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When you came to me with your bad dreams and your fears
It was easy to see that you'd been crying
Seems like everywhere you turn catastrophe it reigns
But who really profits from the dying
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you in my arms forever
When you kissed my lips with my mouth so full of questions
It's my worried mind that you quiet
Place your hands on my face
Close my eyes and say
Love is a poor man's food
With no proper side
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
And I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
So now we see how it is
This fist begets the spear
Weapons of war
Symptoms of madness
Don't let your eyes refuse to see
Don't let your ears refuse to hear
Or you ain't never going to shake this sense of sadness
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold on forever
And I could hold you in my arms
I could hold forever
It was easy to see that you'd been crying
Seems like everywhere you turn catastrophe it reigns
But who really profits from the dying
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you in my arms forever
When you kissed my lips with my mouth so full of questions
It's my worried mind that you quiet
Place your hands on my face
Close my eyes and say
Love is a poor man's food
With no proper side
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
And I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
So now we see how it is
This fist begets the spear
Weapons of war
Symptoms of madness
Don't let your eyes refuse to see
Don't let your ears refuse to hear
Or you ain't never going to shake this sense of sadness
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold on forever
And I could hold you in my arms
I could hold forever
Lyrics submitted by the_aloof, edited by softhought
Track duration: 05:06
"Hold You in My Arms" as written by Ethan Johns Ray Lamontagne
Lyrics © CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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It was easy to see that you'd been crying
Seems like everywhere you turn catastrophe it reigns
But who really profits from the dying''
In the first verse of the song, I think it's about a troubled girl who confides in a boy. He listens to her problems and can see that trouble seems to follow her everywhere she turns. The girl might even have thoughts of death (''..but who really profits from the dying'') but the boy believes that death doesn't solve anything.
''I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you in my arms forever''
The chorus is pretty self explanatory. The boy is willing to do whatever it takes to comfort this girl because he cares for her...he might even be in love with her.
''When you kissed my lips with my mouth so full of questions
It's my worried mind that you quiet
Place your hands on my face
Close my eyes and say
Love is a poor man's food
Don't prophesize...''
In the second verse of the song, the boy is questioning the relationship he shares with this girl. He questions happiness and might even doubt himself. I envision that this boy feels unworthy of this girl yet is still entirely devoted to her. He sincerely loves her and because she finds solace in him, she begins to believe she might even love him too. She kisses him...and this display stops his questioning and he decides to just embrace her love. However, it isn't clear whether or not the girl has told him (''Love is a poor man’s food; don’t prophesize''). These lyrics simply mean that love cannot be decided and one shouldn't say who should be loved and who shouldn't. In my opinion, the boy believes he is unworthy of being loved. Perhaps he has a dark secret that makes him feel this way...and he only wishes that the girl would comfort him and say these words to him.
''I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
And I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever''
Despite his own insecurities, the boy still cares deeply for this girl and his love for her is unconditional. The instrumental break that follows is very heart rendering yet uplifting at the same time. The violins give off a bittersweet sentiment and the intensity of their relationship is beautifully displayed. I personally feel that this instrumental was meant to denote unrequited love. Maybe a secret was revealed or a problem that couldn’t be overcome has caused the girl to deny everything and just drown in her unhappiness.
''So now we see how it is
This fist begets the spear
Weapons of war
Symptoms of madness
Don't let your eyes refuse to see
Don't let your ears refuse to hear
Or you ain't never going to shake this sense of sadness''
In the final verse of the song, the lyrics depict all of the troubles that arise in the world. Fists, which are a display of man’s defensiveness, are capable of creating weapons of war. The lyrics (‘’Don't let your eyes refuse to see; Don't let your ears refuse to hear; Or you ain't never going to shake this sense of sadness'') simply mean that trouble is life…and in order to surpass it you need to just accept things as they are.
‘‘I could hold you in my arms
I could hold on forever
And I could hold you in my arms
I could hold forever’’
This song is from the album Trouble and I think this song really represents the idea of the name. This is undoubtedly my favorite song. Although my interpretation is of unrequited love, I think this song could also simply be about two lovers who comfort one another in this crazy world we live in.
but the last verse of the song kind of brings back the realness and teaches us this is how it is ("so now you see how it is") and not numb ourselves to it...
