All at once
The world
Can't overwhelm me
Theres almost nothin'
That you could tell me
That could ease my mind

Which way will you run
When it's always
All around you
And the feelin' lost
And found you again
A feelin'
That we have no control
Around a song
Some say
There's gonna be
The new hell
Some say
It's still
Too early to tell
Some say
It really
Ain't no myth at all

Keep askin' ourselves
Are we really
Strong enough
There's so many things
That we got
Too proud of
We're too proud of
We're too proud of

I wanna take
The preconceived
Out from
Underneath your feet
We could shake it off

Instead
We'll plant some seeds
We'll watch em' as they grow
And with each new beat
From your heart
The roots grow deeper
The branches
Will they reach for what
Nobody really knows
But underneath it all
There's this heart
All alone

What about is gone
And it really
Won't be so long
Sometimes it feels
Like a heart
Is no place
To be singin'
From at all

There's a world
We've never seen
There's still hope
Between the dreams
The weight of it all
Could blow away
With a breeze
If your waitin'
On the wind
Don't forget to breathe
Cause as the darkness
Gets deeper
We'll be sinkin'
As we reach for love
At least somethin'
We could hold
But I'll reach to you
From where time
Just can't go

What about is gone
And it really
Won't be so long
Sometimes it feels
Like a heart
Is no place
To be singin'
From at all



Lyrics submitted by fragin, edited by njkelton

Track duration: 03:38

"All at Once" as written by Joseph King, Isaac Slade, Aaron P. Johnson

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


All At Once song meanings
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28 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:I take it as more of a scientific discussion about the inevitability of our fate, not necessarily about global warming or climate change per se. More about the astronomical certainty that the sun will swallow our home in due time.

    Its an overwhelming notion that nothing we do will stop this eventual happening, and i think this song speaks to the helplessness of mankind as passengers on Earth.

    We plant seeds, grow trees and they reach for what? No matter how hardy of a species they will succumb to the eventual end. We as humans are too proud of too little.On the grandest of stages ( the universe), we are a non-factor, our accomplishments non existent and unnoticed.

    This realization brings about an overwhelming helplessness; we cannot escape the inevitable. Our proudest abilities are mere parlor tricks. It really ain't no myth at all
    Flag pacestandon May 05, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:For me it's about our loss of freedom and the ever increasing government control. The world we've created around us and loss of natural way of living.

    Part of it comes from the fact that sometimes all at once I become overwhelmed with the state of the world, I love nature and I get down on the stickyness of the world around me and feel I have no control because its everywhere and the threat of what keeps it all in place is no huge and menacing. "Which way will you run?" and then the moment passes and I go back to normal for awhile, until "the feeling lost and found you again" and i'm thrown back into despair. When I think that way, nobody, friend, girlfriend, stranger can ease my mind.

    those first two verses sum the way I feel perfectly for me.

    The "around the sun" verse I take it more symbolically. Like something we've created that we put in the center of our universe... money? new Tech, government or whatever. but there are those who realize the doom we created and other who are still unsure, thinking theres still time to wait and see

    then you have the urge to shake off the preconcieved robotic metal world we are born into, plant some seeds (nature) instead. fill it with love or something genuine to hold onto.

    Its hard to explain what makes nature and the other world of spirits and ancient ways so special, you just feel it. underneath it all theres this heart all alone, 1 person still rooting for it, still moved. and when its gone it wont take so long (will we realize our mistake then?) But surrounded by the man-made world and everyone thinking with there wallets and heads, it can feel like your heart isnt where your suppose to be singing from at all. Reminds be of walking around a place like NYC ya know?

    and if your waiting on the wind (nature to fix it all) well its going to take awhile we'll be sinking before we start to reach for it again.

    as far as reaching for you where time cant go.
    whenever I go backpacking somewhere like yosmite or what have you I am always reminded of how the natural world doesnt follow our clocks, it has endless amount of time, it wont remember you or need us humans around. It is never in a hurry, it isnt reached by time.

    anyways thats hat it means for me.. either way its a beautiful song Thanks again Jack you always cut to the core of me (:
    Flag dylanjlyonon December 11, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:From my heart, I feel this song is about a couple, not too new, nor too seasoned in their newly found 'love', if you will, & their experience in the blossoming of their bud into something with substance.

    He sings with a air of hope, while it would seem that she has some hesitation in taking the jump. Having thoughts torrent through her mind of mistake, failure, judgement. Catching flak from family & close ones, on how inevitable the flame of cause is to be extinguished.

