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Eyes are feeling heavy
But they never seem to close
The fan blades on the ceiling spin
But the air is never cold
And even though you're next to me
I still feel so alone
I just can't give you anything
For you to call your own
And I can feel you breathing
And it's keeping me awake
Can you feel it beating?
My heart sinking like a wave
Something I've been keeping locked away
Behind my lips
I can feel it breaking free
With each and every kiss
I couldn't bear to hurt you
But it's all so different now
Things that I was sure of then
Now filled me up with doubt
And I can feel you breathing
And it's keeping me awake
Can you feel it beating?
My heart sinking like a wave
I can feel you breathing
It's keeping me awake
Could you stop my heart?
It's always beating
Sinking like a wave
How am I suppose to feel about the things I've done
I don't know if I should stay or turn around and run
I know that I hurt you
Things will never be the same
The only love I ever knew I threw it all away
And I can feel you breathing
And it's keeping me awake
Can you feel it beating?
My heart sinking like a wave
I can feel you breathing
It's keeping me awake
Could you stop my heart?
It's always breathing
Sinking like a wave
But they never seem to close
The fan blades on the ceiling spin
But the air is never cold
And even though you're next to me
I still feel so alone
I just can't give you anything
For you to call your own
And I can feel you breathing
And it's keeping me awake
Can you feel it beating?
My heart sinking like a wave
Something I've been keeping locked away
Behind my lips
I can feel it breaking free
With each and every kiss
I couldn't bear to hurt you
But it's all so different now
Things that I was sure of then
Now filled me up with doubt
And I can feel you breathing
And it's keeping me awake
Can you feel it beating?
My heart sinking like a wave
I can feel you breathing
It's keeping me awake
Could you stop my heart?
It's always beating
Sinking like a wave
How am I suppose to feel about the things I've done
I don't know if I should stay or turn around and run
I know that I hurt you
Things will never be the same
The only love I ever knew I threw it all away
And I can feel you breathing
And it's keeping me awake
Can you feel it beating?
My heart sinking like a wave
I can feel you breathing
It's keeping me awake
Could you stop my heart?
It's always breathing
Sinking like a wave
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I think that cheating would be the obvious way to go about analyzing this song's meaning, but I've had a different experience that makes me want to suggest an alternative.
The first line about not being able to close heavy eyes is pretty symbolic of having so much on his mind that he can't sleep. Also, upsetting thoughts could likely cause anxiety, which can cause a rise in body temperature, hence 'the fan blades on the ceiling spin, but the air is never cold.' which in this sense, he's probably stuck staring up at. OR they're moving so slowly compared to his racing thoughts, so they wouldn't produce any temperature change. Or he's implying that he feels cold toward whom he's laying next to so the air isn't, in comparison to him. Or the distance he feels from her emotionally is just represented by coldness.
"Even though you're next to me, I still feel so alone." This could imply that whomever he's speaking about is not filling the void he feels inside himself, it could represent his inner insecurities; as well as assuming that "Just can't give you anything for you to call your own," he may feel inadequate, nothing to do with her at all, unless she's not showing adequate interest, which could be an insecure perception or the truth. It's not for certain at this point who is in fact heartless, but, who's awake and who is asleep? Also, he talks about her breathing keeping him awake. This could imply that it's hurting him to be lying next to someone he cares for who is breathing contentedly; because 'my heart's sinking like a weight' is symbolic of an anxious heart not knowing whether or not it's damaged beyond repair, and while he's in pain, she's fast asleep.
"Something I've been keeping locked away behind my lips, I can feel it breaking free with each and every kiss." It never implies who is in fact initiating this sign of affection, because it could very well be that he is, and wants to be honest about how he's feeling, but a kiss is easier than saying what's on his mind.
This is where a twist comes in....
It could very well be that he does not feel close to her anymore because they either grew apart or...they pushed each other away, or she pushed him away, vice versa. "I couldn't bear to hurt you, but it's all so different now" He's obviously the one who's been suffering with something inside of him, it could in fact be that it was her pushing him away, or not showing care, etc. and it's been so adversely affecting him, and "can you feel it beating?" could imply that she's oblivious to how he's feeling, because he never gets a response, just keeps asking....which could hurt him even more.
think of the possibility he might just be waiting for her to show him the affection she possibly once did, or waiting for her to believe that he does in fact really care for her...but she just pushes him further away, so he's giving up...."The things that I was sure of then, have filled me up with doubt." Maybe he thought they had a connection, but her mistreatment of him (which he could have theorized was her form of defending herself against getting close to anyone out of fear of getting hurt) was hurting him too much, so he finally decided that she probably doesn't care, or it wasn't worth all the angst in trying to prove to her how much she meant to him. Him giving up could be representative of the second chorus repeating with a lyric change "Could you stop my heart? it's always beating, sinking like a weight." Because if his heart stopped, it wouldn't hurt him so much to let go.
