SongMeanings | Lyrics | Airborne Toxic Event, The

A
Airborne Toxic Event, The
Sometime Around Midnight
94 Comments

Lyrics for Sometime Around Midnight as interpreted by gregger1

Sometime Around Midnight Lyrics

Send "Sometime Around Midnight" Ringtone to your Cell

And it starts...
sometime around midnight
or at least that's when
you lose yourself
for a minute or two

As you stand...
under the barlights
and the band plays some song
about forgetting yourself for a while
and the piano's this melancholy soundcheck
to her smile
And that white dress she's wearing
you haven't seen her
for a while

But you know...
that she's watching
She's laughing, she's turning
she's holding her tonic like a crux
The room suddenly spinning
she walks up and asks how you are
so you can smell her perfume
you can see her lying naked in your arms

And so there's a change...
in your emotions
and all of these memories come rushing
like feral waves to your mind
of the curl of your bodies
like two perfect circles entwined
and you feel hopeless, and homelss
and lost in the haze
of the wine

And she leaves...
with someone you don't know
but she makes sure you saw her
she looks right at you and bolts
As she walks out the door
your blood boiling
your stomach in ropes
and when your friends say what is it
you look like you've seen a ghost

And you walk...
under the streetlights
and you're too drunk to notice
that everyone is staring at you
and you so care what you look like
the world is falling
around you

You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her
You just have to see her

and you know that she'll break you
in two

Send "Sometime Around Midnight" Ringtone to your Cell

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Other Popular Lyrics by Airborne Toxic Event, The

Wishing Well
Happiness Is Overrated
Innocence
Does This Mean You're Moving On?
Missy
Gasoline

94 Comments

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toekneeyo
02-06-2008

Rated -1

this song reminds me of explosions in the sky -hand in hand

one hit wonders? probabaly.

2 Replies

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chicananerd
04-02-2008

Rated +1

i really like this song. i reminds me of the urgency i heard in conor's voice in old bright eyes (like, haligh haligh). it's not quite as innovative as that was then, but i dig the song anyway. i've been there (as in, the scene he describes).

2 Replies

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jesus202
04-07-2008

Rated 0

the instruments are fairly rich in this song.

anyway, whos this girl in the song? is she an ex? a fling? a tease?

1 Reply

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...said sadly
04-14-2008

Rated 0

doesnt it sound a bit springsteen-ish?
i dont know why but i feel like this song is about a guy who always resists his impulses.

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chicananerd
04-27-2008

Rated 0

i think the girl is possibly an ex, but it seems a little more messed up than that. perhaps it's a girl who was really into him, and he didn't really notice how much she meant to him until she was gone.

1 Reply

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SSPink
05-06-2008

Rated 0

toekneeyo: one hit wonders? probabaly.

I don't know, their EP was good, 'Does This Mean You're Moving On?' and "Wishing Well' were both pretty tight. I suppose we'll know a lot more when their first album drops around in the middle of July.

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red5
05-08-2008

Rated +1

It's obviously a recent ex, he still loves her and she's trying to make him jealous. Because either he dumped her or his heavy drinking led her to leave him. Perhaps the same girl mentioned in "Does this mean you're moving on?"

1 Reply

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shrodes
07-18-2008

Rated +1

The album is amazing. No joke.

1 Reply

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SaralynnEtc.
08-02-2008

Rated +5

this song is so wonderful, i can't even take it.

i envision, a man sitting in a bar, and in walks this woman, a woman he once loved and whom loved him.
he probably hasn't seen or even thought of her in quite some time but the minute he sees her walking by; laughing, talking, drinking, he is flooded with emotion. the memories of who they were and what they had, come pouring in; reasons for why they ended their relationship are irrelevant because since it has been so long, all that is left are memories of the good times. she walks over to him and he feels just as he did when they had each other "so you can smell her perfume
you can see her lying naked in your arms."

he remembers what it felt like to hold her, to love her, to be with her, and for all of the love to be returned.

she leaves with another man.
she makes sure he sees that she has someone else because she wants him to know that she has found love again, that she is happy, that she has everything she needs.
i assume she is clouded with emotion just as he is,
otherwise, why would she bother in making such a scene about having another?

she leaves the bar and moments later he stumbles out, to search for her or perhaps himself.

he's not quite coherent and the floods of mixed emotions aren't helping.

all he wants is to see her again, to be in that place again, that place of love and sweet bliss, but he knows that if he sees her again it will only further prove to himself that he can never have her again, that everything they are has passed over into sweet memory.

"You just have to see her

and you know that she'll break you
in two"

he had forgotten her for so long and now that he is reminded, what will he do?

