Looking out the door
I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations
As their shoes fill up with water
Maybe I'm too young
To keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you're on my mind so
You'll never know
Broken down and hungry for your love
With no way to feed it
Where are you tonight?
Child, you know how much I need it
Too young to hold on
And too old to just break free and run
Well, sometimes a man gets carried away
When he feels like he should be having his fun
But much too blind to see the damage he's done
Yeah, sometimes a man must awake to find that, really
He has no one
So I'll wait for you and I'll burn
Will I ever see your sweet return
Oh, will I ever learn?
Oh oh oh, lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late
Mm
Lonely is the room, the bed is made
The open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one
Who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep
That won't ever come
It's never over
My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
Yeah, it's never over, all my riches for her smiles
When I slept so soft against her
It's never over
All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
It's never over
She is a tear that hangs inside my soul forever (mm)
Ah, but maybe I'm just too young
To keep good love from going wrong
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh lover, you should've come over, yeah yeah, yes, yes
I feel too young to hold on
I'm much too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb, and blind
To see the damage I've done
The sweet lover, you, you should've come over
Oh, love, well I've waited for you
Lover, lover, lover
Lover, love, lover
Love, love, love, love, love
Lover, you should've come over
If it's not too late
I see the rain fall upon the funeral mourners
Parading in a wake of sad relations
As their shoes fill up with water
Maybe I'm too young
To keep good love from going wrong
But tonight you're on my mind so
You'll never know
Broken down and hungry for your love
With no way to feed it
Where are you tonight?
Child, you know how much I need it
Too young to hold on
And too old to just break free and run
Well, sometimes a man gets carried away
When he feels like he should be having his fun
But much too blind to see the damage he's done
Yeah, sometimes a man must awake to find that, really
He has no one
So I'll wait for you and I'll burn
Will I ever see your sweet return
Oh, will I ever learn?
Oh oh oh, lover, you should've come over
'Cause it's not too late
Mm
Lonely is the room, the bed is made
The open window lets the rain in
Burning in the corner is the only one
Who dreams he had you with him
My body turns and yearns for a sleep
That won't ever come
It's never over
My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
Yeah, it's never over, all my riches for her smiles
When I slept so soft against her
It's never over
All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
It's never over
She is a tear that hangs inside my soul forever (mm)
Ah, but maybe I'm just too young
To keep good love from going wrong
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh lover, you should've come over, yeah yeah, yes, yes
I feel too young to hold on
I'm much too old to break free and run
Too deaf, dumb, and blind
To see the damage I've done
The sweet lover, you, you should've come over
Oh, love, well I've waited for you
Lover, lover, lover
Lover, love, lover
Love, love, love, love, love
Lover, you should've come over
If it's not too late
Lyrics submitted by fallen_crow05
Lover, You Should've Come Over Lyrics as written by Jeffery Scott Buckley
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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- Stanza 2: We learn that Buckley's relationship ended as a result of his own disloyalty. He realises his mistakes now that he's "too old to just break free and run", and consequently he realises "really, he has no one".
- Stanza 3: He wants his ex (lover) to come over "'cause it's not too late".
- Stanza 4: Buckley creates depressing imagery, metaphorically describing his life as a lonely room with an open, inviting window. He describes his pain superlatively as "burning" and can't sleep because of it.
- Stanza 5: Buckley repeats that his pain is "never over", and he describes what he'd do to have his lover come over with four hyperbolic metaphors. "My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder" is an allusion to Shakespeare's Richard III: "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" This really is, in my opinion, the most meaningful and beautiful stanza of the poem. It's also a sort-of pre-climax where he lets out his Romeo-esque thoughts before stanza 6.
- Stanza 6: The climax of the song coincides with where Buckley lets out his frustration with himself for causing the break-up, describing himself metaphorically "too deaf, dumb, and blind to see the damage I've done." Buckley finishes the song with the unanswered invitation, meaning that he'll never believe it's too late for his lover to come back to him, and will never get over it. The song ends with the sound of the organ, recapping the sadness from the beginning and relating the loss of a relationship to the passing of a loved one.
This structure is the reason I love this song. It's not the sort of structure that gets you hooked on the song like a 2000's/2010's pop song structure does, because unlike said pop songs, it is slightly more through-composed, meaning the music follows the nature of the poem rather than the music being basically the same for every stanza. It is in the form A-A-B-A-Coda, but the B and Coda sections are fairly long and that's really where the through-composed style of the piece shines. The A sections really just describe Jeff's sadness, and are thus suitably softly played and sparesly textured.
My kingdom for a kiss upon her shoulder
It's never over, all my riches for her smiles
When I slept so soft against her
It's never over,
All my blood for the sweetness of her laughter
It's never over,
She is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever
The man was a genius, and puts into words what I feel far better than I ever could. Sucks to feel this way about someone who doesn't feel the same way about you.
Turn up the radio and drop the top
I see you look so good, and your so fine
Young tender, would you be mine
I get you in my car, drive you to my house
Cuz I'm a mack, I cold turn you out
I wont ask, and I sure won't beg
Reach right over and rub your leg
I let my hand slide between your miniskirt
Slip a finger in your panties, straight go to work
What time is it, don't watch the clock
Lay back baby doll and I'll rock the c__k
Funky Fresh I am, and I always can, Freak Nasty
I'm the man"
When Jeff sings, "Sometimes a man gets carried away, when he feels like he should be having his fun," is he implying that he left her so he could "have fun" and drink and be a man and bed many women? Then, does he realize that that kind of lifestyle, he "awake[s] to find that really, he has no one"?
That's the way that I interpreted it... A man leaves his girlfriend for freedom, for the pursuit of all "fun" and manly things, only to find that it leaves him empty. It doesn't fill him up the way his lover did.
Is there anything I missed/misinterpreted?
To me, it's about denying closure. He is expressing how much he needs this person, knowing in the back of his mind that she isn't going to come back due to the excessive amount of mistakes he made in the past. But he feels some form of comfort knowing that there is that small possibility, so he waits and waits.
I can really feel this song after a breakup. It hurts yet it's comforting at the same time.