Lyrics for History as interpreted by enola

History Lyrics
I wander lonely streets
Behind where the old Thames does flow
And in every face I meet
Reminds me of what I have run from

In every man, in every hand
In every kiss, you understand
That living is for other men
I hope you two will understand

I've got to tell you my tale
Of how I loved and how I failed
I hope you understand

I've got to tell you my tale
Of how I loved and how I failed
I hope you understand
These feelings should not be in the man

In every child, in every eye
In every sky, above my head
I hope that I know
So come with me in bed
Because it's you and me, we're history
There ain't nothing left to say
When I will get you alone

Maybe we could find a room
Where we could see what we should do
Maybe you konw it's true
Living with me is like keeping a fool

In every man, in every hand
In every kiss, you understand
That living is for other men
I hope you know that I am me so come on
I'm thinking about history
And I'm living for history
And I think you know about me
Cause I am

And one and one is two
But three is company
When you're thinking about the things you do
And you're thinking about the things you do
I want to tell you my tale
How I fell in love and jumped out on my bail
I hope ypu understand there's more in a smile than in a hand
In every sky, in every kiss
There's something that I migght have missed

Why am I going to
A place that now belongs to you
But you were weak and so was I
Let's pick it up, let's even try
To live today, so why not smile
Don't dream away your life coz it is mine
Is that a crime
This life is mine
The bed ain't made but it's filled full of hope
I've got a skin full of dope
I've got a skin full of dope

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  • 16 Comments
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rahtwinkle
10-05-2002

Rated 0 
this is probly one of the greatest verve songs ever written and no one has commented on it...

absolutely beautiful. xx

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knowthyself
04-17-2003

Rated 0 
I love this song, since I can really relate to it. Who can't? Everyone has longed for someone they can't have.

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gs
11-10-2004

Rated 0 
Great song, but the entire first verse is a re-working of the poet William Blake's "London". It's worth having a look at that poem to see how Richard re-contextualises Blake. Check the link:

http://eir.library.utoronto.ca/rpo/display/poem184.html

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salty1690
03-12-2005

Rated 0 
i fink this song is about an ex that he wishes he could still see even though he knows she won't have him back,
its aout unrequited love

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salty1690
03-12-2005

Rated 0 
about**

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DRUMCODE
12-21-2005

Rated 0 
It's about his band breaking up the first time!

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suchahero
06-24-2006

Rated 0 
This is such a good song, for some reason and I don't know why, but when the singer goes, "And one and one is two
But three is company," hot damn, it gets me everytime. I just love the way Richard says it.

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Halloween41
12-03-2006

Rated 0 
This song is beautiful on every level and it's scary how much I can relate to it. What it means to me? He wants to sew the wounds of a past relationship or friendship that was very close to being something more.

I think it tops just about any break up song played on the radio.

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crapmonkey470
02-24-2007

Rated 0 
I think this is how about how he loves this woman and she loves him back but she can't live with him because she lies a normal life where Ashcroft lives a depressed drugged up life. So she doesn't go with him even though she loves him and he can't understand why because he is caught up in how much he loves her and not in how bad his life is.

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lloydy007
03-14-2007

Rated 0 
This has to be one of Ashcroft's greatest works, deffinately about a lover walking away from him, an expression of him not being able to let go and the depression that he is overcome with as a result.

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tigertour02
04-24-2007

Rated 0 
One of the most sincere and honest songs I've ever heard, this is one of the centerpieces of the album A Northern Soul. Listen to this song while lying down with headphones on and it will take you away. The strings in the beginning and the end make you shiver and the overall feel of the song is so thought provoking. This song is about someone who feels as though they are hindering a relationship and wants to end it to stop the bleeding. This could be a father-son relationship, friends, or a significant other, but the song does not have a depressed feel and is quite and uplifting experience.

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thisismusic
06-25-2007

Rated 0 
I have to disagree about this song being an uplifting experience. Personally, this song makes me the saddest of any song I've ever heard, but that is from my own memories with which I associate the words. This was the first Verve song that really moved something in me. Gorgeous, brilliant song.

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lewisbrien
07-01-2007

Rated 0 
I reckon its about him varing deaply for a girl, but wants to leave the relationship woth her, cus ihe seeks freedom

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ANorthernSoul76
07-05-2007

Rated 0 
There's nothing uplifting about History except it's beauty. It single-handedly got me into my favourite band of all time.

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simonflay
09-08-2007

Rated 0 
I didn't know about the William Blake link before, but seeing that now makes complete sense of the whole song.

Blake's 'London' is about his sadness at seeing the way that the ordinary people of London were set in chains and enslaved to the wealthy landowners. In the Verve context, it is about the way that society and social rules constrain us to behave and act.

So the song is about breaking away from convention, whether it be social convention or the conventions we all make in any relationship.

A truly powerful and amazing song.

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simonflay
09-08-2007

Rated 0 
I was just adding something to the 'This Is Music' page and realised how important the William Blake reference is here.

William Blake wrote Jerusalem, which is about England and in particular, the use of spirituality and christian values to free the 'Dark Satanic Hills' of the Industrialised Northern England from the dispair and devastation that the mill owners created during the industrial revelation.

Blakes 'London' continues on the theme of the poor and how they are downtrodden by society and how terrible that makes London.

I think the reason it has a resonance for the Verve is that they are from one of the towns that Blake was specifically talking about, Wigan in Lancashire. Moving to London to persue a music career, to seek your fortune means leving the past behind as 'History' and then sadly finding that London is also a shit-hole and that working in the music industry is like being a mill worker in the 18th century.

All that summed up by Ashcroft in "Reminds me of what I have run from".

Genius, shear genius.

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