You are one of god's mistakes.
You crying, tragic waste of skin.
I'm well aware of how it aches.
And you still won't let me in.
Now I'm breaking down your door,
To try and save your swollen face.
Though I don't like you anymore
You lying, trying waste of space.

My oh my.
A song to say goodbye.
A song to say goodbye
A song to say goodbye,
A song to say,
Before our innocence was lost
You were always one of those blessed with lucky sevens,
And the voice that made me cry.

You were Mother Nature's son.
Someone to whom I could relate.
Your needle and your damage done,
Remains a sordid twist of fate,
Now I'm trying to wake you up,
To pull you from the liquid sky.
Cause if I don't we'll both end up with just your songs that say goodbye.

My oh my.
A song to say goodbye,
A song to say goodbye,
A song to say,
Before our innocence was lost you were always one of those blessed with lucky sevens,
And a voice that made me cry.
It's a song to say goodbye



Lyrics submitted by sie506

Track duration: 03:33

"Song To Say Goodbye" as written by Molko/olsdal/hewitt

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Song To Say Goodbye song meanings
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79 Comments

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  • +2
    My Interpretation:I think this song is talking about subjects once close friend (''Someone to whom I could relate'') who is drug addict and who introduced subject into a world of drugs and the subject hates him because of that. In this moment his friend is dying from an overdose while subject is trying to save his life (''Now I'm trying to wake you up To pull you from the liquid sky Coz if I don't we'll both end up With just your song to say goodbye.''), despite the fact that he hates him right now because all the damage he's done to him (''Now I'm breaking down your door To try and save your swollen face Though I don't like you anymore You lying, trying waste of space...''). Subject thinks that his friend was lucky and probably had great career as a singer (''You were always one of those Blessed with lucky sevens And the voice that made me cry'') before he start doing drugs. Now when the drugs destroyed his life, he is comminting suicide and leaving suicide note in a form of a song (''...With just your song to say goodbye My Oh My A song to say goodbye...It's a song to say goodbye.'')
    Flag 00Meredith00on January 14, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:EVERYONE READ THIS! the song is actually a conversation between heroin and brian that is heavily addicted to it and chraing to fight his addiction
    the opening is heroin's words:

    "You are one of God's mistakes,
    You crying, tragic waste of skin, you see brian is chraing to fight his addiction
    I'm well aware of how it aches , but heroin tells him "look at your self you tragic waste of skin"
    And you still won't let me in" i know who much you suffer but you still dont shoot me in your vain

    heroin continues:
    "Now I'm breaking down your door, now im shooting my self to make you feel bether,
    To try and save your swollen face the face of brian is swollen becouse of all the tears
    Though I don't like you anymore, and cryings.. also shows how the heroin is actually in controll
    when you are addicted. like it is in controll of you.(just like in
    the video the little kid who is behind the wheel of the car he is
    heroin and the wierd looking guy is a heroin addicted pesron,i
    will explain the video in the end)
    and heroin
    dont even likes brian any more,(drugs like you when they effect at
    theyr best on you but with heroin is usualy only in the first time
    and the more you use you are alweise chraing to achive this first
    time perfect feeling wich is very rare...so heroin dont even
    effects so strong on brian anymore(trough he still need it very much.)

    now brian answers to heroin:

    You lying, trying waste of space.. lying becouse of heroin dont really makes everything good, but just
    makes you feel as if everything is good "illusion of happines" trying
    to make you feel good pice of sh*t....
    and a waste of space becouse of even trough its just a milligram dose
    of it in your pocket it is still a waste of space becouse it would
    be so much bether without it.

    brian continues:

    "Before our innocence was lost,
    You were always one of those , before the first time i used you i though that you are the one
    Blessed with lucky sevens , that with him i will never be sad, the perfect one.
    And the voice that made me cry"

    My Oh My........ just if looking on it from the side....my oh my really..

    brian again:

    "You were mother nature's son" - heroin is made from opium or Papaver which are plants.
    "Someone to whom I could relate" - its like they are brothers, both of them are from the saim mother..
    "Your needle and your damage done" -(from this neil young phrase you can actually understand that this
    remains a sordid twist of fate. song refers to a drug addiction in the first place, i read it in
    wiki)


    now heroin sings again:

    "Now I'm trying to wake you up,"- "heroin shoots him self again"
    To pull you from the liquid sky"- now brian is crying and looking into the sky so it looks liquid, (that
    is also what happens to the addict in the video clip in this moment
    of the song while the kid who is heroin runs to him so he could calm
    him down)
    heroin continues:

    "Coz if I don't we'll both end up ,
    With just your song to say goodbye"-brian will end up cuz heroin is hes inspiration and without him he
    is nothing, and heroin will end up becouse brian just wont use him
    and willjust throw him away. and the thing that they will end up with
    is a goodbye song written by brian molko (heroin tells it to brian
    "with just YOUR song to say goodbye" so clearly from this phrase
    you can understand that someone is sayng that to brian,just
    proving that im right in my interpretation.)


