I believe the first verse is of her being called by a friend that she is pregnant by a man that she doesn't love. So they go to an abortion clinic where people give her...

2 Am and she calls me cause I'm still awake
Can you help me unravel my latest mistake
I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season.
Yeah we walk through the doors so accusing their eyes
Like they have any right at all to criticize
Hypocrites you're all here for the very same reason.

Cause you can't jump the track
We're like cars on a cable and life's like an hourglass glued to the table,
No one can find the rewind button girl
So just cradle your head in your hands.
And breathe, just breathe, whoa breathe just breathe

May he turned 21 on the base of Fort Bliss
Just today he sat down to the flask in his fist
Ain't been sober since maybe October of last year
Here in town you can tell he's been down for while
But my God it's so beautiful when the boy smiles
Wanna hold him but maybe I'll just sing about it

Cause you can't jump the track
We're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass glued to the table,
No one can find the rewind button boys so cradle your head in your hands
And breathe, just breathe, whoa breath just breathe

There's a light at each end of this tunnel you shout cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
And these mistakes you've made
You'll just make them again if you'll only try turnin' around

2Am and I'm still awake writing this song
If i get it all down on paper it's no longer inside of me threaten' the life it belongs to.
And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary screamin' out aloud
And I know that you'll use them however you want to.

But you can't jump the track
We're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass glued to the table,
No one can find the rewind button now
Sing it if you understand...yeah breath
Just breathe, ohho breathe



Lyrics submitted by dillan


Breathe (2AM) song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment:I'm a total perfectionist and probably just a little obsessive compulsive when it comes to agonizing over everything I've done or said that day. On top of that, I have awful insomnia, so I'm usually awake at 2 A.M. This song is a little like a lullaby for me. Sometimes I just hum it to remind myself that there is nothing I can do but take a breath and go to sleep, and that there is no going back so I had better just live with my mistake. A beautiful song. :)
    Flag RosesAndRuffleson December 01, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:beautiful song, beautiful woman:

    "Winter" and "spring" are probably the most meaning-loaded seasons, representing birth and death, old and young, etc. I wondered if the speaker's friend had a relationship with an older man, another mistake in a long line of mistakes, a person trying like hell to find love but making the same mistakes over and over, walking through doors and tunnels, hoping this time she'll find love and redemption and fulfillment.

    After breakups or other life shattering experiences many of us feel as if we're "on-stage," and the singer, as an artist and as a person who can relate to her friend feels that, first by the "hypocrites" with "accusatory eyes" and later when she feels she is "naked on stage." Early in the song she connects with her friend, as hopefully the listener does, so the "we" in the chorus refers to "we" as people, and the doors as the "exit" from one "room" (here, relationship).

    Doors and tunnels are the passageways in the song, but vehicles are necessary for travel, which the song contains, with cars (and cable cars) and "tracks," which works off the "cars" in the chorus, referencing race cars and race tracks, and also cable (or trolly) cars, train tracks, and possibly the slotted racetrack toys. Of course vehicles of transportation become vehicles for happiness, which are relationships, I believe, for many. But these are tracks that can't be jumped, and on a racetrack you always end up where you started. If you spin around with your eyes closed inside a tunnel both ends look the same, filled with light, though at one end is the mistake you are fleeing from and at the other end hope.

    A young man finally old enough to drink, but now has a "flask in his fist" and "hasn't been sober since maybe October": another mistake, but another beautiful one with a smile. But the song turns hopeful. Instead of embracing this mistake she'll "sing about it," a song that she's writing at 2 a.m., when her friend calls. They are alive, one, refusing to let the "spring" of her mistake bring her down, the other, at the winter of hers, needing help. They both breath, choosing life.

    Love it!
    Flag beatle9on June 13, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:When I hear this song it makes me think of AA, or similar meetings, the lyrics work.

    "2am and she calls me cuz I'm still awake" kinda common when fixing addiction
    "Yeah we walk through the doors so accusing their eyes
    Like they have any right at all to criticize
    Hypocrites you're all here for the very same reason" Sounds like a meeting to me

    "No one can find the rewind button boys so cradle your head in your hands
    And breathe, just breathe, whoa breath just breathe" Sounds like what happens during a meeting.

    Maybe I'm crazy, but that's what I think of every time I hear this song.
    Flagged shakey3825eron October 21, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation: Ok so basically the whole song is about mistakes made and taking time to breathe.
    ==================================================================================
    Cause you can't jump the track { You can't give up / do the impossible }
    We're like cars on a cable and life's { While in a situation }
    like an hourglass glued to the table, { time goes in one direction }
    No one can find the rewind button girl { and it cannot be reversed }
    So just cradle your head in your hands.
    And breathe, just breathe, whoa breathe just breathe
    ==================================================================================

    2 Am and she calls me cause I'm still awake { a friend/sister calls}
    Can you help me unravel my latest mistake { self explanatory }
    I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season. { because she doesn't love the person
    she married during winter }
    Yeah we walk through the doors so accusing their eyes { every suspects that their marriage is to due
    to an unborn child so they stare at her}
    Like they have any right at all to criticize { but who are they to judge }
    Hypocrites you're all here for the very same reason. { self explanatory }
    Flag eplumon October 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation: Ok so basically the whole song is about mistakes made and taking time to breathe.
    ==================================================================================
    Cause you can't jump the track { You can't give up / do the impossible }
    We're like cars on a cable and life's { While in a situation }
    like an hourglass glued to the table, { time goes in one direction }
    No one can find the rewind button girl { and it cannot be reversed }
    So just cradle your head in your hands.
    And breathe, just breathe, whoa breathe just breathe
    ==================================================================================

