I did ramble a bit but i think you'll like my interpretation if you keep reading. I think there are a lot of interesting opinions but I wanted to comment on it because its such a pretty song. I tried to look up the meaning but I couldnt find an interpretion like mine so I thought I'd share, even a few years late.
I really don't agree with some of the comments about it being a song about misogyny. Thats very sad and at the risk of sounding rude, quite shallow. The words are being taken at face value in those comments. We know in poetry/ songs words hardly ever mean just their book definitions.
I think a lot of comments are coming from one perspective, 'a boy,' but if you read the lyrics as, 'a girl,' the interpretation becomes something a lot different and a lot more sad. I know from some of their other songs, they aren't written from their own perspectives.
Probably the most mentioned interpretation is unrequited love, which seems the most accurate. I think the song itself is written from a young women's perspective but can apply to anyone because its a theme in our young adult lives, or lives in general, yes? She's telling this story from the perspective of all the pretty girl's but also from her own perspective/ experience. I think the first few lines are the most important in interpreting then the rest becomes a bit more obvious when you're looking at it from the right angle. I do somewhat break it down line by line so it is a little long. Some verses also seem to convey a double meaning.
•"All the pretty girls like Samuel"
(I do too, but I'm just one of the pretty girls)
•"Oh, he really doesn't share"
(He doesnt really share--- a reciprocating love to all the girls/ me, because I'm just the same as them to you)- it seems like an unfinished sentence, hes just a boy dating, experimenting as a young man. What its not about, is a boy named samuel sharing his women?!? Come on
•"Though it's more than he can handle" (hes not on the same level to reciprocate the love back to any of the girls/me because he's just a boy having fun)- its a lot when you're in a relationship and one person is more in love than the other, hes not capable of handling their hearts with the same care
•"Life is anything but fair, life is anything but fair"
(its not fair to all the pretty girls, but really.. its not fair to me) why? See prevous line
•"Just as soon as they turn older"
•"He'll come and sweep them off their feet"
(when all the pretty girls are older, ie. when we're ALL older and mature and gone, he'll finally find his 'one'....) they/them=her, refering to the singular
•"It's only making me feel smaller" (....and i know deep down, it won't be me, and it makes me feel small in your world)
•"All the hidden love beneath"
(but i have all this love for you that i can't feel to the fullest because you don't love me back like that, we cant have this deeper love like i want)
•"So won't you lay me
•Won't you lay me down
•Won't you lay me, won't you lay me down"
(I'll take what i can get here and now, in this moment) she knows its not forever, she doesnt own his heart the way he owns hers
•"All alone, alone again"
•No one lends a helping hand"
(Our time is over but I'm not over him like he's over me, all the reassuring words from friends and family// or trying to replace you with someone else, etc, doesnt help make my love for you go away) no one=nothing is helping
•"I have waited, I have waited"
•"Takes a toll, my foolish pride"
•"How long before I see the light"
•"I have waited, I have waited"
•"For you"
•"To lay me down"
(I watch you with all the other pretty girls (before and after,) its hard and i know im a fool, when will i ever get over you/ learn, Im still waiting for you to come back or just let me go for good)
•"Sail on by"
•"Sail on by for now"
•"They play naked in the water"
•"You know it's hard"
•"Heaven knows I've tried"
•"But it just keeps getting harder"
(So go ahead and have your fun with them, with me, I'm still not over you, but its getting harder everytime) "heaven knows I've tried, but it just keeps getting harder"- to get over him? To stop going back to him? Both?
I think the repeating 'lay me down' verses can refer to different moments in time. To me it seems like she keeps falling, getting her moments in between his time with the other girls but she cant stop because... love makes us do stupid things, right? I think some of the previous lines help imply that (all alone again, keeps getting harder, etc.) And if we're keeping in line with that theory it can also be asking 'when will you finally let me go.' Lay me down= ending things, being done.
Also it may be a bit of a reach but he sings most of the song in falsetto but there is a part at the end, the chorus isnt. It gives a vibe of a duet. It reinforces how you can switch perspectives to anyone in general. (But again the song itself is from the perspective of a young women.) Its a common experience, the story of our lives amiright?
I did ramble a bit but i think you'll like my interpretation if you keep reading. I think there are a lot of interesting opinions but I wanted to comment on it because its such a pretty song. I tried to look up the meaning but I couldnt find an interpretion like mine so I thought I'd share, even a few years late.
