Well I woke up to the sound of silence the cars
Were cutting like knives in a fist fight
And I found you with a bottle of wine
Your head in the curtains and heart like the fourth of July

You swore and said, "We are not"
"We are not shining stars"
This I know
I never said we are

Though I've never been through hell like that
I've closed enough windows to know you can never look back

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone
Carry on
May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground
Carry on

Carry on, carry on

So I met up with some friends in the edge of the night
At a bar off seventy five
And we talked and talked about how our parents will die
All our neighbors and wives

But I like to think
I can cheat it all
To make up for the times, I've been cheated on
And it's nice to know
When I was left for dead
I was found and now I don't roam these streets
I am not the ghost you want of me

If you're lost and alone or you're sinking like a stone,
Carry on
May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground and
Carry on

Woah my head is on fire
But my legs are fine
After all they are mine
Lay your clothes down on the floor
Close the door
Hold the phone
Show me how
No one's ever gonna stop us now

'Cause we are
We are shining stars
We are invincible
We are who we are
On our darkest day
When we're miles away
So we'll come, we will find our way home

If you're lost and alone
Or you're sinking like a stone
Carry on
May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground and
Carry on

(No one's ever gonna stop us now)
(No one's ever, no one's ever gonna stop, no one's ever gonna stop us now)
(No one's ever, no one's ever gonna stop , no one's ever gonna stop)
(No one's ever gonna stop us now)


Lyrics submitted by smileforthecamera, edited by EdgeofTime, ginnifer, Shakes737, ThommyO, GranoblasticMan

Carry On Lyrics as written by Andrew Dost Jeff Bhasker

Lyrics © Takwene LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Hipgnosis Songs Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Carry On song meanings
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24 Comments

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  • +14
    General Comment

    I don't know how this song doesn't have more comments. It is, in my opinion, the best song off the album. His voice really comes out here, and the meaning is really inspirational telling you to forget about the bad things and just "carry on". I like how in the beginning he continues to say we are not shining stars (kind of like we are not perfect) then at the end he says we are shining stars. He contradicts himself, but for some reason it just makes sense.

    guru3232on June 06, 2012   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    The acoustic set recorded of this song will lift you higher than the sun itself. Nate Ruess really impressed me with this one. It was the first time I'd heard the truely raw power of his voice (and from a live set too).

    Serravalleon February 14, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I agree This is one of my favorite tracks off the album .....In saying that...this Album has changed my life. Put me on the right path and is so inspirational and uplifting.... Since the 2nd of July i have listened to the album everyday.... LOVE IT!

    KarmaQueenon August 03, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    "I've closed enough windows to know you can never look back"....got my friends, getting my health back, got my personality and brains to attract who I want to attract, got my spunk and energy for fun times, and anyone who doesn't believe I am on my way can go to Hell. You didn't trust me enough tonight,...you will never trust me, so it's all been an excercise in futility.

    It's a FUN. song. Have your usual FUN. night. Happy Spring. It won't be long and at least the attempts at guilt will stop due to people being too busy in love to continue with the f-ing manipulation. Thank God for small favors. EVERYONE CARRY ON !

    IllToast2Thaton February 23, 2013   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    This is truly one of the most beautiful songs i have ever heard. I am a strong believer that this is a song that can mean different things to different people depending on what the listener is going through, but my interpretation is that it is about a couple, and the woman is struggling through a depression. She woke up in the middle of the night, and her dark and sad thoughts overcame her. She went to another room and got some wine and began to cry. Her boyfriend her her sharp crying (the cries not cars were cutting like knives in a fist fight). He went to go comfot her, and told her that she needs to carry on. This song is incredibly comforting to listen to in times of stress, and it is a great song that you can listen to again and again.

    hrose123on January 30, 2015   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    Had a little different interpretation about things. The song is definitely about a couple, but I don't think the girl is down because of problems between them, she's down because of something else terrible that's happened to her. Perhaps a death in the family. She's disillusioned with life.

    The next verse he's talking with his friends about the inevitable tragedies we will all face in life. He thinks he shouldn't have to be subject to that when so many bad things have already happened to him (I like to think I can cheat it all). But then he realized even when those bad things happened, people helped him, and he carried on.

    "Woah my head is on fire".....He (or anyone) maybe going through emotional hell, but they can carry on. (legs are fine).

    "Lay your clothes down on the floor"...This is a reference to sex, but more so saying that together, they can make it through.

    Great song.

    Shakes737on July 08, 2015   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    The meaning of this song is similar to that of Some Nights which is basically reflecting his career in the music industry. When he says "we are not shining stars" he is reflecting at a period after his first band The Format where he failed to rise to stardom. However, he gets up and carries on, never giving up. He allows the experiences of the past to be the sound of the future. He meets up with his band and they talk about how everybody dies but he at least wants to reach fame and make name for himself before that comes, and therefore "cheat it all". When he says "to make up for the times i've been cheated on" he refers to the times past with The Format and how even though that experience 'left him for dead' he has now gotten over it and the past is not a ghost that haunts him anymore. The other verses seem to be him talking to a girl (girlfriend?) whom seems to have been with him before their fame when she tells him they are not stars (yet) and at the end Nate tells her that now they truly are stars and are "invincible". Pretty obvious that they get it going at the end when she holds the phone (as in press hold to whoever she is talking to) and she lays her clothes on the ground. Now that they have made it "no one is ever gonna stop [them] now".

    IgnacioMarquezon August 31, 2015   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This lilting song is one of several tracks on Some Nights where frontman Nate Ruess' lyrics have an instructive element to them. He told The Village Voice: "I think there's a self-help element to the music that, I wouldn't say I'm super self-conscious of, but I've always found music to be very therapeutic for me, specifically, and the lyrics I write. I feel like a lot of it is just trying to convince myself that everything's okay. When you're singing those words every single night, you kind of start to believe it in some way or another.

    Kieran Kiely, who was once a member of the Irish Folk-Rock band Shane MacGowan and The Popes, performed the Irish drums and whistles on this track.

    The song's Anthony Mandler directed music video is set in Fun.'s home city of New York and features clips from their sell-out tour, the band drinking and singing in various bars and dancing in an empty Grand Central Station. "The idea is for the story to be the truth – playing a show, hanging out, getting dinner with friends. It's more of the reality of what we're going through these days," Ruess said of the clip to MTV News. "This video is a harsher look of the realities of what it's like to be Fun. – not in a sad way, but in a very honest way," guitarist Jack Antonoff added.

    musicrocks13on November 12, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this song is him (singer) telling his ex that if they are upset about another relationship that didn't work, to get over it and carry on. It's him being (IN A WAY) as brutal as they were with him, now telling her to keep going foward in life, the was they did for him.

    SlendyManon December 31, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    Though I've never been through hell like that I've closed enough windows to know you can never look back

    He hasn't been through as much as her, but he missed to many opportunities to know you can't go back.

    If you're lost and alone Or you're sinking like a stone Carry on May your past be the sound of your feet upon the ground Carry on Read more at songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107859425523/

    porkforkon February 08, 2013   Link

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