    A song to say goodbye,
    A song to say goodbye,and now we all can see that this is that goodbye song that heroin was talking about
    A song to say... its official now this is the end.....

    in the end brian sings it like for eight times to prove that this is the end, that this is that goodbye song.

    the video clip of this song helped me to figure out
    the meaning of this song.

    the little kid is heroin and that weird autist guy is a heroin addict.
    the heroin is absolutely under control of his life
    he drives him and goes with him hand by hand and always there for him to calm him down
    and make him feel like he's not alone
    to the point it gets ridiculous like in the scene with the supermarket cart.

    so heroin drives him trough life and the person just watch it goes by the window
    and ends up in a rehabilitation house "like that's where heroin brought him to"

    in the end of the song you can see the heroin sitting in a back of someone's car,
    i think that its like now he's entered into someone else's life but this person is still under control of the drug,
    through you can guess that its not for to long and soon the heroin will be the one who's sitting in the driving sit. i have to admit that this song is ginious, to show drug addiction in such way is....
    like the whole thing with the conversation and the video that heroin is a little cute boy who calms you down and looks so harmless but really kills you, placebo is no doubt the best band in the world
    and in meds there are few songs that are actually conversations between brian and heroin like pierrot the clown. the album it self is about failing relationship with drugs thats why it called meds duhhh
    Flagged eviltwin7on March 07, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I always connected it to the video, I think it could be interpreted as a conflict between either the inner child x the person one has become (It was someone else's idea and made sense), or the singer x an idol, or especially a father. It doesn't relate to a love or friendship, if you ask me - there's a loss of idolisation and love for someone that's supposed to protect and guide you.

    Things like addictions (especially for this song; "your needle and your damage done"), a family going dysfunctional etc. changes both of the parts that are involved;

    I'm well aware of how it aches.
    And you still won't let me in.

    And the child loses the love and respect he had once felt for him, along with his innocence which he left behind after learning how cruel the world can be and that even his primary source of love and trust can act like this, and growing way too fast to help his father and himself (remember in the video how he drives the car, picks the man from a hospital-rehab centerlike place etc?)

    Now I'm breaking down your door,
    To try and save your swollen face.
    ..
    Before our innocence was lost
    You were always one of those blessed with lucky sevens,
    And the voice that made me cry.
    (The last line can also be connected to the drunken, or high periods of a father).


    And, well, being in a family sort of like that (change addictions to emotional abuse), I can relate.
    Hope you like the interpretation.
    Flag nauseeon November 20, 2010   Link
  • -2
    General Comment:I can't believe that everyone has missed this.... Its about John Lennon the clue is "You were mother nature's son" and the needle ( johns mess with heroin), the innocence ( early beatles) the lucky sevens (seven has always been noted for being a lucky number)
    Flag mrcarl1on November 11, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song makes me think about my husband. We met as kids, and he is so talented- an althlete, handsome as hell, good at everything he's ever tried to do (blessed with lucky 7's). He became an alcoholic and an addict when we were both 14 (before our innocence was lost..). I can't count how many times I've busted down the door because he was OD'ing. Couple of times because he was trying to commit suicide. I love him more than anything (he has a voice that makes me cry- because I love him so much) but I hate him, because of what he has done to himself, and to me (first time I heard this song, I was floored, because I have actually told him that he is one of God's mistakes, in anger). I got clean a long time ago, and I keep trying to help him, but I can't reach him, no matter what I do. Anyway, that's what this song means to me.
    Flag Estrelita05on June 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Whoever or whatever this song relates to, it's kind of cruel, really. For me, at first he sings as rhough he really wants to hurt someone. But it's so powerful, too. One of my favourite, definately.
    Flag neuroticvinylon May 09, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:The first time I heard this song, I thought it was the speaker/singer talking to an ex-girlfriend that left him to be with another guy. Maybe she had been cheating on him and in the end decided to leave him or something, causing him to hate her. It turned out that the other guy was abusing her and the singer/speaker tried to help her (Now I'm breaking down your door - To try and save your swollen face.) but she wouldn't let him (And you still won't let me in). Maybe the part- "I'm well aware of how it aches" meant that he had also been abused in the past. Though he was only helping her grudgingly because he knew what it was like to be in that situation. (Though I don't like you anymore - You lying, trying waste of space.)

    "Before our innocence was lost" could mean before they had to go through such a terrible thing [abuse].
    "And the voice that made me cry" could mean that maybe listening to her comfort him made him feel emotional.

    Of course, those were my first thoughts when I heard the song.

    The part "You were Mother Nature's son." kind of threw me off, because of the whole 'son' thing, so it probably is about drugs like a lot of comments have already said here, especially considering how it says, "Your needle and your damage done" which is probably how he injected drugs; and also, "Now I'm trying to wake you up, - To pull you from the liquid sky." could mean that he's trying to take his friend down from his high, or something.

