See you there
Don't know where you come from
Unaware the stare from someone
Don't appear to care that I saw you, and I want you too
What's your name? Because I have to know it
You let me in and begin to show it
We're terrified, because we're heading straight for it, might get it
Your favorite song plays on the background
All alone but you turn it up now
And everyone is rising to meet you, to greet you

Turn around and you're walking toward me
I'm breaking down and you're breathing slowly
Say the word and I will be your man, your man

[Chorus]
Say when
And my own two hands will comfort you
Tonight, tonight
Say when
And my own two arms will carry you
Tonight, tonight

Come close and even closer
We bring it in, but we go no further
We separate two ghosts in one mirror, no mirror

Later on, if it turns to chaos
Hurricanes coming all around us
See the crack, pull it back
From the window, you stay low

[Chorus]

Come across, you're lost and broken
You're coming to, you're slow and waking
You start to shake
Still haven't spoken, what happened?
I'm coming back and you just don't know when
You want to cry but there's nothing coming
They're gonna push until you give in, say when
Now we're here and it turns to chaos
Hurricanes coming all around us
Another crack throws you back from the window
You stay low

All began with the man of country
Another plan sends another century
Around again another nation, fallen
Any guy can be on both sides of a coin
Never understood why
Some of us never get a shoulder, shoulder
Some of this we kept with us
All of us will go out there
Cause it never stops until we get there, get there
To give in, give in

[Chorus]

Say when
And my own two hands will comfort you
Tonight, tonight.



Lyrics submitted by jacksont123, edited by joyceey16

Track duration: 05:02

"Say When" as written by Isaac Slade, Joseph King, David Welsh, Benjamin Wysocki

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Say When song meanings
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62 Comments

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  • +1
    My Interpretation:This song is really about war, the coming war... and about God,
    "Say when
    And my own two hands will comfort you
    Tonight, tonight
    Say when
    And my own two arms will carry you
    Tonight, tonight"

    God is telling us that He will be with us in times of "chaos"
    He will fight for the nations who believe in Him, and He also be the one who will rescue the people who will be persecuted by the war.

    "Maybe God can be on both sides
    Of the gun, never understood why
    Some of us never get it so good, so good"

    This is really about he LAST WAR when God will rescue those who love Him.
    "I'm coming back and you just don't know when
    You want to cry but there's nothing coming"
    But will never see Him literally, 'cause you know, He's a big big God... but we will feel Him as He will "carry us" from the ground.

    But nobody knows when will the end time comes.... I think the writer wrote this song to interpret his feelings towards the Last War coming... But he's afraid that he'll lost his faith to God for he is being "shaken" by the world.

    Say When -- 'he also dictates the signs of the end times...

    "Now we're here and it turns to chaos
    Hurricanes coming all around us
    Another crack throws you back from the window
    You stay low"

    cause in 1 Thessalonians 5:2 says
    "for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night."

    Somebody has to correct the LYRICS. please.
    Flag joyceey16on October 19, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I think of it as about sex.
    Or, in slightly more vague detail, as about two people who met, and are getting closer to each other, and the song is one of them saying to the other that they're ready to have sex as soon as the other says they want to.
    But then, I am still at the age where almost every song reminds me of sex.
    So my interpretation probably isn't reliable.
    Flag HurricaneConfessionson November 03, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Are you a girl hrice713 because you are acting like one. Um and hrice713 did you ever listen to Trey songs and i didn't want to tell you about this before but do you listen to Selena Gomez albums.
    Flag Blackops126on February 05, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I'm pretty sure this song is about a man who falls in love and marries a girl :
    "I see you there, don't know where you come from
    Unaware of a stare from someone
    Don't appear to care that I saw you and I want you
    What's your name 'cause I have to know it
    You let me in and begin to show it
    We're terrified 'cause we're heading straight for it, might get it
    You been the song playing on the background
    All along but you're turning up now
    And everyone is rising to meet you, to greet you
    Turn around and you're walking toward me
    I'm breaking down and you're breathing slowly
    You say the word and I will be your man, your man"

    but he is a millatery man "It all began with a man of country" and is suffering from pts (post traumatic syndrome)
    "Come across you lost and broken You're coming to but you're slow in waking You start to shake, you still haven't spoken, what happened"
    and has a really hard time telling her what he telling her what he saw while we was away at was and its weighing on there relationship. by the end of the song she is telling him that "her own two hands will comfort him" instead of the way he use to be when he told her that.
    Flag cat82390on February 05, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Oh my god.. OKAY GUYS.

    This song is about a Christian girl about to lose her virginity to a guy. "Say When" refers to her literally saying when after penetration. The song is the progression of the struggles she faces with losing it.
    "We're coming close and then even closer
    We bring it in but we go no further
    We're separate, two ghosts in one mirror, no nearer" - This is her feeling the guilt of something that's forbidden, or she is told is forbidden.