    2 Am and she calls me cause I'm still awake { a friend/sister calls}
    Can you help me unravel my latest mistake { self explanatory }
    I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season. { because she doesn't love the person
    she married during winter }
    Yeah we walk through the doors so accusing their eyes { every suspects that their marriage is to due
    to an unborn child so they stare at her}
    Like they have any right at all to criticize { but who are they to judge }
    Hypocrites you're all here for the very same reason. { self explanatory }
    Flag eplumon October 13, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake,
    "Can you help me unravel my latest mistake?,
    I don't love him. Winter just wasn't my season"
    Yeah we walk through the doors, so accusing their eyes
    Like they have any right at all to criticize,
    Hypocrites. You're all here for the very same reason

    (Her friend calls her late at night because she knows that Anna is still up, probably writing songs. She confides in her that she has made a mistake and needs help fixing it. We are left to ponder what the mistake was, but my interpretation was that she slept with someone that she didn't love during the winter, and perhaps winter just wasn't good for her and in an effort to make it a bit better she ended up sleeping with a guy she had no real feelings for. Now, she's just found out she's pregnant with his child, and for whatever reason, can't keep it. Anna goes with her to the clinic to get it aborted, where everyone stares as though they aren't there for the same reason, and Anna expresses how they have no right to criticize because they're all there to get their babies aborted.)

    'Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
    And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
    No one can find the rewind button, girl.
    So cradle your head in your hands
    And breathe... just breathe,
    Oh breathe, just breathe

    (The bridge expresses the life lesson that the past is gone and we are all on a one way track. We can never go back and fix anything, and time can't be reversed to go back and fix a mistake. And since you can't go back and fix what you've done, you may as well accept what you've done, take a seat, and just breathe and take it in, and figure out the next step.)

    May he turned 21 on the base at Fort Bliss
    "Just a day" he said down to the flask in his fist,
    "Ain't been sober, since maybe October of last year."
    Here in town you can tell he's been down for a while,
    But, my God, it's so beautiful when the boy smiles,
    Wanna hold him. Maybe I'll just sing about it.

    (This verse tells the story of a young man in the army. He's developed a drinking problem, and decides one day that he wants just one day free of the burden of alcoholism and is possibly seeking recovery. The townspeople realize and notice that he's been depressed for a while, but when he does crack the rare smile that it's beautiful. Anna wants to reach out and comfort him, but it's possible that she can't, so she relieves it by writing a verse about him.)

    Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
    And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table.
    No one can find the rewind button, boys,
    So cradle your head in your hands,
    And breathe... just breathe,
    Oh breathe, just breathe

    There's a light at each end of this tunnel,
    You shout 'cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
    And these mistakes you've made, you'll just make them again
    If you'd only try turning around.

    (This bridge illustrates how sometimes it seems like you're so deep in your problems that you don't seem to be able to get out, but if you would just learn from your mistakes, you'd be able to move on and get out.)

    2 AM and I'm still awake, writing a song
    If I get it all down on paper, it's no longer inside of me,
    Threatening the life it belongs to
    And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
    Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
    And I know that you'll use them, however you want to

    (Anna expresses how these feelings she has possibly keep her up at night, writing them down to keep them from destroying her from the inside out. She expresses herself in songs, which are a diary to her true feelings. She shows that singing her true feelings make her feel centered and in an uncomfortable spotlight and that the crowd will take them however they want to.)

    But you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable,
    And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
    No one can find the rewind button now
    Sing it if you understand.
    and breathe, just breathe
    woah breathe, just breathe,
    Oh breathe, just breathe,
    Oh breathe, just breathe.
    Flag WisdomoftheWolfon September 28, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Maybe she's the one who got the abortion.....
    Flag melher27on September 08, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about her friend getting pregnant. When they walk through the doors it's the doors to a clinic for pregnant teens or something like that. And then as for the guy it's just saying the father is an alcoholic and he needs to stop in order for him to be a good father. I've always thought that about this song but the other meanongs could be true too, that's what I love about song lyrics.
    Flag shannan111on July 20, 2011   Link
  • +4
    Song Meaning:this is what i believe this song means:


    2 Am and she calls me cause I'm still awake
    Can you help me unravel my latest mistake
    I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season.
    Yeah we walk through the doors so accusing their eyes
    Like they have any right at all to criticize
    Hypocrites you're all here for the very same reason.


    her friend calls her and tells her that she is pregnant but she doesnt love the father and so they go to an abortion clinic and the other people there are mentally judging her

    May he turned 21 on the base of Fort Bliss
    Just today he sat down to the flask in his fist
    Ain't been sober since maybe October of last year
    Here in town you can tell he's been down for while
    But my God it's so beautiful when the boy smiles
    Wanna hold him but maybe I'll just sing about him

    another friend just turned 21 and he is already an alcoholic and he is depressed but when he was happy he was a beautiful person and she wants to comfort him but she cant

    There's a light at each end of this tunnel you shout cause you're just as far in as you'll ever be out
    And these mistakes you've made
    You'll just make them again if you'll only try turnin' around

    2Am and I'm still awake writing this song
    If i get it all down on paper it's no longer inside of me threaten' the life it belongs to.
    And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
    Cause these words are my diary screamin' out aloud
    And I know that you'll use them however you want to.

    youll never get better if you dont accept the past and move on dont let the past eat at you or it will ruin your future

    her words are to be interpreted to fit into anyone's personal experience and to help them be free

    Flag ley290on June 21, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Such an old song! Used to listen to this with my friends when I was younger and then I heard it on Greys Anatomy and fell in love with it again!
    Flag tempe333on April 26, 2011   Link

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