    But I just wanted to put my initial thoughts out there. xP
    Flag DearlyBelovedx13on May 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Okay, sometime last year some idiotic people used this song as weather-music, you know, instead of some shitty mainstream crap. I don't know why but it REALLY pissed me off, a lot. I really think that when a song begins with "you are one of god's mistakes" it would be kinda obvious it's not suitible music for channel 7 weather.
    Flag Pixon March 16, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I have to at least partially disagree with most of the opinions on the front page. I struggled with (manic) depression for a very long time and this song hits a lot of the points of it dead-on. I relate to this song more than any other song, I guess that's why I looked up the meaning. Anyway,

    "I'm well aware of how it aches And you still won't let me in." He understands how it is to be depressed and tries to talk to the person, maybe to get them help, but they resist his efforts for whatever reason.
    "Now I'm breaking down your door, To try and save your swollen face." Might mean that the person tried to commit suicide or hurt him/herself or overdosed.
    "Your needle and your damage done, Remains a sordid twist of fate, Now I'm trying to wake you up, To pull you from the liquid sky. Cause if I don't we'll both end up with just your songs to say goodbye." "Liquid sky" is slang for heroin, which explains the needle part; and "your songs to say goodbye" means that if the person doesn't turn their life around they're going to kill themselves with the drugs and alcohol and neglect. "A sordid twist of fate" -- well, "sordid" means low or dirty which would mean that they had it good before this happened. (Not that it's relevant, but Liquid Sky is also a band, in case any conspiracy theorists wanna touch on it)

    "You are one of god's mistakes You crying, tragic waste of skin." and "Though I don't like you anymore You lying, trying waste of space." These parts could be satirical - addressing that the person hates her/himself and considers her/himself a "waste of space" -- Molko doesn't agree but since they insist, he has quit trying to disagree. He doesn't necessarily consider them a friend anymore because they're so far gone and it disgusts him because they're not even trying to help themselves... But he still feels obligated to try and save them because they were friends and he still cares even though he hates the person for giving up. (I assume it's a guy because of the music video... Which is also why I'd assume it's depression.)
    "Before our innocence was lost" - Before the person got depressed; or before he and Molko grew up, if they grew up together.
    "You were always one of those blessed with lucky sevens," This part could mean that the person had everything they ever could have wanted (and maybe Molko was a little jealous), and the person screwed it up or p*ssed it away when they got depressed/into drugs.
    "And the voice that made me cry." Might mean that the person was Molko's best friend who he could relate to and that understood him and could get through to him (maybe when he was being bullied at ESL). We're talking deep love and understanding, between friends, or maybe lovers. The feel of the song gives me more a picture of friends than lovers though.
    OR, "And the voice that made me cry." could be after the person hit rock bottom and Molko was devastated at what happened to his friend (or lover, since we all know he's bisexual :3) and he may have cried when he found out his friend wanted to die.
    Doesn't matter what the song means, people will interpret it the way it pertains to them, regardless of how the band actually meant it. Amazing song, great band, who cares about the rest?
    Flag oxlenaon February 12, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I feel pretty strongly about this song, it's always reminded me of myself and my ex and at a time it was both of ours favourite song. So here is my shot at some kind of interpretation:

    You are one of god's mistakes.
    You crying, tragic waste of skin.

    - You've fucked up so badly that I pity you

    I'm well aware of how it aches.
    And you still won't let me in.

    - I know how you feel but you are oblivious to that

    Now I'm breaking down your door,
    To try and save your swollen face.

    - I'm trying to save you despite what you've done/become (the 'now I'm...' sort of sounds like 'look at me now doing this for you')

    Though I don't like you anymore
    You lying, trying waste of space.

    - Basically they don't like them anymore -.-

    My oh my.
    A song to say goodbye.
    A song to say goodbye
    A song to say goodbye,

    - Almost like they didn't have a proper goodbye. As though they are remarking on how odd it is that they said goodbye via a song?

    A song to say,
    Before our innocence was lost

    - I've always taken this to mean innocence as in purity? or perhaps just youth or whatever brought on their change in character

    You were always one of those blessed with lucky sevens,

    - the person was lucky, had a head start, had everything going for them, but still messed up?

    And the voice that made me cry.

    - I feel like it's saying they were 'blessed... with the voice that made me cry' like they had some sort of control or authority?


    You were Mother Nature's son.
    Someone to whom I could relate.
    Your needle and your damage done,

    - The last line is a Neil Young lyric of course, but I don't think it relates to him, just the theme of the song of that name

    Remains a sordid twist of fate,

    - It will always be strange how it ended up this way?

    Now I'm trying to wake you up,
    To pull you from the liquid sky.

    - This reminds me of part of another Placebo song where they talking about pulling someone 'from the ceiling', it kind of continues the 'theme' of drugs.

    Cause if I don't we'll both end up with just your songs that say goodbye.

    - if I dont we might not get the chance to say goodbye (like the chorus?)

    My oh my.
    A song to say goodbye,
    A song to say goodbye,
    A song to say,
    Before our innocence was lost you were always one of those blessed with lucky sevens,
    And a voice that made me cry.
    It's a song to say goodbye


    This is just my interpretation, it feels weird posting such an enormous comment -.-
    Flag ceepron December 21, 2009   Link

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