It was me on that road
But you couldn't see me
Too many lights out, but nowhere near here

It was me on that road
Still you couldn't see me
And then flash lights and explosions

Road's end getting nearer
We cover distance, but not together

I am the storm and I am the wonder
And the flashlights, nightmares
And sudden explosions

I don't know what more to ask for
I was given just one wish

It's about you and the sun
A morning run
The story of my maker
What I have and what I ache for

I've got a golden ear
I cut and I spear
But what else is there?

Roads and getting nearer
We cover distance, still not together

If I am the storm, if I am the wonder
Will I have flashlights, nightmares
and sudden explosion?

There's no room where I can go and
You've got secrets too

I don't know what more to ask for
I was given just one wish
(Why)



Lyrics submitted by royksopp


What Else Is There? song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment:I think this is about the man she loves and who left her and who killed her with that decision. Now she is destined to wander around like a ghost, not being able to take part in her own life, because she is dead and empty inside and she can only look at the things around her without feeling anything, she is disconnected from this world and very restless because she is sad and miserable and unable to accept things like they are. There is a storm and chaos and disbelief inside of her, this is a nightmare to her. The milk in the video is blood running down from her body, she is bleeding and hurting, but it's hidden by her clothes. Maybe he is even haunted by her, because he decided to kill her (as his love) and left her by herself, so she is even a ghost to him. The car accident is the encounter with him, they met and fell in love, this happened fast and with lots of emotions. but he didn't want to continue so he ran her over (killing her inside) there were explosions and lights (intense feelings) and then he left because he wasn't able to see her, to see who she is, she was in the dark without lights. So now they are living separate lives but she is still stuck in her situation because she cannot get over the fact that he killed her and left her. There is no room where she can go to means that she can't escape this feeling, she has to keep wandering around outside and cannot rest (inside) it also means she tries to run away from this sad truth. He has secrets too means that he probably loves her too but cannot show her. so that is his secret and she knows it but she also knows that she can't do anything about it because he already left her and she's alone but it also means that she has to keep wondering even more because she knows he loves her too but still decided to leave her alone and that it's impossible for her to get over this, knowing that he loves her too and she doesnt understand why all this is happening to her. The question 'What else is there' is a rhetorical question, it means there is nothing else, no alternative for her, this is all she knows and will know. When she says she was only given one wish, it means that it was not her own wish to love him (since we cannot chose who we love) and to live this way but that life had this plan for her and that she was only given this wish, and no other wish, so again, there is no alternative for her. When she says 'its about you and the sun' it means that he and the sun belong together in her view, because he brings life to her, when he is there, then there is life and warmth and love. And that's what she aches for.
    Flagged JulieLisaon April 27, 2013   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:If you think of the girl in this song as Death, that is who she is, and she is singing from Death's perspective. It's about who she is, how she got to be Death and what she does.
    Flagged justnooneon August 05, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I thought that it was about the dyatlov pass incident back in the late 50's in russia
    Flagged mcqueentamponson June 01, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It was me on that road
    But you couldn't see me
    Too many lights out, but nowhere near here..

    It means that everoby has it's road, and everyone has to folow it. We all want to have someone by our side, but, sometimes that person can't see us. " Too many lights out" Light can be fights, strong feelings, that can make us blind." But nowhere near here" I guess they didn't got to that point. Everything is without a feeling.

    It was me on that road
    Still you couldn't see me
    And then flash lights and explosions

    And again..

    Road's end getting nearer
    We cover distance, but not together

    As the time passes by, their roads are getting nearer, but still it's not that strong, like spirits are not at same place.

    I am the storm and I am the wonder
    And the flashlights, nightmares
    And sudden explosions

    She explains who she is, who can she be, in order that he wake up, an understand that all those flashlights, nightmares and sudden explosions are something that she created in some ways.

    There's no room where I can go and
    You've got secrets too

    When there is no room, there is no solution, no shelter. She does seek a home. Secrets- a simbol of not knowing him. She doesn't belive him that much to be in his arms safely.

    I don't know what more to ask for
    I was given just one wish

    She put alot of effort in this, and now she isn't sure should she continue with him to the end, or just end now. Cause that wish represents a big step, actually th final step. She doesn't know what to ask for.
    Flagged Ciriuson December 12, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:If you look at other songs which are in the same album as “what else is there?” it became obvious to you that she is talking about a “lost love” but it doesn’t mean that she is not talking about an accident as well. The accident could be a metaphor for her encounter with her lost love, This reminds me of the Oscar winner film, Crash. The main idea of the film is that in modern life we are all like drivers who are driving fast on the road of life and when you are driving it’s almost impossible to see other people and only crashes can make people see each other. I guess she was using this crash scene metaphorically to describe her encounter with that especial person. She describes the scene as if she had been ran over by the driver and it was a hit and run and it shows that he has probably moved on but she is still in love. As she says:
    “It was me on that road
    But you couldn't see me”
    it shows the nature of her relationship with that man, and it seems that she was desperate for him to see who she really was but as she says:
    “And then flash lights and explosions”
    her encounter was so sudden and brief that she wasn’t able to react properly and show him her real self. Also it shows that the encounter was disruptive, like an explosion, and it ended in their separation and loneliness. And also when she describes her lonely journey through life as being alone on a road she says:
    “Too many lights out, but nowhere near here “
    which I think means that she can see other people who are happy and see signs of love from other people but they are nowhere near her. And with this interpretation the next part’s meaning becomes obvious:
    “Road's end getting nearer
    We cover distance, but not together”
    she thinks that the end is near and glimpses of hope, for their reunion, are disappearing and they are still alone on their ways of life. Next part shows the rage and frustration that she feels because of this story:
    “I am the storm and I am the wonder
    And the flashlights, nightmares
    And sudden explosions”
    she is left with bad memories and they’re haunting her. The next part is:
    “I don't know what more to ask for
    I was given just one wish”
    I think that she wants to say that her only wish was to find that especial person and when she found him, she couldn’t be with him, she feels that she has ruined her only chance for happiness, and the emptiness is what is left for her and she doesn’t think that anything else can have the same meaning to her.
    “It's about you and the sun
    A morning run
    The story of my maker
    What I have and what I ache for”
    I think this part is the most important part but also the most complicated, I think it’ a very complicated mix of her feelings about that person which includes the emotional link that exist in her mind between sun, as the source of warmth and goodness, and that person and maybe her God and other details that might be so personal that we can’t understand.
    Flag TomTom2001on October 11, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:It is a very interesting and touching song with a typical Scandinavian essence, still yet too foggy to clearly interpret the meaning of it. At first, I was thinking about the car accident too but so much is unclear, the puzzle pieces just dont match up. This song has touched me,and it just didntt let me go. I couldnt stop thinking and trying to find out the real meaning of it and now I think that its not about a car accident but about love. Pure love, so much that is more than anything else and endures everything eventhough it is unrequeted. I think the girl is in love with the other girl who we see with the medievel costume.

