Empty

i think this song is about a man who was so completely in love with a woman.. now he sits and remembers their time together.. and by the lyrics its seems as if what hes remembering most are the simple times they had together, but they may have been the most amazing. like just watching her laugh n' walk through a garden, n' making love while its raining outside. now he doesnt have her, and hes miserable without her.. and hes wondering, will i always feel this way.. he doesnt think he'll ever get over her n' he feels hes always gonna be empty n' depressed without her in his life. thats the way i take it.. beautiful song. possibly my favorite of his

I just wanted to say that while the meaning of a song's lyrics are usually relatively, left up for the person to decide, unless the writer says "This is the meaning...." This song makes me cry every time I hear it because when this song comes on, I just can't control my feelings and everything I keep bottled up for the day comes out when the music starts playing.

For me, this song is all about depression. But, that's only because that is what I've dealt with since I was 12 years old. Since I was 18, I've felt this unexplainable emptiness inside of me. Like I've no purpose, no way to find out my purpose, that everything I do is pointless and without merit. I feel useless and destroyed, beaten down again and again. I feel unloved and completely alone, regardless of whether or not I scream at the top of my lungs everyone just pretends to not hear me.

When he talks of making quiet love, to me that is the love you make when one or both partners are so completely depressed and beaten they don't even find a connection through making love. It is purely physical, with the two looking away from each other because they know they just need to feel something good once in a while, even if it is only through sex.

I think the verse about demons is about suicide, or death. Telling all his troubles, his sadness and emptiness, to really go ahead and eat him alive. That he has suffered through it so much that he just doesn't care enough to fight it or try and stave it off. He just wants to quietly accept his death and embraces it, in fact he WANTS it to come. The hurt I hide just fuels the fires inside me that keep me on this self-destructive path of misery, loneliness, and, hopefully, death.

This is an awesome song, one of Ray's best. A lot of his songs have this same haunting overtone. To me this song is about depression, and how "empty and so estranged" you can feel when the love in your life cannot possibly know the darkness inside yourself. I think she walks around in the garden... has flowers in her hair because she is all goodness and light, where he battles his demons and his own darkness. That's why she's plain and country- because she doesn't have the same cross to bear that he does. When he speaks those words no one can hear him- because no one understands him. Sometimes when all you've known is pain and depression, it defines who you are. Without it, he's not the same person. So I do not think he overcomes it, rather he fights it the best he knows how, but also knows that pain is the only way some can really feel alive.

this song is absolutly beautiful. the end.

Corrections:

"Yes and some already dead that walk beside me"

The last line should read, "Well it's the hurt I hide that fuels the fires inside me"

Nonetheless, this song is incredible.

I think it's about someone who has been through tough experiences that changed him completely and left him feeling drained of emotion. And now he's watching the woman he loved find joy in the simple things in life, and he's realizing that there's no way that they can ever fully understand each other again, as she still posesses some kind of innocence that he has lost to the demons that he has been battling. At first he laments the tragedy and frustration of the situation- he wants so badly to love her like he once did, but she will never be able to see life from his point of view. They walk through a beautiful meadow and all he notices is the rusted car sinking in the mud; she sees a beautiful sunset, whereas his is "cutthroat" and "busted." He wonders if he is alone in these feelings and is afraid to express them for fear of judgement or ridicule. Even after making love, he realizes that the empty feeling still has not gone away, and he realizes that after facing his deepest fears and radically changing his view of life, the relationship can no longer work. And finally, he accepts his new view of life when he realizes that despite the pain his emptiness causes, it is important to share it with the world instead of lying about it out of fear as most people do. He embraces his emptiness; t is the force that pulls the creativity out of him and allows him to put something meaningful out into the world.

"There's a lot of things that can kill a man There's a lot of ways to die Yes and some already dead who walk beside you There's a lot of things I don't understand Why so many people lie Well it's the hurt you hide that fuels the fires inside you"

These lines get me the most, I mean they make me literally break down from pain and joy that this man has wrote this beautiful poetry that i have been searching for, for several years...Gosh-the intensity of this song, I listen to it daily.
To me, this song represents pure human, raw emotion. We ALL feel empty from time to time, this is one of the most powerful songs that has ever graced my ears.

-Hollyliz.

The song starts with a story about happiness (her bare feet laughing), and what should be a current pleasant experience (through the grass grown tall and brown), but the author sees only his past disappointments (I choose instead to dwell in my disasters). The Cadillac (that old and rusted Cadillac) represents the quality of a life that once was different, but is now empty and clouded (sinks into this field collecting rain), perhaps similar to the author’s life.

Regardless of the sunsets, new morning, flowers, and “quiet love we make,” the author asks if he will always feel disconnected (Will I always feel this way?) (Still somehow it is hard to let go of pain) (So empty, so estranged?).

Verse 3 signals his intent to change by confronting the emptiness (Well I looked my demons in the eye, Laid bare my chest said do your best destroy me). Note the present tense and confronting tone (I've been to hell and back). He has decided to not go there again (you kinda bore me).

The things that can kill a man are not having the courage to stand up to your demons (it's the hurt you hide). The use of the word “well” indicates the author’s personal answer to the emptiness, and how to “let go of his pain” (Well it's the hurt I hide that fuels the fires inside me).

I am not sure I agree with the interpretation of depression as much as an event that caused the pain. I have the feeling that the author was lied to (There's a lot of things I don't understand, Why so many people lie) and that may be the source of the pain.

While there is little support for this interpretation, the author may be speaking to the person that hurt him ( I have grown weary … If, I spoke these words out loud would no one hear me?). (Yes, and some already dead who walk beside you.) However, this runs contrary to the overall tone of the song and the “applauding rain,” verse that indicates someone new. The use of "rain" as representing the loss of a past quality life (Cadillac ... collecting rain) and the next use as encouraging the change (tapping of the rain ...applauding) indicates a potential change that is occurring.

I do see the song as somewhat redemptive in that the author has confronted the demons and found that they "fuel the fires inside him."

My interpretation of this is quite personal. (I think you often see/hear what you want in a song unless it is absolutely explicit in meaning).

Personally I couldn't be happier in my love life. Married to a woman who makes me SO happy inside. YET... I still feel quite down in various ways at various times. I see too much negative in a lot of things even though, actually, my life is pretty good.

"I never learned to count my blessings I choose instead to dwell in my disasters"

...

"Walk on down the hill Through the grass grown tall and brown And still it's hard somehow to let go of my pain"

Things are good yet you can't help but mourn the things that aren't good.

This is the kind of thing I do all the time, even though I'm aware of it. (Although it is better now I'm aware of it). But I have a mild depression going on... so yeah - agree that this song is about depression. And the two sides of life. Even though things are great (as he talks about a lover here) he still feels empty and estranged from his siutation. I know the feeling exactly.

The song itself (even without meaning) is amazing. Beautiful melody and softly sung by Ray. The imagery is fantastic and the lyrics stand out an album filled with strong lyrics.

Thanks Ray, keep up the good work!

There are many songs on the theme of 'emptiness' but none describes the feeling with such accuracy and depth as this one. Ray gives us such beautiful images, like walking down the hill Through tall grasses, but is quick to add that despite such perfect beauty outside, it's hard to let go of his pain. It's like he's screaming out loud but no one can hear him, not even the person sitting next to him. That's the general mood of the song. Then comes the desperate question of eternity - Would he always feel the same way? so empty, so estranged? Ray's earthy voice gives the song a quality of laid back anxiety.