Thats just my opinion :)
"When you came to me with your bad dreams and your fears,
it was easy to see you'd been crying.
Seems like everywhere you turn, catastrophe it reigns
But who really profits from the dying
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever"
All her faults, all the trouble that follows her he loves her for. All he wants to do is hold her, comfort her, be with her.
When you kissed my lips with my mouth so full of questions
My worried mind that you quiet
Place your hands on my face
Close my eyes and say
That love is a poor man's food
Don't prophesize
She is telling him we live for love, it is free, it keeps us going, stop questioning that. Stop questioning this.
So now we see how it is
This fist begets the spear
Weapons of war
Symptoms of madness
Don't let your eyes refuse to see
Don't let your ears refuse to hear
Or you ain't never going to shake this sense of sadness
He loves her so he tells her, stop ignoring what is happening, stop shrinking back form your life. open your eyes and ears, or this sadness won't go away.
It is what it is. She is troubled and he loves her. And for that I love this song.
def. love ray.
"I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever
And I could hold you in my arms
I could hold you forever"
Doesn't every girl wish a guy could sing them a song like this....I know I do!
This song is told from the viewpoint of a guy who is so deeply in love with a woman he can't have for whatever reasons (she seems to be in a bad or loveless relationship and is willing to stay for money or perhaps she isn’t in a relationship, but her heart is just not open to him because she doesn’t believe in love and only has casual sex). She is going through many problems in her life and he seeks to rescue her by holding her in his arms and just loving her. She doesn't love him in return, but she only comes to him and is stringing him along for comfort. When he says, "Seems like everywhere you turn catastrophe it reigns. But who really profits from the dying," he is letting you know that because this woman is so troubled, she drags people down into her pool of misery and no one benefits from this, especially her. She probably breaks a lot of hearts along the way.
The lines "When you kissed my lips with my mouth so full of questions, My worried mind that you quiet" are saying that he has confessed his love to her, wants more from her and perhaps asks if there's ever a chance for them to be together. He has been willing to put up with so much from her but now he wants answers. Just a kiss from her is enough to silence his demands and give him false comfort until she causes him further heartache and dashes his dreams by saying “Love is a poor man’s food.” This is the most telling line of the song. Poor people do not have many material things to dote on, so love is all they have to keep them going. This doesn’t apply to her.
She's making a universal statement that shows she is separating her ideals about life from his. She equates his idealistic views about love to pipe dreams, naiveté, or being a hopeless romantic. Unlike him, she mistakenly believes that she doesn't need to love or be loved for sustenance because she has enough material things to satisfy her in life – that money will buy her happiness. She's willing to put up with an unhappy situation in her life because she has riches (or what she equates to riches).
This is what leads up to the third verse. He says, “So now we see how it is” (he finally realizes that he doesn’t have a chance) and then says “This fist begets the spear, Weapons of war, Symptoms of madness,” which means that she has finally destroyed him by confirming his worst fears and it is a throwback to the first verse about how she is repeating her destructive cycle of causing catastrophe in her life and others' by refusing to love and be loved. Finally, he gives her one last painful warning: “Don't let your eyes refuse to see, Don't let your ears refuse to hear, Or you ain't never going to shake this sense of sadness.” He is telling her that it doesn’t matter how rich you are or how many things of value you have, if you do not have love in your life or if you are incapable of loving someone, you will still be miserable and this misery will follow you everywhere you go. She is blind and deaf to this one simple concept.
Throughout the song's chorus, he is trying to express to her how much he loves her and would hold her in his arms forever, if only she would let him. The one simple thing he wants from her is what she refuses to give him in return- love. If she'd open her eyes and just love him back, they would both be happy, the catastrophe she causes in her life and others’ would stop and all problems would cease because requited love cures all. The irony of it all is that while she sees him as naïve, she really is the one who is.
As brwneyedgrl said, this is definitely a "Nice guys finish last" song.