    I also think as MissLungen said, that the road is a synonym for life. She says that "It was me on the road still you couldnt see me" which means that she was in her life, they knew eachother still the other girl couldnt see or appreciate her love.

    Then, she says "roads are getting nearer" which I think stands for the passage of the time.That they are getting older and running out of time to love each other which gives her this flashlight and explosion kind if feelings.

    She says that "we cover distance but not together" which I think means that both of their life is going in different directions and not together.

    She says "I dont know what more to ask for. I was given just one wish: it was about you and the sun" Her wish is obvious. Its her love. Nothing else. She doesnt want anything else only her love that is why she doesnt know what more to ask for.She uses the word sun with her (you and the sun) is definetly a very postive pair. The word sun illustrates warmness, hapiness and love. Just think of the word sun and see thefirst things that pop up in mind. All good and warm things.

    The houses flying arouind chaoticly and falling apart, all the messy things around the shaking arms and the hairs standing upwards give you a bit of taste of what is going on in her. The apple with the hairs on it just gives you the creeps, two totally unmatching things that look creepely awkard together.

    The smoking tree with the hearth shaped whole on it also illustrates her love. Such passion and desire. She is on fire, burning inside.

    She is utterly obsessed with that love. She says "There is no room where I can go". This love means everyting to her in life and without it she is not living that is why she is flying around like a ghost in the clip.

    The reason why the other girl is shown with this medievel clothes is not clear for me but maybe its because the girls with the costume is like a landlord and the loving girl is the peasant that is under of control of her just like in the past.
    Flag Fatihon August 10, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:i personally think this song is about life's meaning to itself.
    i think the title sais it all "what else is there", which to me, means, besides materials, money and company, well, what else is there?
    "it was me on that road but you couldn't see me, too many lights out, but nowhere near here"
    - i personally believe road is a metaphor for life, and when she sais lights were nowhere near her, she means people didn't notice her much in her life, either because she was too busy being greedy and selfish, or because the others were too busy being greedy and selfish themselves.
    "i am the storm, and i am the wonder"
    - i believe she says she is the storm because her life is filled with greed, arrogance and selfishness, and she is the wonder, because she is wondering why she is here and who created her, she wants to know answers.
    "it's about you and the sun, a morning run"
    - when she sais it's abut us and the sun, i believe she means we are totally dependant on the sun to live, and without it we wouldn't be here, and that when it burns out we'll be gone, she may also be questioning if the sun was purposely put in our universe to keep us alive? just a guess.
    "I've got a golden ear, i cut and i spear, what else is there"?
    -by this, i believe the golden ear is another metaphor for materialism, and that we "cut and spear", because no matter how much we have we are never happy with what we've got.
    "there's nowhere were i can go, and you've got secrets too"
    - this is one of my favourite lyrics of the song, mainly because i personally believe it has the most meaning out of all the lyrics.
    i believe that when she sais there's nowhere where she can go, she believes when she dies she can't go anywhere, she believes when she will die she will just experience an eternity of nothingness.
    And i believe that when she sais "you've got secrets too", she means we are all guilty of something, we've all done bad things in our lives, i assume.
    also for the video- i believe that the woman on the table represents greed in life, the road represents life, the departing houses either represent detachment of others, or that materials mean nothing and they could all vanish and have no meaning for being there, and that the smoking trees represent global warming, or showing like the "it's about you and the sun" lyric, what we need in life to live, in this case trees.
    Flagged britishboyjoshuaon August 08, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:If you really want to understand the meaning of the song, you should give "city of angels" a try.

    It is an amazing film anyway, and it is suprisingly parallel to both video and the lyrics of the song.

    If you are too lazy to check out the film(SPOILER ALERT):

    It is about an angel giving up his eternal life to be with the woman he fell in love with, but he loses her in a car accident...
    Flagged ttrkayaon July 20, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is about having a relationship with someone in the past who was dealing with their own troubles and didn't let the other person in when they should have. It captures the sadness of the person who tried to help and who now with time going on reflects back and still wishes that the other person could have let them in because they were on the same level, both needing eachother.
    Flag bonita1on April 30, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Favorite song by them, and can completely relate.
    Flag clarellevon March 30, 2011   Link

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