Maybe it's clichéd, but I think it's about the uncertain future of a struggling relationship. The "story in her eyes" is, from the lyricist's perspective, their relationship reflected back at him.
The verse is an admittance that they are both in love with each other, despite the problems they've been through. And his admittance that he took her for granted, that he didn't realize what the relationship meant to him, or how much he loved her.
The first half of the chorus is his optimism about the possibilities of the relationship. He wants her to put the past behind them, accept the failure of the prior relationship. But he wants it to begin anew, rising from the ashes, making something new, greater than what came before.
The second half of the chorus is his pessimism. He's afraid that maybe he's wasting his time, that the relationship is doomed to fail, that the good times they're hoping for will only be more bad times, more failure.
The final section, in the chorus's last reprise, he accepts that whatever happens, when their relationship finally ends, he can always retreat to the memory of that relationship, and the warmth of knowing that, failed relationship or not, she still loves him.
It's a very romantic song, saccharine sweet almost, but it gives me a serious case of the waterworks.
Maybe it's clichéd, but I think it's about the uncertain future of a struggling relationship. The "story in her eyes" is, from the lyricist's perspective, their relationship reflected back at him.
The verse is an admittance that they are both in love with each other, despite the problems they've been through. And his admittance that he took her for granted, that he didn't realize what the relationship meant to him, or how much he loved her.
The first half of the chorus is his optimism about the possibilities of the relationship. He wants her to put the past behind them, accept the failure of the prior relationship. But he wants it to begin anew, rising from the ashes, making something new, greater than what came before.
The second half of the chorus is his pessimism. He's afraid that maybe he's wasting his time, that the relationship is doomed to fail, that the good times they're hoping for will only be more bad times, more failure.
The final section, in the chorus's last reprise, he accepts that whatever happens, when their relationship finally ends, he can always retreat to the memory of that relationship, and the warmth of knowing that, failed relationship or not, she still loves him.
It's a very romantic song, saccharine sweet almost, but it gives me a serious case of the waterworks.