8 Replies

Boaky
01-06-2009

Rated 0

I love this song so much it makes me feel alive. You sound pretty accurate with what you say. I managed to see them live in carlisle in england and they did not dissapoint. I am also going to see them again in glasgow on the 30th of january. If you get the chance go and see them. Where you from by the way please

shanepdshane
02-26-2009

Rated 0

Boaky says you sound "pretty accurate" in your response, No. What you wrote about the song was poetic and hit the nail on the head in a way that would probably make the writer of the song smile. What you wrote is EXACTLY what I envisioned. A beautiful song. So much emotion, so much feeling, so much progression. It's funny how a few drinks will do that sometimes. Not that he wouldn't have felt the same way without the drinks, but that level of spiraling emotion usually starts with a glass.

bestlaidschemes
03-03-2009

Rated +2

Your analysis on him is right on point. I disagree about what you said about her, though. I don't think she has found someone new, that she cares about as much or has as much of a connection with as with the man in the song. She is trying to make him jealous. They probably haven't thought of each other in awhile, but it is impossible to ignore their magnetism. Once they see one another again, they're drowning in memories. She still has immense feelings for him, but probably still holds a grudge over why they broke up. So, to make him jealous she makes sure he notices her, to prove to herself that he still wants her. And of course, as the end of the song shows, it works.

AmericanHoney
04-15-2009

Rated 0

I have to agree with bestlaidschemes...She still wants him bad! I just had an ex tell me that this song reminds him of how he feels when he is laying down to fall asleep. We both have this amazing connection and for many reasons aren't able to be together at this time. He is the greatest love of my life...and yet, I know when I see him...I want him to notice me...I want him to want me. I guess I just want him to feel what I feel or how deep our connection truly is...so I would be doing the same thing...then as I walked out the door...feel my stomach ache and wish I was still in his arms. I think there are those people in our lives...that test our faith...Does anyone know of any others like this...???

mmishka
05-29-2009

Rated 0

I'm totally with Mike 818whatevers on this, i don't feel sorry for this joe at all. i suspect that the woman is married, hence the white dress (are those lyrics accurate?)..
and what if the guy she left with was just a friend, or relative, or the drummer? ...he's there with all his friends, right? sorry. this song reeks a bit of overly dramatic ego... the bright eyes/explosions/okkerville sound mentioned earlier definately has it's hook, but i'm annoyed already and thinking the narrator should consider himself lucky he wasn't tangling with something more deadly and lost his head altogether. i'd rather endure thirty days of bright eyes or stinking casiotone for the painfully alone than have to hear this one more overexposed time. barf
and as for the brilliant poetic lyrics..."feral waves " ? influenced by Don Delillo? LOL so much affect they make you suspect the whole works was cut and pasted from a montage of girlfriends loveletters. it's a good thing they're a charitable lot.

mmishka
05-29-2009

Rated 0

sarahlynn, your interpretation is so generous; maybe you should rewrite the song, enlist the help of the tattooedharpist and make something less likely to induce the gag reflex.

KATMCC
07-06-2009

Rated 0

I agree that the subject of the song is feeling a lot of emotion, but I don't think there's anything happy about it. Your analysis was very well written but I'm not sure it's as accurate as people are saying. If only because it's really presumptuous. You assume that they haven't seen each other in a long time, that they're happy to see each other, and that she's happy without him, of which there is no evidence (and in some cases there is contradictory evidence) in the lyrics.

He sees her and it makes him feel sort of sad and wistful (that's why the melancholy piano matches her smile).

Then she comes over and makes small talk which only brings back a lot of memories for him:
"all of these memories come rushing/like feral waves to your mind/of the curl of your bodies/like two perfect circles entwined/and you feel hopeless, and homeless..."
Feral implies that they're vicious feelings that rip at him. The loss of that bliss he had with this woman makes him feel empty and helpless.

The next part is open to interpretation.
A) She leaves with someone else and makes sure he sees, not to show him that she's happy, but to make him jealous. And it works. His "blood boils" his stomach ties up and he goes pale and gets visibly upset.

B) All the games she's playing are in his head and he's just convincing himself that that's what's happening because he's in pain.

Either way, he tries to drink his pain away and stumbles down the street, aching just to see her again even though it's caused him so much pain already. Because, sometimes, seeing the one you love can rip you apart but not seeing them is even worse.

It's a situation that a lot of people can connect with and I love how raw it sounds when he sings "You look like you've seen a ghost." Even the tone and way it's played/sung make it easier to relate to.

Joker0fLife
07-21-2009

Rated 0

My interpretation:

It's about a man sitting in a bar sometime around midnight, still thinking about the girl he recently broke up with and remembering all the times they had together. He's gloomy and upset about the whole situation, and he's watching some woman in a white dress that reminds him of his ex (you haven't seen her [his ex]
for a while).

She's keeping watch on him from afar, finally wondering what's up with this guy, she walks over to him to start small talk ("the room spinning" because she's close now and the memories of his ex are flooding his thoughts). He smells her perfume and it reminds him more and more of his ex by the second ("thoughts of lying naked and being 2 perfect circles entwined").

Still caught in the memories and his drinks getting the best of him, he becomes delusional and thinks this woman is his ex, and it freaks her out. The woman walks away, finds her hook-up, watching him as she walks out, and bolts out the bar ("And she leaves...with someone you don't know, but she makes sure you saw her she looks right at you and bolts") [He thinks it's her new boyfriend] and he gets enraged.

His friends walk over and ask him what happened and he snaps out of it and plays it cool ("he's just seen a ghost").