    "Come across you lost and broken
    You're coming to but you're slow in waking
    You start to shake, you still haven't spoken, what happened

    They're coming back and you just don't know when
    You want to cry but there's nothing coming
    They're gonna push until you give in or say when"

    Okay so basically she's waking up and the guy doesn't understand what happened.
    Then "they're coming back" means her feelings of wanting to have sex with him. "You want to cry but there's nothing coming" means, she know she should feel bad but she can't cry because she WANTS to do it.

    "Maybe God can be on both sides
    Of the gun, never understood why
    Some of us never get it so good, so good

    Some of this was here before us
    All of this will go after us
    It never stops until we give in"

    Now he's saying maybe God can understand what they're going through. Then the second part is saying that this kinda thing happens all the time and no matter what they do it will continue to happen.

    So yeah, listen to this song again with this mind set, it makes a lot of sense. I really like this song, it's about sex but in a beautiful and touching way.
    Flag welleriizzzleon January 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Turn around and you're walking toward me
    I'm breaking down and you're breathing slowly
    You say the word and I will be your man, your man

    -- I truely believe this part is talking about their wedding day. He turns around, she's walking towards him down the aisle and he's saying just say the word(s) (I do) and he'll be there. I think this whole song talks about their possible future together, and all the troubles they may face, and through eveything he'll be there.
    Flag saywhen27on November 23, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:So, this is my personal interpretation. I kind of think of this song as taking place in the past, when status and who you married mattered. You’ll understand what I mean when you start reading the interpretation, lolz. =)

    I see you there, don't know where you come from
    Unaware of a stare from someone
    Don't appear to care that I saw you and I want you
    -- The two are at some sort of social setting; an upscale party, a ball, etc. He sees her for the first time and it’s pretty much “love at first sight”. He instantly feels the attraction, the chemistry. From the “stare” part, I get the feeling that it’s a forbidden love. He’s “not good enough for her”, in other people’s eyes. They’re staring, shocked that someone like “him” would even dream of being with someone like “her”. I get the feeling that she’s from a wealthy family, and it’d be scandalous if she were with him; she’s expected to marry a wealthy man.

    What's your name 'cause I have to know it
    You let me in and begin to show it
    We're terrified 'cause we're heading straight for it, might get it
    -- They begin to talk, and really connect. She lets down her walls and lets him in, and they both feel the chemistry between them. Although, they’re “terrified” because they’re “heading straight” into love and they know that if they start a relationship, it would ruin both their lives. Everyone would cause a scene, her family would be disgraced, etc.

    You been the song playing on the background
    All along but you're turning up now
    And everyone is rising to meet you, to greet you
    -- Everyone knows she’s been there the whole time, but people are starting to talk to her, to get her away from him.

    Turn around and you're walking toward me
    I'm breaking down and you're breathing slowly
    You say the word and I will be your man, your man

    Say when and my own two hands
    Will comfort you tonight, tonight
    Say when and my own two arms
    Will carry you tonight, tonight
    -- After the party ends, she approaches him and tells him she wants him around. He, of course, tells her he will. He knows her life is crazy, and being part of a rich family is not always perfect. He wants to be with her as much as possible, even if it’s just on a friends basis.

    We're coming close and then even closer
    We bring it in but we go no further
    We're separate, two ghosts in one mirror, no nearer
    -- They become close friends, trying their hardest to remain just that, but they can’t. They keep it all a secret, like “ghosts”. They begin a relationship, but they don’t become intimate, hence, they’re “separate”, “go no further”, and “no nearer”.

    Later on if it turns to chaos
    Hurricane coming all around us
    See the crack, pull it back from the window, you stay low
    --He tells her what to do should her family or anyone else find out about them.

    Say when and my own two hands
    Will comfort you tonight, tonight
    Say when and my own two arms
    Will carry you tonight, tonight

    Come across you lost and broken
    You're coming to but you're slow in waking
    You start to shake, you still haven't spoken, what happened

    They're coming back and you just don't know when
    You want to cry but there's nothing coming
    They're gonna push until you give in or say when
    --Someone found out and has told her family. “They” would be her family, or more specifically, her father. She knows he’s going to do something about it, but she doesn’t know what. She’s extremely scared, for both herself and her lover. She’s so numb with fright, she can’t even cry.

    Now we're here, and it turns to chaos
    Hurricane, coming all around us
    Double crack throws you back from the window, you stay low

    It all began with a man & country
    Every plan turns another century
    Around again, another nation fallen
    -- Her father arrives and this metaphoric war begins to climax. He tells her to “stay low”, he’ll work it out with her father. “It” describes how wars begin with loyalty to a country and then turns into a metaphor for their loyalty to each other. Her father remained loyal to society views and they rebelled. “Every plan”, or every war, changes a country’s viewpoint.

