(Are You) The One That I've Been Waiting For?

The song is a love song. He met someone and fell for them he thinks that she is the one but he doubts it because the current world expects so much from your "true love" that unless "Stars explode in the sky" how do you know if this person is the one! The last verse explains that you have to put aside expectations and go for what you want. He who seeks finds! Perfect modern love song.

I didn't get the feeling of disappointment at all - I did hear the caution in it though. I feel like it's a song of anticipation... can it really be that the person he has waited for is here? That all this time he has waited (the ice-age thawing), and now he's beginning to believe that the wait is at end... "every little thing anticipates you" and "all down my veins my heart strings call" is that great tingly excitement/hope that he is feeling. the stanza where he talks about 'we all know, don't we, that stars will explode in the sky" sounds sarcastic - like what you've said previously - the false expectation of what love will be like. but the reality is "stars have their moments and they die", much like our own lives - great moments, and a natural conclusion. I love this song!

I think he never felt out of love with her. this song sounds to me like the fantasy of her return

Rachel has it right. He loved her and she's gone. He wants her back. But she's not coming. And he won't come to her.

I think this song is about a man that's lived a difficult life and has been so terribly hurt in the past that he's afraid to give himself and his heart again... until this girl comes along... and he loves her dearly, falls in love with her, but doesn't give himself readily.... but slowly but surely he will... b/c deep down inside he knows that she is the one.

First, I really love this song (I used to sing it I was in a band at Uni).

Second, I always saw it as someone looking back on the quest for love. The disappointment that he expresses when he sings, "Oh, we will know, won't we? The stars will explode in the sky, Oh, but they don't, do they? Stars have their moment and then they die" It sounds like the crushing disappointment of finding that love isn't like it is in films and books, but still he's looking and so he's asking, "Are you the one that I've been waiting for?"

I think it is a song of anticipation. That he is still waiting for the one he's been waiting for? And through his search he is waiting for the one with a fantastic romanticism (the stars exploding in the sky), but when he realises there is no real romanticism in lifes loves. That's when the biblical reference comes in. The biblical reference I think points out that he can find in each lover past or future what he looks for, or what he's been waiting for. And perhaps even, in reflecting his past loves, that he only ever found what he was looking for, and just has to change the focus of his vision. :) At least that's what it means to me. . . ;)

There's a line in a Magnetic Fields (Chicken with it's head cut off - http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/88594/) song that says:

"We don't have to be stars exploding in the night or electric eels under the covers. We don't have to be anything quite so unreal, let's just be lovers."

and while I don't think the songs relate much I do think this line expresses something similar. Like everyone is saying about the hyped up concept of love, we expect some sort of miracle to fall on us when we fall in love but actually nothing like that happens, the world just keeps going. What this song really emphasizes to me is that it's not the stars exploding around you, or the fireworks in a movie kiss that make love so incredible, it's just the love, it's that person standing infront of you wrapped in a coat, the way you feel them all down your veins, how the world can go to war outside your window and all you care about is being there for them.

I think its interesting so many comments think its about someone he knew and lost. That's not clear, I mean it could be, even likely (my bet would be his first love, whoever that is), but its not implicit in the lyrics.

What is clear is that he's expressing hope that he will find this love in the future, soon.

But how will he know for certain when he has found his true love? Will there be clear signs? Will stars explode overhead?

I think he's also expressing how there are very few certainties in life. There is an implication of fear or doubt, by saying it would be nice if we knew for certain, if when we knew we met our true love we could be certain because of undeniable indications, if stars exploded overhead when we met, but in reality we know that doesn't happen.

In reality the only certainty in life is that life blooms and then it fades, the inevitable transcience of time.

Sometimes we don't know that we've met out true love until time has passed. Maybe why some have interpretted this song as longing for a lost love. All Nick is expressing is clear longing for true love, and hope he will find true love soon. The implication being that "true love" would endure, maybe that is the only indication that it is "true love" versus another kind of love that could not be lost, just as other loves have.

There are no disappointments nor sadness (because of ex-lovers) nor anything like that in this song.

For me this is one of the most beautiful love songs ever. And it's completely optimistic! It's so beautiful in a mature, realistic way, as opposed to a classic romantic, immaturely passionate way.

This is a song about the expectation of the one true love, which is coming, but realistically, you always ask yourself "are you the one that I've been waiting for"?

The key lyrics are, of course, these (so beautifully put):

"Oh, we will know, won't we? The stars will explode in the sky! But they don't, do they? Stars have their moment and then they die."

It's goodbye to the childish way of thinking about love and accepting the approaching mature love.

No, even when the true love comes, there won't be any star explosions in the sky! And even if there are explosions, it's not what counts! That kind of stuff passes quickly (that moment od crazy, explosive love quickly dies, as it presumably died in cases of the former lovers), but something else is what you should look for - all down your veins - and recognize and welcome the true love when it comes.