I really don't agree with some of the comments about it being a song about misogyny. Thats very sad and at the risk of sounding rude, quite shallow. The words are being taken at face value in those comments. We know in poetry/ songs words hardly ever mean just their book definitions.
I think a lot of comments are coming from one perspective, 'a boy,' but if you read the lyrics as, 'a girl,' the interpretation becomes something a lot different and a lot more sad. I know from some of their other songs, they aren't written from their own perspectives.
Probably the most mentioned interpretation is unrequited love, which seems the most accurate. I think the song itself is written from a young women's perspective but can apply to anyone because its a theme in our young adult lives, or lives in general, yes? She's telling this story from the perspective of all the pretty girl's but also from her own perspective/ experience. I think the first few lines are the most important in interpreting then the rest becomes a bit more obvious when you're looking at it from the right angle. I do somewhat break it down line by line so it is a little long. Some verses also seem to convey a double meaning.
•"All the pretty girls like Samuel" (I do too, but I'm just one of the pretty girls)
•"Oh, he really doesn't share" (He doesnt really share--- a reciprocating love to all the girls/ me, because I'm just the same as them to you)- it seems like an unfinished sentence, hes just a boy dating, experimenting as a young man. What its not about, is a boy named samuel sharing his women?!? Come on
•"Though it's more than he can handle" (hes not on the same level to reciprocate the love back to any of the girls/me because he's just a boy having fun)- its a lot when you're in a relationship and one person is more in love than the other, hes not capable of handling their hearts with the same care
•"Life is anything but fair, life is anything but fair" (its not fair to all the pretty girls, but really.. its not fair to me) why? See prevous line
•"Just as soon as they turn older" •"He'll come and sweep them off their feet" (when all the pretty girls are older, ie. when we're ALL older and mature and gone, he'll finally find his 'one'....) they/them=her, refering to the singular
•"It's only making me feel smaller" (....and i know deep down, it won't be me, and it makes me feel small in your world)
•"All the hidden love beneath" (but i have all this love for you that i can't feel to the fullest because you don't love me back like that, we cant have this deeper love like i want)
•"So won't you lay me •Won't you lay me down •Won't you lay me, won't you lay me down" (I'll take what i can get here and now, in this moment) she knows its not forever, she doesnt own his heart the way he owns hers
•"All alone, alone again" •No one lends a helping hand" (Our time is over but I'm not over him like he's over me, all the reassuring words from friends and family// or trying to replace you with someone else, etc, doesnt help make my love for you go away) no one=nothing is helping
•"I have waited, I have waited" •"Takes a toll, my foolish pride" •"How long before I see the light" •"I have waited, I have waited" •"For you" •"To lay me down" (I watch you with all the other pretty girls (before and after,) its hard and i know im a fool, when will i ever get over you/ learn, Im still waiting for you to come back or just let me go for good)
•"Sail on by" •"Sail on by for now" •"They play naked in the water" •"You know it's hard" •"Heaven knows I've tried" •"But it just keeps getting harder" (So go ahead and have your fun with them, with me, I'm still not over you, but its getting harder everytime) "heaven knows I've tried, but it just keeps getting harder"- to get over him? To stop going back to him? Both?
I think the repeating 'lay me down' verses can refer to different moments in time. To me it seems like she keeps falling, getting her moments in between his time with the other girls but she cant stop because... love makes us do stupid things, right? I think some of the previous lines help imply that (all alone again, keeps getting harder, etc.) And if we're keeping in line with that theory it can also be asking 'when will you finally let me go.' Lay me down= ending things, being done.
Also it may be a bit of a reach but he sings most of the song in falsetto but there is a part at the end, the chorus isnt. It gives a vibe of a duet. It reinforces how you can switch perspectives to anyone in general. (But again the song itself is from the perspective of a young women.) Its a common experience, the story of our lives amiright?
@TheWhiz @Lyrael @cutewhensedated @D3vinebyD3sign @GenocidalGerbi just wanted to share my opinion with people who commented the most. I know its been nearly a decade, sheeez. I really dont think its a boys perspective but i could be wrong.
@TheWhiz @Lyrael @cutewhensedated @D3vinebyD3sign @GenocidalGerbi just wanted to share my opinion with people who commented the most. I know its been nearly a decade, sheeez. I really dont think its a boys perspective but i could be wrong.