    Maybe God can be on both sides
    Of the gun, never understood why
    Some of us never get it so good, so good
    --He’s never understood why some relationships are perfect, while others are full of difficulty, like theirs. He’s always thought God was on one side or the other, but he realizes he may be on both. On the other hand, I always thought, while listening to this part, the man was shot by her father, thus making her father God. If her father were on both sides, he would allow them to be together as an exception to the rule.

    Some of this was here before us
    All of this will go after us
    It never stops until we give in
    -- People have fought for freedom in wars, just like these two lovers have fought for their own freedom. Some of their freedom was always there, but now they’re fighting for their freedom to love.

    Say when and my own two hands
    Will comfort you tonight, tonight
    Say when and my own two arms
    Will carry you tonight, tonight

    Say when and my own two hands
    Will comfort you tonight, tonight
    --He’ll always be there for her, no matter what the consequences are.


    So, yeah. That’s my little interpretation of this incredible, breathtaking song. It’s definitely one of those songs that you can listen to over and over and over and still get goose bumps! <3
    Flag xXJonasxxTokioxXon August 17, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:Come across you lost and broken
    You're coming to but you're slow in waking
    You start to shake, you still haven't spoken, what happened

    They're coming back and you just don't know when
    You want to cry but there's nothing coming
    They're gonna push until you give in or say when

    Now we're here, and it turns to chaos
    Hurricane, coming all around us
    Double crack throws you back from the window, you stay low

    It all began with a man & country
    Every plan turns another century
    Around again, another nation fallen

    Maybe God can be on both sides
    Of the gun, never understood why
    Some of us never get it so good, so good

    Some of this was here before us
    All of this will go after us
    It never stops until we give in
     Now this last verse is a bit hard for me to look at, so im gonna divide it in two parts….right now im looking at “come across…” – “…you stay low.”: just as she is about to commit suicide, she cant go through with it and she goes to the guy lost, confused, and broken; she has a mental break down and temporarily forgets the bad memories of her and him and wut not. After a while, she starts to recuperate from her break down, but is also slowly starting to remember the bad stuff. With the bits and pieces of memories she gets at first, she starts hurting again, but not as intensely as before when she was on the brink of suicide…..she wants to know though, wut happened (between him and her that is)? The bits and pieces start turning into fuller and more connected memories. She starts putting it all together much to his disappointment/disdain. She wants to cry when she gets close to putting it all together and confronts him because unless she comes to term with him and fully pieces everything totally together, she’ll give into to her now recurring temptations of suicide. As he and she are talking, things get heated just as before and this time the chaos comes to life. This time tho, she seems to figure out that she has another option besides suicide (thus the “double crack”): calm down the situation and finish talking everything out, cus it’ll give both of them closure. As she contemplates both ideas, she once again keeps to herself, “stay[ing] low.”
     The rest of it I don’t really get…..overall, it basically starts with his point of view and ends with hers…..but I hope you guys don’t hate the little story I pieced together from it…
    Flag aberon June 14, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:We're coming close and then even closer
    We bring it in but we go no further
    We're separate, two ghosts in one mirror, no nearer

    Later on if it turns to chaos
    Hurricane coming all around us
    See the crack, pull it back from the window, you stay low
     After the wedding, the couple (well maybe ex-couple by then) is at home trying to talk things over. They both want things to be like before but it just isn’t happening (We're separate, two ghosts in one mirror, no nearer). Things start getting heated cus won’t stop asking why she couldn’t/wouldn’t say “I do.” She knows that things will only get worse if she doesn’t find a solution and/or some way to get away from him. She sees “a crack” in “the window,” a.k.a. a way to escape everything , which is suicide. She plans it and keeps it to herself, thus “staying low.”
    Flag aberon June 14, 2010   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I see you there, don't know where you come from
    Unaware of a stare from someone
    Don't appear to care that I saw you and I want you

    What's your name 'cause I have to know it
    You let me in and begin to show it
    We're terrified 'cause we're heading straight for it, might get it

    You been the song playing on the background
    All along but you're turning up now
    And everyone is rising to meet you, to greet you

    Turn around and you're walking toward me
    I'm breaking down and you're breathing slowly
    You say the word and I will be your man, your man
     Just my opinion, but I interpret this verse as the following: this guy sees a girl, like the perfect girl and immediately he falls for her. He doesn’t care that the everyone else he knows is kinda staring at him like “dude, you can do better.”…but he just doesn’t give a shyt cus he truly loves her and just has to have her. They end up getting really close and there is a part of each that loves what they have together….but there’s also a part of each that’s worried of the bad things that can happen even if they’re very intimate and close (thus the “We're terrified 'cause we're heading straight for it, might get it” line). However, they appear to put the crap aside and eventually he proposes to her. At the wedding, he is ready at the altar as she is walking down the aisle with everyone rising for her. They’re up there nervous like any couple would be on their wedding day, but for some reason when she has to say “I do”, she can’t and he’s begging her to just like say it so he can finally and legitimately be her man….but she just can’t go through with it no matter how much she loves him and vice-versa.
    Flag aberon June 14, 2010   Link

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