It's actually quite likely that he began defending himself against his own vulnerabilities, perpetuating the distance growing between them, or (for a stretch) she finally admitted to him how he was hurting her with a certain behavior "How am I supposed to feel about the things I've done?" And could actually be asking her to give him some sort of verification that they can work their misunderstandings out...but because she's not..."I don't know if I should stay or turn around and run." He wants to keep trying to make it work, but he could very well feel like he's the only one of them who does....so it'd be better if he just cut his losses, if she doesn't care, why should he try?
These next two lines could have separate meanings:
"I know that I hurt you, things will never be the same." Which could mean that he was so hurt/confused by her that it manifested into actions of resentment...or she found out about something he did he didn't even do intentionally to hurt her, and now feels like "the only love I ever knew I threw it all away." Which could either mean he finally did give up, and now he'll never know if they could have fixed things, or he believes that no matter what he does to try to solve things between them, they're too far gone for it to matter and he feels hopeless now that everything's surfaced and spiraled downhill. The second possible interpretation would make more sense that it is again followed by: 'can you stop my heart? it's always beating, sinking like a weight.' implying he's still hanging onto hope by a string, and it's continuing to hurt him and it'd be easier if she just made the choice to end things, instead of leaving him with all the anxiety of not knowing if she truly does care or not, because (as I originally theorized) she's too afraid of letting anyone in out of fear they will leave her. So the song has no closure for them...nor does he.
Like, nothing feels right in the relationship anymore because of what he's done, as in the first verse.
In the chorus, he always hears her breathing, which could be a sign of his paranoia and his guilt.
In the second verse, he states why he has cheated. He 'couldn't bear to hurt you, but it's all so different now', might mean that the relationship has changed. Or at least his girlfriend did. And his once confident attitude has now changed to doubt.
The third verse basically has him reflecting about what he's done. He doesn't know if he should still try to keep a friendship going and man up to it or just turn around and never see her again because he is so shamed. He realizes that he's hurt her and that the love he once had and threw away was the only real thing he's ever had. The cheating relationship and all his past ones don't mean anything. He regrets it.
I love this song. It is sad, meaningful and a different interpretation of a cheating song. This person truly regrets cheating on his girlfriend. This song has a lot of meaning to me for reasons I'll not post here. But this is a great song. And Yellowcard rocks.
this one day at a sleepover me and my friends had at one of my friend's house my ex-girlfriend was also there and this song describes perfectly what was going on that night..
Everyone except me and my ex was asleep and we were feeling tired too but we didn't really want to go to sleep. And she was lying next to me and we felt so "together" but we weren't really commited to eachother at the time, and I could feel her breathing next to me, and I felt guilty cause I had broken up with her a couple of months before. Thing is, by that time I wanted to get back together with her, but I really wasn't sure yet.. and I really didn't want to rush things because If I didn't want to be with her again, it would break her heart :/
"How am I supposed to feel about the things I've done?
I don't know if I should stay or turn around and run
I know that I hurt you, things will never be the same
The only love I ever knew, I threw it all away."
This verse sums up all the things I was thinking at the time.. I didn't know how to feel about breaking up with her and I felt really guilty for doing so.. I knew that I hurt her and she probably would never trust me again..
Plus she was my first girlfriend, hence the line:
"The only love I ever knew, I threw it all away."
Anyways.. we're back together with this girl now and I really love her.. I would never leave her again she means a lot to me.. But as the song says - things are not the same as they were before .. (she's too afraid to say "forever" and instaid stresses the fact that one day we WILL break up :/ this is something i am trying to fix in our relationship..)
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That's seriously deep. It relates to me in reality. I had a guy friend who loved me so much and i broke his heart and of course being the idiot I am I didn't realise until it was too late. *sigh* I'd forgotten all about this song until I dragged it up the other day.
This guy has done bad things to his girlfriend (cheating on her for example, possibly more than once?) and he feels really guilty because she doesn't know. "Something I've been keeping locked away behind my lips..." And also "And even though you are next to me I still feel so alone" - alone because he can't tell her, or presumably anyone else.
He feels so bad and knows he's done wrong and that she'd be devestated if she found out, so hence the "I don't know if I should stay or turn around and run" - he wants to stay but he feels so guilty he knows it'd be easier just to run and take the easy way out.
The chorus I think is pretty amazing - the fact that her breathing - something so quiet and everyday - is keeping him awake. Shows the enormity of what he knows he has done.
Also, just as a side point, I LOVE the tune and the vilolin in the song - awesome.