Hello you, how was the rest,
You made it through but never the less,
I got you out on a wire, you be love and ill be a liar.
Tell it all and fill up the air, but make it loud cause nobodies there
Nobodies there, nobodies there

Stop, turn, take a look around,
At all of the lights and sounds,
Let them bring you in
Slow, burn, let it all fade out
And pull the curtain down,
Wonder where you've been

Make it new but stay in the lines, just let go,
Keep it inside, smile big for everyone, even when you know what they've done.
They gave you the end but not where to start, not how to build, how to tare it apart,
So Tell it all and fill up the air, but make it loud cause nobodies there,
Nobodies there, nobodies there

Stop, turn, take a look around,
At all of the lights and sounds,
Let them bring you in
Slow, burn, let it all fade out,
And pull the curtain down,
Wonder where you've been

I've got a way to work this out, I got a way and you know how
I've got a way to work this out, I got a way and you know how
I've got a way to work this out, I got a way
I've got a way to work this out, I got a way and you know how
I've got a way to work this out, I got a way and you know how
I've got a way to work this out, I got a way
I've got a way to work this out, I got a way and you know how
I've got a way to work this out, I got a way and you know how
I've got a way to work this out, I got a way

Stop, turn, take a look around,
At all of the lights and sounds,
Let them bring you in
Slow, burn, let it all fade out
And pull the curtain down,
Wonder where you've been

You've earned everything you've found and painted faces frown,
I'll say I knew you when



Lyrics submitted by lostprophet86

Track duration: 03:28

"Lights and Sounds" as written by William Ryan Key, Peter Michael Mosely, Longineu Warren Iii Parsons, Sean Michael Wellman-mackin

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Lights and Sounds song meanings
Add your thoughts

93 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:I like this song and don't know
    what it's about. It's really catchy and
    he sounds kinda mad when he sings it.
    That's why I like it!

    ^ That was a completely worthless comment!^
    =P
    Flag Udahoon October 09, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:good interpretation. h4n90fthur5d4y5 .\


    I like yours the best though, boses.
    Flag highwaytosomewhereon September 04, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Wow, I'm actually kind of surprised, maybe a little concerned that no one seems to interpret this song anywhere near the same way I do. This song gives me chills I'd seriously love to write a fan fiction for it...

    I imagine the protagonist is a deranged individual; who used to be normal. For some reason or another he has wound up in a position of power over someone for whom his resentment has festered for a long while. Someone who hurt him, and upon whom he has be longing to exact his just(or at least he thinks so) revenge. His moment has arrived.

    I thinking of him being almost maybe like Jigsaw, from the Saw movies. He has created his victim's elaborate and cruel surroundings. I generally imagine it as some sort of complicated an inescapable maze, filled with various torments and perils. I also can't help being a little reminded of GLADoS
    in portal. He is like...the voice of a setting he's in control of--that she's trapped in.(I'm arbitrarily assigning 'he' and 'she' to the characters to reduce confusion.)

    "Hello you, how was the rest?" "Hello you," "you", just "you", I love how it's said with such distain. It almost gives me chills.

    "You made it through but never the less I got you, out on a wire..."

    I imagine she has been advancing through his maze. She's just made it past the previous test, maybe even with a little time to catch her breath. But never the less he's still the one in control here.

    "you be love, and I'll be a liar." This line I imagine he's referencing how she hurt him. Referencing the nature of the relationship that ultimately lead to their original falling out. I kind of imagine her excuse for hurting him was love. Either because she loved him, or loved someone else...But I usually imagine it as a sort of world-love. A for-the-greater-good sort of thing...I imagine that she claimed was she did was driven by goodness, by compassion. But he thinks she was a liar.

    So here he facetious invites her to "be love" and carry persist in her self righteous ways as he lies and confuses her, on her way through the maze(perhaps as he feels she's done to him albeit in a less literal sense).

    "Tell it all and fill up the air But make it loud ‘cause nobody’s there Nobody’s there Nobody's there (yeah)"

    He mockingly encourages her to persist in her apologies, confessions, and pleas. And assures her, that there is no one within earshot who can help her.

    "Stop, turn, take a look around At all the lights and sounds Let ‘em bring you in"

    He instructs her to observe the surreal nature of her environment. To grasp the true gravity of her situation.

    "Slow, burn, let it all fade out And pull the curtain down"
    Here I think he references specific aspects of his Kafka-esque creation, and assures her of her doom. Invites her to give up and let it end.

    "wonder where you've been."
    He tauntingly tells her to try to figure out the strange surroundings she's been lost in.

