All this feels strange and untrue
And I won't waste a minute without you
My bones ache, my skin feels cold
And I'm getting so tired and so old

The anger swells in my guts
And I won't feel these slices and cuts
I want so much to open your eyes
'Cause I need you to look into mine

[Chorus]
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
Tell me that you'll open your eyes
Tell me that you'll open your eyes

Get up, get out, get away from these liars
'Cause they don't get your soul or your fire
Take my hand, knot your fingers through mine
And we'll walk from this dark room for the last time

Every minute from this minute now
We can do what we like anywhere
I want so much to open your eyes
'Cause I need you to look into mine

[Chorus: x2]

All this feels strange and untrue
And I won't waste a minute without you



Lyrics submitted by enderu

Track duration: 05:39

"Open Your Eyes" as written by Gary Lightbody, Nathan Connolly, Jonathan Graham Quinn, Tom Simpson, Paul Wilson

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Open Your Eyes song meanings
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94 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:To me this sounds like the singer is singing to someone who is either deeply injured/or in some form of a coma. And he is angry, tired, and exhausted at waiting and hoping for them to get better/wake up because he refuses to live without the person in his life.

    He's also telling the person that they shouldn't listen to the doctors (who may be saying it's too late/they will never wake up) and he's referring to this person's will power to live.

    The next line about taking their hand, and taking them from the dark room (which could reference the coma or the blackness of our minds)

    Basically he is screaming with the person/pleading for them to open their lives, prove everyone wrong and live with him because he refuses to live without them.
    Flag cherry619on May 02, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I happened to be reading Plato's Allegory of a Cave while listening to this song. To me it sounds like the idea of opening one's eyes and seeing the truth could possibley come from Plato. The song refers to the feelings of false truths. The person has discovered the truth and wants the other person to open his/her eyes. In the Allegory of the Cave there are prisoners chained in the dark where they can only see their shadows. These shadows represent the only truth they know, it is their reality. However, one of them is forced to step out and look at the light. By looking at the light his eyes hurt from the lack of use. A fire has been lit in his body from the knowledge and he cannot return to the lies and darkness. Plato talks about how if he were to return to the cave the others will laugh at him. This person can never return to the lies.

    So in the song whether it is lover or friend is not relevant, this enlightened person has discovered the truth, what ever it may be, and wants to share this with the lover/friend. Just like us when we find a great movie or book or song, etc... we want to share it with someone special in our lives. The beauty of the song is that it is written with so much meaning and description yet it allows each listener to find a personal and unique meaning to the lyrics.
    Flag cris8463on September 25, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:This song really means a lot to me. Not necessarily the meaning with which it was originally written, but the meaning that I've sort of given it based on my own life.

    To me, "this dark room" is the proverbial "closet." It's being told from the perspective of a gay person who is "out" of the closet, to someone who is still "in." The speaker wants to show this person that it's okay. Open your eyes, come out here into the open and be your true self.

    "The anger swells in my guys, I won't feel these slices and cuts." People can be mean and rude, but he isn't going to let it get to him. "I want so much to open your eyes, I need you to look into mine." He needs this person. He wants to open his eyes to true happiness, to show them that it's okay to be who they really are.

    "They don't get your soul or your fire." The people who are hating just don't get what makes you really great. So, "take my hand, and we'll walk from this dark room for the last time." He asks the closeted person to be brave, to take his hand, and walk out of there for the final time. Because if he does, "we can do what we like, anywhere." He wants to open his eyes to a new world, because he loves him. "I won't waste a minute without you."

    I know this probably isn't how it was originally intended, but that's the beauty of music, really. Hopefully somebody else out there can relate to my interpretation as well. :)
    Flag llscienceon August 02, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I also feel like this song is about hoping for the best. I believe it has a lot to do with someone dying and the other not wanting it to happen because they have not said their goodbyes. That they ended on a bad note, and now they is regret and its too late to say the things that needed to be said.
    Flag AshKargelon June 19, 2012   Link
  • 0
    Memory:I agree with everyone with how it's a bittersweet song, and I really enjoy all the interpretations because I was never able to think of that song in such ways. But to me, the song is extremely sad.

