Paper bags and plastic hearts
All our belongings in shopping carts
It's goodbye
But we got one more night
Let's get drunk and drive around
And make peace with an empty town
We can make it right

[Chorus]
Throw it away
Forget yesterday
We'll make the great escape
We won't hear a word they say
They don't know us anyway
Watch it burn
Let it die
'Cause we are finally free tonight

Tonight will change our lives
It's so good to be by your side
But we'll cry
We won't give up the fight
We'll scream loud at the top of our lungs
And they'll think it's just 'cause we're young
And we'll feel so alive

[Chorus]

All of the wasted time
The hours that were left behind
The answers that we'll never find
They don't mean a thing tonight

Throw it away
Forget yesterday
We'll make the great escape
We won't hear a word they say
They don't know us anyway

Throw it away
Forget yesterday
We'll make the great escape
We won't hear a word they say
They don't know us anyway

[Chorus]



Lyrics submitted by xdanixgirlx

Track duration: 03:27

"The Great Escape" as written by David Katz, Martin Johnson, Sam Hollander

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


The Great Escape song meanings
Add your thoughts

73 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:It's about leaving a place that you hate behind and leaving with a person you're close to. That you simply don't care what other have to say about your departure (the great escape).
    Just before you leave you have to do all the things that you never did in that place, (make peace with an empty town, we can make it right) and that you don't have to be afraid about the consequences because you'll leave anyways. (throw it away, forget yesterday and the answer's that we'll never find, they don't mean a thing tonight and watch it burn, let it die, cause we are finally free tonight).

    This song (and kids in love by Mayday Parade) was one of the most played songs on a roadtrip I went on one summer and it's basically one of those "let's get out of here" songs.
    Flag marylinnxon May 06, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I like this song. It's mine. When you finally accept a situation (ie. your life; your personality; your body; your fate; whatever) you are only then truely free. When you give up waiting for the impossible; live in the moment and in reality; and accept defeat where it needs to be accepted, you are then free to fly...to embrace the happiness that already exists in your life and allow it to expand from there. That's what this song means to me...
    Flag SweetCheeks2on February 19, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:This song is about teenage freedom, nights partying, forgetting your past, and living life as it is before your teenage years are up. This is the anthem to my life as of now. And no, it is not about suicide, it's about the exact opposite, it's about living!


    TEEN FREEDOM! :D
    Flag misterchristeron June 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i love boys like girls so much ! <3
    this song was my anthem in 2008, i miss that year so much
    i can't believe we're now going into 2010, this decade went way too fast
    Flag MCRfanaticon December 18, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song makes me happy!!!!! XD
    i miss summer
    Flag peacenlove07on November 30, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:To me this song isn't just about graduating, though I assume that was the intended meaning.

    To me this song is simply just my life in general, we all have a phase when we know everything's going to change soon enough, but we just wanna forget it all for this one night!

    Basically saying were gonna get drunk, make mistakes & be kids while we can :)
    I can't explain the butterflies I get when this comes on!

    Even if you hate boys like girls, there's no way you can say this is not the teenage anthem of the decade!
    It's brilliant, everyone can relate in one way or another.

    Flag oxconversexoon October 24, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is all about letting go, and having one last night of partying, before becoming an 'adult' or whatever it is for you, that you are dreading, You know, Like not going down without a fight, to an extent..
    I think Graduation is a great example of what this song stands for!

    I, too, agree that It's a little overplayed, But I do love this song, And I have some great memories involving this song...Awesome lyrics, and just a great song overall.
    Flag Belarmino1on October 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is my personal interpretation of the song:

    It's like it’s gotten to the point where you just can't take it anymore, all the stuff people have been saying or doing to you. So you’re saying "starting with now I'm going to forget about all of it and just move on". Like he's saying: Forget about them, it doesn't matter what they say. We're just going to let it go, move on and have fun. We’re going to enjoy ourselves because they don't know us and it doesn't matter what they think. We won’t let them get to us or make us feel bad anymore.

    ('We can make it right'): At the beginning of the song it's like you’re saying "To be a happy person, I need to be free of all of this, so now I'm going to forget it all and be at peace with myself"

    ('But we'll cry / We won't give up the fight'): Then it's saying "Yeah, it will be hard to forget it all but we can't give up, this is what needs to be done to allow myself to move on. Besides we can't let them win and allow them to make us feel bad, we'll show them we don't care."

    That’s what the lyrics mean to me because of my own personal experiences but they might be completely different to your meaning anyway [= Great song
    Flag handsareturningon September 25, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The first time I ever heard it, it felt to me as if it was an anthem for graduation night...but it's not like that anymore.

    To me, it's the anthem of being young and having fun.

    It sounds like my friends and I on the weekends. Lying to my parents and saying I'm staying at a friends house, just so I can stay out as late as I want. My boyfriend picking me up down the street from my best friend's house. Riding around town in his car with all of our friends in the cars next to us. Sitting in the parking lot on our cars, listening to music and talking about the future or nothing at all. Racing in shopping carts. Taking off in the grocery store scooter-carts. To me, it's the anthem of Saturday nights. It's the anthem of knowing better but not caring. The anthem of 17 years old. The anthem of teens.

    So here's to youth. Here's to the teens sitting on the trunk of a car with friends. Here's to the kids so eager to grow up, just relaxing and enjoying the time of their lifes. Here's to us. <3
    Flag toxthexboneson May 02, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:isn't this song about many teens who are sick of hearing all the time how they must do things and they go to a special party and they say "fuck off I don't care I will do whatever I feellike doing today" its a song about freedom in a teen way of expressing it because they feel they live in a represive world that doesn't let them do anything that want.
    Flag MissMIssDeadon February 19, 2009   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain