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This town is colder now, I think it's sick of us
It's time to make our move, I'm shakin' off the rust
I've got my heart set on anywhere but here
I'm staring down myself, counting up the years
Steady hands just take the wheel
Every glance is killing me
Time to make one last appeal
For the life I live
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, can you see what I see'
They're tryin' to come back, all my senses push
Untie the weight bags, I never thought I could
Steady feet, don't fail me now
I'm gonna run till you can't walk
Something pulls my focus out
And I'm standing down
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, you don't need
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared
I've become what I can't be
Oh, do you see what I see?
It's time to make our move, I'm shakin' off the rust
I've got my heart set on anywhere but here
I'm staring down myself, counting up the years
Steady hands just take the wheel
Every glance is killing me
Time to make one last appeal
For the life I live
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, can you see what I see'
They're tryin' to come back, all my senses push
Untie the weight bags, I never thought I could
Steady feet, don't fail me now
I'm gonna run till you can't walk
Something pulls my focus out
And I'm standing down
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, you don't need
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared
I've become what I can't be
Oh, do you see what I see?
Lyrics submitted by hplssrmantcxox
Track duration: 03:44
"Stop and Stare" as written by Andre Young, Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, Michael Elizondo, Mark Batson, Gwen Stefani, Eve Jeffers, Kara Dioguardi, Chantal Kreviazuk
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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It's time to make our move, I'm shakin' off the rust"
Meaning- Him and his girlfriend have fallen out of love after a long relationship and he's getting ready to leave because it's time.
"I've got my heart set on anywhere but here
I'm staring down myself, counting up the years"
Meaning: He really wants to move on and he's looking back at all of the years he's spent with this one girl.
"Steady hands just take the wheel
Every glance is killing me
Time to make one last appeal
For the life I live"
Meaning: He is going to tell her that it's over but something is pulling him back every time she looks at him. He is thinking that he should reconsider before completely changing his lifestyle with her.
"Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh"
Meaning: He thinks he's getting the courage to end it but he really isn't. He knows that everyone get's nervous but he can't end it with her.
"Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, can you see what I see"
Meaning: He is asking him self why he's not with a better girl in a better relationship. He thinks that is what's fair but he knows that's not what he really wants because he will miss her.
Or watching your crush or ex flirting with another person.
To me it's about letting go of the past no matter how hard it is. Maybe this guy messed up where he is now and needs to start a new life somewhere else. Or maybe he didn't fit in where he was and feels that he doesn't belong there so he's running away.
"I'm staring down myself, counting up the years" suggests that he's thinking back to everything that's happened in the past (everything that he's messed up). He's obviously upset about leaving there.
"you start to wonder why you're here not there" suggests that he's been left out and knows he shouldn't, he should "get what's fair". He wants to fit in and be over there instead of here by himself.
"fair ain't what you really need" suggests that he doesn't care if he doesn't fit in, he just wants to be loved....or noticed.
- Leah
I hear this, and I think, wow. "It's time to make our move, I'm shaking off the rust" means to me that it's time to move, time to meet your limits. "I've got my heart set on anywhere but here"... I see this and I think about how no matter how much time I cut off, my heart is set on getting a time anywhere but where I am. And that's wrong. What your heart should be set on is achievable goals until you get to the top. "I'm staring down myself, counting up the years"... I think of how I'm always thinking of the years I've been running, never being quite at the top where I want to be.
"Time to make one last appeal for the life I lead", it's time to work, to show what I'm capable of doing, being what I can be.
"Stop and stare, I think I'm moving but I go nowhere", and I think of how each season I think I'm getting better and moving but really I go nowhere, because I've lost it all by the next season. But that doesn't have to happen, with hard work each season can be more dropped from times, until they're all you ever wanted them to be.
"But I've become what I can't be, oh". Recently I've been less competitive, letting people pass me and get better while I stay pretty much the same. This is what I can't be. I must compete in order to do the best I can.
"Stop and stare, You start to wonder why you're here not there". Why do I hang in the middle instead of the top of the running, why can't I be as fast as the top people?
"And you'd give anything to get what's fair", I often think I'd do anything to get what's fair, to have the natural talent I catch myself thinking it takes to be the best.
"But fair ain't what you really need". You don't have to be the best on your team. The only person's time you should watch is your own. It doesn't have to be "fair", that's not what you need. The best runners accomplish what they do through their own hard work, not always just natural talent. You can be the best in your own mind.
"Steady feet, don't fail me now": I think, I've pushed through everything I have. The steady feet I have kept, don't fail me now, push me farther so I can achieve the goals I've been working towards.
"I'm gonna run till you can't walk", I'm going to work hard, so I become what nobody expected me to become.
This was kind of a situation that maybe most people wouldn't think about when they hear "Stop and Stare", but this is what came to my mind. Hope it helps anybody looking for something inspirational.
It's time to make our move, I'm shakin' off the rust
I've got my heart set on anywhere but here
I'm staring down myself, counting up the years
so the first verse is maybe he had a death of a friend or family member and he is coming to terms with how they spent there whole life in an ordinary way, so he looks over himself and sees how he hasnt done anything either, he wants to go places. otherwise he is thinking how he wanted to maybe move away from everyone but now he realizes he doesnt want to leave them.
Steady hands just take the wheel
Every glance is killing me
Time to make one last appeal
For the life I lead
he talks to his hands, like he talks to his feet later, hes at the wake of the friend/ family member and thinks about taking "wheel" of his life. becoming the person he wants, a person who makes something of themselves. as he sits there at the stool of the casket "every glance kills him" and he needs to speak out and say something about them, because its the start of his new self.
Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're here not there
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, you don't need
he felt like he was living life fine. he was enjoying himself and thought he was "moving" when really he was going "nowhere". people get scared of doing something with themselves. maybe they will be too afraid to go on stage and do something. or too afraid to go to paris and become a world known chef. and he became a person that he cant live with being. a normal citizen.
hes wondering why he didnt do things within his life that would have changed the outcome, and why he's here doing nothing and not there making something out of himself. he wants it so bad that its not fair that he cant change it, that he didnt think of it sooner. but all he really needs is a motivation.
this is what i think... at first i thought it was a love song.. like you know. "stop and stare" because they caught your eye. but here is what i thought, thank you :p
**This town is colder now, I think it's sick of us
It's time to make our move, I'm shakin' off the rust
I've got my heart set on anywhere but here
I'm staring down myself, counting up the years**
these 4 lines are like, im not where i want to be in my relationship with God, and i need to stop falling and pick myself up again.
**Steady hands, just take the wheel
And every glance is killing me
Time to make one last appeal for the life I lead**
this is my prayer to God to ask him to take over my life again, and im looking back at what bothers me about my life, but i know that its time to move on
**Stop and stare
I think I'm moving but I go nowhere
Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared
But I've become what I can't be, oh
Stop and stare
You start to wonder why you're 'here' not 'there'
And you'd give anything to get what's fair
But fair ain't what you really need
Oh, can you see what I see?**
this is me reflecting on the past again and knowing that all of the stuff i did in my life, going to church, praying, reading my bible...it was all useless unless i was striving for an actual relationship with God, which i wasn't. and i want to have people look at me as a normal high school student, but if i want to be a disicple of Jesus...thats not whats going to happen, and im scared, but i know its the right thing to do.
**They're tryin' to come back, all my senses push
Untie the weight bags, I never thought I could
Steady feet, don't fail me now
Gonna run till you can't walk**
im still not totally letting go, a part of me wants to stay safe and comfortable, but i know i cant, and i break free and run screaming like a little girl toward God. ive stumbled and fell before, and i dont want that to happen again...for the millionth time, but im trusting in God and taking that risk.
i know that people think that some interpretations are better than others, but that doesn't matter to me where mine "fits in". the whole point of writing a song is about expressing yourself and being true to you. the most important part of a "theme" of a song is that it relates to many different people, and that is what i think makes a song really good, and thats why i love this song ten thousand times more after reading all the comments.
It's basically about this guy who is ready to make a change in his life. Either he's choosing to or not. But anyways, somethings going to change. And it's probably something that most people may have a hard time doing. What I mean is, something major is happening in his life, possibly rough or trying, and he's hesitant. He's doubtful that he can make it through it. He tries to convince himself that he can, though. "Steady feet, don't fail me now" means that, you got me this far; you made it through everything else, so there's no reason why you can't make it through this. Sure you may not like what has to be done, but you'll get through it. You just have to move on, remain positive, and keep looking forward. Everythng turns out okay in the end.
Amazing meaning!