look back, because to move on we have to know and accept what happened, and acknowledge it all from everyone's point of view. We have to look back; we can't pretend it never happened. To move on, you have to forgive; to forgive, you have to accept.
Much of the second verse is very telling. "And outside forces didn't make it easy, so I thought I'd go before you'd leave me". On the first half of that, I think the outside forces are specifically the pressure from the media. They were falling apart from the inside, but the additional pressure from everyone else to keep it together anyway made it harder. As for the second half, it's brutally honest. It's Robbie's insecurity again; he was so afraid to be left, so he walked out on them before they could leave him. People will always want to leave, rather than be left. By leaving, he was the one who chose what happened rather than the one being told and having to give in. He had the final word.
My favourite line in the whole song (and I love them all) is "At last, we meet on no-man's land". It's wonderful. I think the significance is that no-man's land is in the middle of the two fighting sides, and to meet on no-man's land you both have to make your way there. It requires effort on both sides, a mutual desire to end the fight. Both sides climbed up into the space in the middle, and dropped their weapons and met each other half-way.
That's just my take. However you choose to look at it, these are wonderful lyrics. In my opinion, it's an incredible, honest song, and was a fantastic choice for the final song of the set list on the tour.">
Eight Letters Meanings & Lyrics Discussion by Grace18 | SongMeanings
look back, because to move on we have to know and accept what happened, and acknowledge it all from everyone's point of view. We have to look back; we can't pretend it never happened. To move on, you have to forgive; to forgive, you have to accept.
Much of the second verse is very telling. "And outside forces didn't make it easy, so I thought I'd go before you'd leave me". On the first half of that, I think the outside forces are specifically the pressure from the media. They were falling apart from the inside, but the additional pressure from everyone else to keep it together anyway made it harder. As for the second half, it's brutally honest. It's Robbie's insecurity again; he was so afraid to be left, so he walked out on them before they could leave him. People will always want to leave, rather than be left. By leaving, he was the one who chose what happened rather than the one being told and having to give in. He had the final word.
My favourite line in the whole song (and I love them all) is "At last, we meet on no-man's land". It's wonderful. I think the significance is that no-man's land is in the middle of the two fighting sides, and to meet on no-man's land you both have to make your way there. It requires effort on both sides, a mutual desire to end the fight. Both sides climbed up into the space in the middle, and dropped their weapons and met each other half-way.
That's just my take. However you choose to look at it, these are wonderful lyrics. In my opinion, it's an incredible, honest song, and was a fantastic choice for the final song of the set list on the tour." />
I agree with sgninaemgnos2. Robbie mainly wrote the lyrics, from what was said in the documentary Look Back, Don't Stare. I'd just like to add a little bit about a few lines.
The lyric in the first verse is "Raised on a feeling our lives would have meaning, eventually". In the documentary (if you haven't seen it, I recommend it), Robbie says that having the opportunity to join the band was like getting the golden ticket, and they took it and followed blindly because it was their one chance to make something of their lives, and it was only when he was so far in and couldn't turn back that he became unhappy with it, because it wasn't living up to his expectations. That lyric, then, is about the insecurity that was felt particularly by Robbie, worrying that he would come to nothing in the end and taking the first chance he was offered.
Then, in the chorus, the lyric "you can look back but don't stare"... In Robbie's words, "Cuz it's ugly". So it says, it's ugly and I don't want you to dwell on it, but you can just <i>look</i> back, because to move on we have to know and accept what happened, and acknowledge it all from everyone's point of view. We have to look back; we can't pretend it never happened. To move on, you have to forgive; to forgive, you have to accept.
Much of the second verse is very telling. "And outside forces didn't make it easy, so I thought I'd go before you'd leave me". On the first half of that, I think the outside forces are specifically the pressure from the media. They were falling apart from the inside, but the additional pressure from everyone else to keep it together anyway made it harder. As for the second half, it's brutally honest. It's Robbie's insecurity again; he was so afraid to be left, so he walked out on them before they could leave him. People will always want to leave, rather than be left. By leaving, he was the one who chose what happened rather than the one being told and having to give in. He had the final word.
My favourite line in the whole song (and I love them all) is "At last, we meet on no-man's land". It's wonderful. I think the significance is that no-man's land is in the middle of the two fighting sides, and to meet on no-man's land you both have to make your way there. It requires effort on both sides, a mutual desire to end the fight. Both sides climbed up into the space in the middle, and dropped their weapons and met each other half-way.
That's just my take. However you choose to look at it, these are wonderful lyrics. In my opinion, it's an incredible, honest song, and was a fantastic choice for the final song of the set list on the tour.
I agree with sgninaemgnos2. Robbie mainly wrote the lyrics, from what was said in the documentary Look Back, Don't Stare. I'd just like to add a little bit about a few lines.
The lyric in the first verse is "Raised on a feeling our lives would have meaning, eventually". In the documentary (if you haven't seen it, I recommend it), Robbie says that having the opportunity to join the band was like getting the golden ticket, and they took it and followed blindly because it was their one chance to make something of their lives, and it was only when he was so far in and couldn't turn back that he became unhappy with it, because it wasn't living up to his expectations. That lyric, then, is about the insecurity that was felt particularly by Robbie, worrying that he would come to nothing in the end and taking the first chance he was offered.
Then, in the chorus, the lyric "you can look back but don't stare"... In Robbie's words, "Cuz it's ugly". So it says, it's ugly and I don't want you to dwell on it, but you can just <i>look</i> back, because to move on we have to know and accept what happened, and acknowledge it all from everyone's point of view. We have to look back; we can't pretend it never happened. To move on, you have to forgive; to forgive, you have to accept.
Much of the second verse is very telling. "And outside forces didn't make it easy, so I thought I'd go before you'd leave me". On the first half of that, I think the outside forces are specifically the pressure from the media. They were falling apart from the inside, but the additional pressure from everyone else to keep it together anyway made it harder. As for the second half, it's brutally honest. It's Robbie's insecurity again; he was so afraid to be left, so he walked out on them before they could leave him. People will always want to leave, rather than be left. By leaving, he was the one who chose what happened rather than the one being told and having to give in. He had the final word.
My favourite line in the whole song (and I love them all) is "At last, we meet on no-man's land". It's wonderful. I think the significance is that no-man's land is in the middle of the two fighting sides, and to meet on no-man's land you both have to make your way there. It requires effort on both sides, a mutual desire to end the fight. Both sides climbed up into the space in the middle, and dropped their weapons and met each other half-way.
That's just my take. However you choose to look at it, these are wonderful lyrics. In my opinion, it's an incredible, honest song, and was a fantastic choice for the final song of the set list on the tour.