    It would appear to be a song trying to ease her nerves & win her heart with word. Expressing she has no idea what to expect from Life's roll, & neither does he. That none of them are at fault for slinging scorn towards each other, but what they have is worth the expanding, abyss you must brave before transcending into something so warm, authentic, & pure, that articulation nay unravel.
    Flag 50undl3sson December 07, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song feels like it is about a man who is still in love with a former lover and he feels helpless in that way. They are not together yet her yearns to be with her and still has a glimmer of hope that may happen. It sounds like he may be living his life depressed and holding onto the thought of her and won't let go because he knows they are meant to be together. It's a sad song to me because I am going through this right now.
    Flag NeverGiveUp1on December 09, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I could be wrong, but to me the song is about how overwhelmed he, or anyone for that matter, feels about the world sometimes. All at once, all kinds of problems both personal and global can suddenly compound themselves until you feel hopeless. Jack dedicated this album to a recently deceased family member. I have a feeling that that loss, the issue of global climate change (the some say verse),the war in Iraq (too proud of verse), and who knows what other problems led him to write this song.

    It seems to me like he's saying sometimes we just need someone to be there for us, to show us that there will be brighter days and a future ahead of us. (planting seeds, and the whole verse that begins with "there's a world we've never seen")
    Flag middleoftheroadon November 29, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I never got the "Sun" part in the song, and I think the explanation that it is about global warming is really good.
    before I read this thought the first part of the songs was about... yeah to me it seems to be about depressions

    All at once, the world can't overwhelm me,
    There's almost nothing that you could tell me
    that could ease my mind.


    this feeling, when you are happy, and actually nothing went terribly wrong, but still
    boom suddenly there is this feeling (of sadness) and it overwhelms you and no matter what somebody tells you, that everything is gonna be okay, gonna be fine and so on, nothing can get you out of this deep sadness.

    Which way will you run
    When it's always all around you,
    and the feeling lost and found you again,
    a feeling that we have no control.

    this expresses to me how those depression can kind of captivate you, and there is no way out. You have those happy times, some days were you think yeah I'm happy and then the feeling finds you again


    that's how I feel about the song, but i guess its my very subjective opinion :D
    Flag MissDiorCherieon February 11, 2011   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:I don't necessarily think this is right but this is how it relates to me I suppose. I really feel like its just about when the world is just throwing a little bit too much at you and you look to love to help you get through it and its not always there.
    Flag HawaiiSurf10on September 07, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:These posts kill me - it's like 70% of his music is about the state of the world and how we're in flux right now. Just the other day Jack posted something about the oil spill and all these people were like "Don't get political Jack!" Uhm - have you not been listening to his music?
    Flag Phaiaon June 28, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:I think that a song can be interpreted differently depending on the person. No one is right or wrong here, it could be a combination of these. I do think though that the underlying message is 100% about global warming.

    Jack Johnson's Brushfire Studios is an Eco-friendly building. He has been very proactive in bringing awareness to this issue. All At Once is the very first song on his very first Eco-friendly album, so I think is definitely trying to send a message.
    Flag kikicava02on November 28, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Much of this song is about feeling that each individual has no control, so what does it matter if an individual tries to do anything to help another. Jack feels that comfort is difficult to find in thinking about the world because of everything going on, between his obvious global warming reference, the difficulty of hope in the face of hardships (the weight of it all could blow away with the breeze), and each catastrophe that appears every day, it appears that singing from the heart does not make sense because too many people don't act from their hearts. The preconceived comment really interests me because to take the preconceived out from somebody's feet is to make them question the world, why people do as they do, whether their opinion is truly better than another person's, and what to believe. He connects believing to hope later when he states that "there's still hope between the dreams/ the weight of it all could blow away with the breeze/ if you're waiting on the wind" because waiting for the wind to ruin your hopes does not make sense until he says that we reach for love, which is the cure to dashed hopes and destroyed beliefs. In this song Jack believes that control in this world is impossible for the individual to maintain, but if everybody's preconceived notions about right and wrong, and the power of the individual changes, then some true changes may be made, but if these notions are kept, then the only thing left to reach to is love while the world collapses under the stresses and catastrophes presented by the environment and violence and the degradation of entire civilizations in other nations.
    Flag meaningoflife1on July 12, 2009   Link

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