    The first time I heard it I was just beginning to mourn for my father. He had landed himself in the ICU after attempting suicide with a bullet through the head. The outlook was grim, and we tried to hold onto him for as long as possible.

    He was in a coma for about a week, and for that whole time we watched him deteriorate in the hospital. This song nailed all my feelings perfectly and for that I cry almost every time I listen to it. First it's the disbelief at what's happening, then the anger and numbness come on to try to deal with all the hurt. All through it, I just wanted him to open his eyes at least one more time, so we could get out of there and enjoy ourselves before he had to be taken away. I /needed/ him to open his eyes, so I knew everything would be ok.

    It's an intense meaning for me, and even now I still regret what could have been. There was no happy ending for me.
    Flag Bheithiron April 23, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I really enjoy the song, but the editor in me wants to cut it down to:


    All this feels strange and untrue
    But I won't waste a minute without you
    Take my hand, knot your fingers through mine
    And we'll walk through this dark room for the last time

    Tell me that you'll open your eyes [x2]

    Get up, get out, get away from these liars
    Oh, they don't got your soul or your fire
    Every minute from this second on
    We can do what we like anywhere

    Tell me that you'll open your eyes [x4]

    All this feels strange and untrue
    And I won't waste a minute without you


    to really solidify its message and 'light through the darkness' bittersweet & uplifting atmosphere.
    I still like listening to it as is, though.
    Flag pardonm3on November 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I have just discovered 'SnowPatrol' cos of buying a CD for just one song (Chasing Cars) The guy talked me into 'Snow Patrol Up to Now' Now I am so addicted to song after song, they are such a brilliant band with such meaningful and real lyrics.
    When I hear Open Your eyes I see a guy or even a parent watching their loved one destroying themselves. They are involved in a bad crowd and sucked into lies. These people don't really care, they are like parasites or vampires. But when you are in the middle of this you can not see it. So the person who truly loves him/her and wants the best for him/her, and wants him/her to be the unique talented soulful person that s/he is just need her or him/her to open his/her eyes and look into theirs and walk away together.
    A parent would suffer any cuts and slices to get a child away from a soul and life destroying situation. And some friends would do that also. So, such a beautiful song, hopeful too :)
    Or it is about an obsessive lover who accidently killed his lover. ;) A sicko serial killer ;) haha Scary, I like the first idea ;)
    Flag OddFishon November 06, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It seems also as if this could be about a girl in a coma. the doctors are saying that she wont live, but he is saying that they dont know her soul or fire and that she will pull through. He just wants her to open her eyes. However, the relationship thing is more likely.
    Flag FClefon April 10, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I am going to have to say that the singer of this song is singing to a loved one who has some kind of disease/alcohol or drug abuse issues/or is a part of abuse in some way. 'The anger swells in my guts' is referring to the way she (I'm assuming a girl friend of his or a lover, but it could be a male or a relative even) is treated. 'Slices and cuts' would, in turn, be in a non-literal sense, just how he feels when he knows the person he is singing to is in pain.

    He is trying to get this person to open their eyes to see that the way they are being treated/what they are doing to themselves, is wrong.

    I would have to say that the best line, if my interpretation is true, is 'And we'll walk from this dark room for the last time'.

    Overall, there are so many ways this could be interpreted. Which is why Snow Patrol is so fantastic. There is never just ONE meaning, but several. The obvious ones are generally about a relationship, but digging deeper (even the one I brought forth) there are a lot of them, all of which the listeners can relate to.

    I'm sure there is (or has been) one person in your life that was apart of something wrong and you just wanted them to see that it was not okay. But that you would be there for them through it all.

    'Take my hand, knot your fingers through mine'.
    Flag tiawormon October 10, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:its definitely about his loved one dying, and him being in denial.. which is the saddest part.. the repetition of 'Tell me that you'll open your eyes', his persistence, the fact that he thinks she'll open her eyes and making plans:
    'Take my hand, knot your fingers through mine
    And we'll walk from this dark room for the last time
    Every minute from this minute now
    We can do what we like anywhere'
    Flag imagoonon September 01, 2010   Link

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