    "Make it new but stay in the linesJust let go But keep it inside"

    I think these lines are her own words and actions thrown back in her face. It seems to me that he regards her as a hypocrite.

    "Smile big, for everyone Even when you know what they’ve done They gave you the end but not where to start Not how to build, how to tear it apart"

    I think he's still throwing her own words and actions back at her-- Perhaps he still had to try to respect her, look her in the eyes, even after knowing a hurtful or truth about her. Maybe he secretly loved her but couldn't help picturing her with her new lover. Or maybe they were both idealists and she did something horribly contrary to their cause. I also get the impression that she was a negative sort of person. Pointed out things that were wrong, but not right. Her focus was a pessimistic and fatalistic one. Maybe they were both trying to save the world. Her attitude was "the world his fucked" and his was "here's how we could fix it, and their disagreement over it tore apart their...Collaborative research?
    friendship? Romance?

    "I’ve got a way to work this out I’ve got a way and you know how"

    I love how he starts off sounding unsure as if still trying to convince himself. And gradually gets louder, more self assured, until he's actually screaming it. And he sounds psychotic throughout. He tells her that he has to kill her, and that she knows he has to do it.

    Perhaps he once told her he had a way to work things out and she dismissed his ideas. Now, he's in control. He knows the solution. And so does she. And that's what he's going to do.

    "You've earned everything you've found"
    Here he assures her that she deserves this-deserves everything shes encountered in his death maze.

    "And painted faces frown"
    I think is a reference to her hypocrisy, and his jadedness to her disapproval.

    "I'll say I knew you when...."
    She's a liar. A hypocrite. He claims to not truly know her. He'll only catch a breif glimpse of the real her, as he watches her die.

    ^-^; It's a dark interpretation I know, but it's the story that unfolds in my head every time I hear this song anyway. I almost wonder if there aren't other people who interpret it this way but are just too afraid to say so...
    Flag h4n90fthur5d4y5on August 13, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I think I'm the only one that thinks this way but I'll give it a go:

    To quote one of the member's reviews of the albums, he said that Ocean Avenue was all about discovering yourself, Lights and Sounds was losing yourself to the real world, and Paper Walls was redefining yourself in the real world.

    With that in mind, I categorize each album as Romanticism (Ocean Avenue), Realism (Lights and Sounds), and a mix of between (Paper Walls). Following that I say that this is a GREAT introduction to the album as it slaps Romanticism in the face with such lines as "You be love and I'll be a liar. Tell it all and fill up the air but make it loud, cause nobody's there." Meaning you can romanticize all you want in your own fantasies but it will get you nowhere. Then it gets to "Stop. Turn. Take a look around. At all the lights and sounds." Be realistic and take what you have. "You gave it an end but not where to start. Not how to build but how to tear it apart." You know what there will be a happy ending but you have no idea how to get there.

    "I've got a way to work this out." -being realistic allows you to be pragmatic.
    Flag boseson June 04, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:the chorus could be saying "look at everything around you" would a god let these things happen? and "i wonder where youve been" to believe in such a thing, i believe in god myself tho and lyrics like this song can have many meanings thats just how i see the song
    Flag Matthew15on April 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i wonder if ryans trying to say god doesnt exsist in his own way "tell it all fill up the air, make it loud cos nobodys there"

    Make it new but stay in the lines, just let go,
    keep it inside, smile big for everyone, even when you know what they've done.

    the above lyrics could be about a christian person it mentions keeping it inside (could be jesus, feelings or pain) and reacting with kindness even when people are nasty to you
    Flagged Matthew15on April 18, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:"Smile big for everyone, even when you know what they've done" That line is great.
    Flag NadaPhantomon April 09, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Alright to settle the argument once and for all this song is talking about how right after Ocean Avenue YellowCards world kinda got flipped around. So really it's about the confusion that they where feeling and how angry they were that they were confused.
    Flag kareadon March 09, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think this song is about no one rly listens to u so u must listen to evrything else in the world all the lighst and sounds and just follow them and like u have deal with life take what everyone throws at u when they say fill up the air make it louyd cuz nobodys there thats where no opne listens pull the curtains down well show ppl ur not afraid


    rock on all all on rock
    Flag stostoon February 17, 2008   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I didn't read through all the comments but I do have to say for all of you people who don't like this song but liked their old stuff I have the opposite problem. I hated their old stuff and somehow this song just sounds better to me. Don't we all remember the days when YellowCard was labeled EMO? XD... I mean not that I have anything against that or even believe the label of EMO I just hated their stuff back then.
    Flag ColdSilverstaron November 04, 2007   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain