This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
It's, not, how you start, it's how you finish,
And it's, not, where you're from, it's where you're at
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
How quick are you gonna' get up?
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
Just how are you gonna' get up?
Like Ali in the jungle,
Like Nelson in jail,
Like Simpson on the mountain,
With odds like that, they were bound to fail
Like Keller in the darkness,
Like Adam's in the dock,
Like Ludwig Van, how I loved that man,
Well the guy went deaf and didn't give a damn, no
No, no, no
It's, not, where you are, It's where you're going,
Where are you going?
And it's, not, about the things you've done, it's what you're doing, now,
What are you doing, now?
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
How quick are you gonna' get up, now?
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
Just how are you gonna' get up?
Like Ali in the jungle,
Like Nelson in jail,
Like Simpson on the mountain,
Well with odds like that, they were bound to fail
Like Keller in the darkness,
Like Adam's in the dock,
Like Ludwig Van, how I loved that man,
Well the guy went deaf and didn't give a damn, no
Oooh, ooh, ooh
No, no, no
Oooh, ooh, ooh
No, no, no
Oooh, ooh, ooh
It's the greatest comeback since Lazarus,
The greatest comeback since Lazarus,
It's the greatest comeback since Lazarus,
The greatest comeback since Lazarus,
It's the greatest comeback since Lazarus,
The greatest comeback since Lazarus,
The greatest comeback since Lazarus,
The greatest comeback
It's the greatest comeback...
And it's, not, where you're from, it's where you're at
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
How quick are you gonna' get up?
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
Just how are you gonna' get up?
Like Ali in the jungle,
Like Nelson in jail,
Like Simpson on the mountain,
With odds like that, they were bound to fail
Like Keller in the darkness,
Like Adam's in the dock,
Like Ludwig Van, how I loved that man,
Well the guy went deaf and didn't give a damn, no
No, no, no
It's, not, where you are, It's where you're going,
Where are you going?
And it's, not, about the things you've done, it's what you're doing, now,
What are you doing, now?
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
How quick are you gonna' get up, now?
Everybody gets knocked down,
Everybody gets knocked down,
How quick are you gonna' get up?
Just how are you gonna' get up?
Like Ali in the jungle,
Like Nelson in jail,
Like Simpson on the mountain,
Well with odds like that, they were bound to fail
Like Keller in the darkness,
Like Adam's in the dock,
Like Ludwig Van, how I loved that man,
Well the guy went deaf and didn't give a damn, no
Oooh, ooh, ooh
No, no, no
Oooh, ooh, ooh
No, no, no
Oooh, ooh, ooh
It's the greatest comeback since Lazarus,
The greatest comeback since Lazarus,
It's the greatest comeback since Lazarus,
The greatest comeback since Lazarus,
It's the greatest comeback since Lazarus,
The greatest comeback since Lazarus,
The greatest comeback since Lazarus,
The greatest comeback
It's the greatest comeback...
Lyrics submitted by Batesy_predator
Ali in the Jungle Lyrics as written by Martin Slattery Anthony Genn
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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You're joking, right?? Adams is Samuel Adams, the dock referring the Boston Tea Party. Only an Arsenal fan would put Tony Adams up there with Beethoven and Nelson Mandela.
Good to see 3 years on I was right, type it into google.....ITS EVERYWHERE!
haha :]
the part where it says, "with odds like that we were bound to fail" is pretty much saying that the odds were against them but they managed to come out on top. its a really amazing song
I'm gonna go with Tony Adams over Samuel Adams. "In the dock" would be English slang for "in jail", right? "Adams ON the dock" would make more sense for Sam, while "Adams IN the dock" would be a dude in jail, footballer Tony.
And that's coming from a Yank. LOL
thanks for your support ;)
Yeah, i think this song basically means that you will fall down a lot in life, but you cant stay down. you have to get up if you want to succeed.
I think the allusions are pretty clear. The odds were against these people and they still overcame. Muhumad Ali won the Rumble in the Jungle. Helen Keller and Ludwig Van Beethoven both became successful though they were deaf. Nelson Mendell survived going to prison. And as for the Adams, im pretty sure its Samuel Adams. but its on the Fifa commercial and the official video shows somebody kick a soccerball. Heres the video if you are interested in watching it:
youtube.com/watch
Pittsburgh - Beethoven was already VERY successful when he became deaf (at an older age). He was not born deaf like Keller.
Love the fact that 3 years ago I said it was Tony Adams....I was proved right, now THAT is the greatest comback since lazerus!
youtube.com/watch The band confirmed that its Tony Adams in the comments of this video...
I heard this song on Jools Holland on Friday and absolutely loved it.
I think it's quite obviously about all the different ways we get knocked down in life, whether it's being taken down by certain specific events or being disadvantaged in some way by things in our lives outside our own control.
We're all like Ali, like the boxer. We fight to get back up as quickly as possible, before we get counted out - before the bell rings.
No matter how hard things seem, no matter how long the odds, we can always overcome things. Even when we're told it's impossible we can do it. Us humans might have sensitive skin but we're hard - if wounded - at the core.
Anything is possible.
Yep, I saw them on Jools as well. I think this might be their only good song though. (Mr Hudson) were ace.
It's about the fact that life is a never ending struggle where you will repeatedly be 'knocked down'. The message is that it happens to everybody and everybody 'get(s) up' it's just a matter of how quick. Either get up or go kill yourself. That's life.
I like the allusions in the song. 'Ali in the jungle' alludes to Muhammad Ali's fight against George Foreman 'The Rumble in the Jungle'. 'Nelson in jail' alludes to Nelson Mandella's imprisonment. 'Greatest comeback since lazarus' refers to the Bible story where Lazarus is raised from the dead by Jesus. Ludwig Van Beethoven the composer 'went deaf and didn't give a fuck'.
Can anybody else explain 'Simpson on the mountain', ' Keller in the darkness', 'Adam's in the dock'?
'Keller in the darkness' likely refers to Helen Keller a famous writer who was deaf and blind, 'Simpson on the mountain' to Joe Simpson - famous mountaineer.
i LOVE the culture references in this song. and i agree with jonathonbc.