I miss you now
I guess like I should have missed you then
My body moves
Like curtains waving in and out of wind, in and out of windows

I can't untangle, I can't untangle
What I feel and what would matter most
I can't get close and I, I can't get close
And now there's just no point, in reaching out for me

In the dark, I'm just no good at giving relief
In the dark, it won't be easy to find relief
And I'm not proud that nothing will seem easy about me
But I promise this
I won't go my whole life telling you I don't need
But I promise this
I won't go my whole life telling you I don't need

I'll tell you now
I guess like I should have told you then
The thunder moves like damn drawers slamming in my frame
Slamming in my framework

I can't untangle, I can't untangle
What I know and what should matter most
I can't get close and I, I can't get close
And now there's just no point, in reaching out for you

In the dark, I'm just no good at giving relief
In the dark, it won't be easy to find relief
And I'm not proud that nothing will seem easy about me

But I promise this
I won't go my whole life telling you I don't need
(4x)



Lyrics submitted by delial

Track duration: 03:00

"Relief Next to Me" as written by Tegan Quin Sara Quin

Lyrics © NAKED IN A SNOWSUIT PUBLISHING

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Relief Next to Me song meanings
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17 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I think I read somewhere that this song really depresses Sara whenever they play it live. So, I figure that despite the song's surface cheery tone, it's got some deeper, more cryptic and tragic meaning that may only be clear to Sara.
    Flag melodeeon March 03, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with what everyone is saying, but I'd like to add something. I always thought when she said she couldn't give relief, it meant sexually. I feel like she's expressing that she's a very private person, and feels like she can't surrender her body.
    Flag SparkleNShineon October 19, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Slamming in my framework! Best line of the whole song
    Flag andthepartyragedonon August 24, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"But I promise this,
    I won't go my whole life,
    telling you I don't need."

    perfection.
    Flag throneon June 23, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:i think this is sara's best songwriting yet.
    Flag edithwrongon September 15, 2008   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:i think she feels she could have given more to the relationship, that she didnt know how to make him feel better and she didnt know how to give him relief
    Flag cryostrichon July 10, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:"i promise this- i won't go my whole life telling you i don't need"

    i think thats one of the most beautiful lines on this whole album.

    in the song, she could be saying that consolation isn't really her strong point. because she is in the dark herself. she can't give relief to someone else when she can't even provide it for herself.

    this lady i know, i think her names Oprah?, once told me that you can't "fix" others without first "fixing" yourself.. wise woman
    Flag maryluffon January 13, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i can listen to this song over and over and over again.

    i think it's about someone who had a relationship which didn't work out, they broke up because she (in this song) didn't understand her because of the way she is 'And I'm not proud that nothing will seem easy about me', she's difficult to understand and she wants to change that but doesn't know how and where to begin. After a while she's missing that person who she should be missing when they just broke up, she regrets the things she didnt say back then and wished she could change that.
    She doesn't know what's important to her and what is not. She's having trouble sleeping because she's only thinking about that person. I think that person has got a new relationship which would explain the 'Now there's no point in reaching out for me'

    anyway, i think it's something like this. I have the same thing with someone right now and when i listen to this song i wished i could go back in time and say all the things i wanted to say to him.
    Flag ihearnoisesson January 12, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:To me the artist is singing about themself in a still in a relationship that she is questioning. Perhaps they are back together after a recent break up:

    " I miss you now like I should have missed you then." And she is questioning if being back together is something that is more harm than good or if it might work out. She is unable to sleep when she's sleeping next to her lover because she is thinking too much and questioning everything, she cant get relief and therefore cannot offer relief. She is too uptight and uncertain to really open herself or to give any kind of deep affection and emotion to her lover. : "I can't untangle what I feel and what would matter most I can't close an eye, can't close an eyelid...Now there's no point in reaching out for me
    In the dark, I'm just no good at giving relief
    In the dark, it won't be easy to find relief"

    I think she is then conisdering what the end will be like. she thinks her lover will be very confused and have a hard time understanding where she is coming from and will be thrown off that the singer is taking a stand and is strong enough to end things. the singer has always been so passive and seemingly content until now:
    " And I'm not proud that nothing will seem easy about me
    But I promise this, I won't go my whole life telling you I don't need
    I'll tell you now, I guess like I should have told you then
    That thunder moves like damn drawers slamming in my frame
    Slamming in my framework"



    Thats just a total guess, but i know thats exactly how i have felt in a relationship before. losing my love, losing sleep and being totally void of giving relief or getting any myself.
    Flag ve1ouriaon December 01, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:in alternative press magazine, there's an article on tegan and sara and it says sara wrote this song about being stressed about paying taxes and fixing her leaky roof.
    Flag holdin00panickon November 12, 2007   Link

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