Its hard to say what the Cranberries had in mind specifically when they used the words they did. The lyrics could be about finding out a flask of coffee went cold in the night, as far as they're concerned. The music is spectacular, though.
But for the past twenty years, this song for me has outlined the way certain (good) people will believe a relationship exists far past the capacity for it to exist, or grow, and when they finally reach that point of seeing it clearly, they feel deep disappointment that they lied to themselves for so long.
The lies of the other person pale by comparison, it's the realising you've been simple, naieve, or "unsophisticated" that hurts. I think the lines that talk about "I lied, you're right" and "I hope you find your way again", is the good-natured person admitting that what she did was as big a "lie" as the person who played along, and she is taking more blame for the situation than is right (because of her personality type), which adds to and entrenches the sense of disappointment in the way life is.
It's unclear which lines are accusations, and which are painful moments of self-awareness, because both fit and are interchangeable, and I think it's meant to be that way. Not only does she wish her partner the best, but she hopes that she'll find her way again, back to the person she naturally was, after all the disappointment.
Its hard to say what the Cranberries had in mind specifically when they used the words they did. The lyrics could be about finding out a flask of coffee went cold in the night, as far as they're concerned. The music is spectacular, though.
But for the past twenty years, this song for me has outlined the way certain (good) people will believe a relationship exists far past the capacity for it to exist, or grow, and when they finally reach that point of seeing it clearly, they feel deep disappointment that they lied to themselves for so long.
The lies of the other person pale by comparison, it's the realising you've been simple, naieve, or "unsophisticated" that hurts. I think the lines that talk about "I lied, you're right" and "I hope you find your way again", is the good-natured person admitting that what she did was as big a "lie" as the person who played along, and she is taking more blame for the situation than is right (because of her personality type), which adds to and entrenches the sense of disappointment in the way life is.
It's unclear which lines are accusations, and which are painful moments of self-awareness, because both fit and are interchangeable, and I think it's meant to be that way. Not only does she wish her partner the best, but she hopes that she'll find her way again, back to the person she naturally was, after all the disappointment.