breaks the door with all his chains just rattlin' around"
Now lines 3 and 4 were a bit of a mystery to me. It is apparent that a past girlfriend of his moved to London, but I'm thinking that this could possibly be a referrence to a Christmas Carol. In the sense that the ghost with chains breaks down her door, making her father the antagonist. Maybe her father made her move to London? Maybe her father broke them up? I think it's more of a personal remark from Ryan.
"Cause if it were easy
You wouldn’t need me
If it would bring you any ease
I'd beg to Jesus "won’t you let Karina free"
Karina appears to be having problems with love or just a hard time in general, and so he feels as though she really needs him. And he actually prayed for her, which is something he says he doesn't do often in Crossed Out Name lol.
"Karina all the silence, it’s so deafening
And all the leaves have fallen from the trees
I could hold your cigarette on Oxford Street
But I’m back here, where your lover wants me to be"
He can't bare the silence of not having her around, followed by the irony that its "deafening." He then says that he's back in America because that's where her boyfriend wants him to be. In other words, her boyfriend doesn't want him around her.
"And Karina, there’s this patience in the things we see <(I think it's "say")
It’s the harbouring of all the things we do
Yeah, and everytime I tell myself there’s nothing left
May I always say your name and think of you"
In this he's saying that there is a patience in all the things people say, and that words need to be carefully thought about and considered because they reflect how a person feels, which is why they act how they do. ("its the harbouring of all the things we do") Then he states that he tries to tell himself that their love is over, but he also doesn't want to forget about her, or have other "Karinas" in life to take her place.
While I may be overthinking things, this song is just amazing and that's how I thought of it.
I fell in love with this song the first time I heard it. All of Ryan's music speaks to me (not to be creepy or anything) on such a personal level. This song especially impacted me and so I'm going to take the time to write out what I think the lyrics are about and what they mean to me.
"Karina, if I told you what I wanted to I wonder if you would have stuck around Well I could take you walking down to Hoxton Square With the lazy afternoon still kickin’around"
He's talking to a girl named Karina in his thoughts. He's thinking about what he should have said or done so that she would still be with him. Hoxton Square as stated by another comment is a place in England. He's basically just thinking about her and all the great times they could have had.
"Karina if I left it where I wanted to Yeah, I wonder if you sit around and smile When you’re dreamin’ of America, your father's ghost Breaks the door with all his chains just rattlin' around"
Now lines 3 and 4 were a bit of a mystery to me. It is apparent that a past girlfriend of his moved to London, but I'm thinking that this could possibly be a referrence to a Christmas Carol. In the sense that the ghost with chains breaks down her door, making her father the antagonist. Maybe her father made her move to London? Maybe her father broke them up? I think it's more of a personal remark from Ryan.
"Cause if it were easy You wouldn’t need me If it would bring you any ease I'd beg to Jesus "won’t you let Karina free"
Karina appears to be having problems with love or just a hard time in general, and so he feels as though she really needs him. And he actually prayed for her, which is something he says he doesn't do often in Crossed Out Name lol.
"Karina all the silence, it’s so deafening And all the leaves have fallen from the trees I could hold your cigarette on Oxford Street But I’m back here, where your lover wants me to be"
He can't bare the silence of not having her around, followed by the irony that its "deafening." He then says that he's back in America because that's where her boyfriend wants him to be. In other words, her boyfriend doesn't want him around her.
"And Karina, there’s this patience in the things we see <(I think it's "say") It’s the harbouring of all the things we do Yeah, and everytime I tell myself there’s nothing left May I always say your name and think of you"
In this he's saying that there is a patience in all the things people say, and that words need to be carefully thought about and considered because they reflect how a person feels, which is why they act how they do. ("its the harbouring of all the things we do") Then he states that he tries to tell himself that their love is over, but he also doesn't want to forget about her, or have other "Karinas" in life to take her place.
While I may be overthinking things, this song is just amazing and that's how I thought of it.