Now in the streets he has given up on life and doesn't care about anything or anyone but his ex ("and you so care what you look like [sarcasm] the world is falling around you") because he knows just as the woman walked from the bar, his ex has left him for good and she never wants to see or talk to him again.

As he walks to where-ever, he slowly puts away the thoughts of his ex for good. (You just have to see her and you know that she'll break you in two)

[From his thoughts: "Man I just have to see her, I have to! But if I do, she'll kill me...There's no way I could speak to her again. It's useless.]

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tattooed_harpist
08-11-2008

Rated +3

absolutely the best album i've heard in a while
new favourite band

the song is beautiful and intense and just incredible

its about his ex, who he still loves
she's not actually really trying to be cruel though, as it may seem. rather he just feels like she's fucking with him because he's still so hurt

2 Replies

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sarahlee_11
08-13-2008

Rated -1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2YnDlEMXiU

love the video :]

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bronyraur
09-02-2008

Rated 0

this song is great. definitely agree with you on sounding like hand in hand by explosions in the sky. love the lyrics and the image it creates. like a scene from a movie or something. awesome song

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lexy_is_sexy
09-06-2008

Rated +1

THEY ARE THE NEXT BIG THING!!

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tnayem
09-06-2008

Rated +1

this song is really nice.
it's simple, but just really great.
the video is all typical,
explaining the video exactly.
and i'm okay with that.
it doesn't deviate too far from what i'd imagine.

i get a silversun pickups 'lazy eye' vibe from it, if anything.
and this is just a response to someone who posted earlier.

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anad007
09-07-2008

Rated 0

i agree .. its very pleasant and simple song :) i heard it on the radio coming home from work and the guy said the band but i didnt think that was their name... and when i got home i look on the just played list for the radio station and it was there, airborne toxic event** anywho it makes me happy

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Lrothenburger
09-09-2008

Rated 0

Maybe I love this song so much because it resonates with me...it seems like he's talking about a fling that could have turned into something but didn't for whatever reason...and he sees her again, laughing and having fun, and he realizes that he misses her and still has all these feelings that he didn't realize at the time. And I don't think she's intentionally trying to hurt him (because she approaches him and asks how he's doing), but it seems like she wants him to know that she's moved on. which means she probably hasn't (completely, at least). I can totally see myself in this situation, although it's never happened to me. I wish I could have that effect on someone.

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tecnicolour
10-02-2008

Rated 0

i've recently heard of this band
and i love this song! and the video too

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SLC_Fan
10-03-2008

Rated 0

The joy of music is how a song can mean so many different things to so many people. But this song hit me hard. Just the tune caught me by the nutts when I heard it on XM radio. Then I heard it on a local tonight and was grabbed again. Neither time did I hear the whole song, nor did I catch the lyrics, it was the tune that grabbed me. But after reading the lyrics I knew why this song caught me so hard without letting go.

The woman I was dating for a couple years and was talking about marriage with broke up with me a few weeks ago, about the time I first heard the song. Each time I see her now hurts so bad. She holds the power to destroy me, break my heart, mind, and emotions in two. Seeing her causes pains of my stomach in ropes and angry like boiling blood as I see her with other guys. If I hadn't stopped drinking before I met her, I would still be in a constant drunk state because of losing her.

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fake_empire3
10-04-2008

Rated 0

It sounds like Okkervil River is covering Arcade Fire with Explosions in the Sky in the background.

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TheSpecialistInHope
10-05-2008

Rated +1

The Explosions in the Sky song is called "Your Hand In Mine" not "Hand in Hand"

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Llan2193
10-09-2008

Rated 0

This song is a story, no hidden meaning. The question this song poses is how did these two break up?

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MsKtty89
10-13-2008

Rated 0

Okay, so I agree with the comments that it's an ex, a girl he was once with, and he hasn't seen her in a while until now.

Analyzing while relating to this song, it seems that he did forget about her until now when he sees her again, then the memories of all the good times come rushing back to him and he's in a daze. It mentions him being drunk off of wine, but seems that his inebriation is also influenced by seeing her again.

I love the line, "...you just have to see her, and you know that she'll break you
in two." You know it'll tear you apart, whether it be because she's changed (or maybe from problems that caused them to split in the first place) or because he's so heart-set on her that it'll kill him to see her further with that other man.

Very nice song, I can relate.

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kawasa
10-15-2008

Rated 0

This song is about love lost. The girl left the guy and a while down the line they see eachother at the party and the girl treats it like it's nothing but the guy never got over it. She talks to him and he thinks of the way things used to be, the beauty of the love they had/made. The guy continues to reminisce. She makes sure he sees her when she leaves but not out of spite but just as a kind of goodbye. He leaves the party and stalks the street in his melancholy knowing that she's gone, never coming back, and he'll never get over it.

1 Reply

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kawasa
10-15-2008

Rated 0

MsKitty, I agree with what you've said except the part where you say he's forgot about her till then. Maybe it's just the position I'm in right now but I think he had managed to keep her off his mind for the most part and when she appears it's like the past comes rushing back into his face like a tidal wave.

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erikaajejee
10-25-2008

Rated 0

this song is soo amazingg love it

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