This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I know the time has numbered my days,
And I'll go along with everything you say
But I'll ride home laughing, look at me now,
For the walls of my tower they come crumbling down
And my ears hear the call of my unborn sons,
And I know the choices color all I've done
But I'll explain it all to the watchman's son,
I ain't ever lived a year better spent in love
'Cause I know my weakness, know my voice
And I'll believe in grace and choice
And I know perhaps my heart is fast
But I'll be born without a mask
Like the city that nurtured my greed and my pride,
I stretched my arms into the sky
I cry Babel, Babel, look at me now
For the walls of my tower they come crumbling down
You ask where will we stand in the winds that will howl
Is all we see we'll slipping to the cloud?
So come down from your mountain and stand where we've been
You know our breath is weak and our body thin
Press my nose up to the glass around your heart
I should've known I was weaker from the start
You'll build your walls, and I will play my bloody part
To tear, tear them down
Well I'm gonna tear, tear them down
'Cause I know my weakness, know my voice
And I'll believe in grace and choice
And I know perhaps my heart is fast
But I'll be born without a mask
And I'll go along with everything you say
But I'll ride home laughing, look at me now,
For the walls of my tower they come crumbling down
And my ears hear the call of my unborn sons,
And I know the choices color all I've done
But I'll explain it all to the watchman's son,
I ain't ever lived a year better spent in love
'Cause I know my weakness, know my voice
And I'll believe in grace and choice
And I know perhaps my heart is fast
But I'll be born without a mask
Like the city that nurtured my greed and my pride,
I stretched my arms into the sky
I cry Babel, Babel, look at me now
For the walls of my tower they come crumbling down
You ask where will we stand in the winds that will howl
Is all we see we'll slipping to the cloud?
So come down from your mountain and stand where we've been
You know our breath is weak and our body thin
Press my nose up to the glass around your heart
I should've known I was weaker from the start
You'll build your walls, and I will play my bloody part
To tear, tear them down
Well I'm gonna tear, tear them down
'Cause I know my weakness, know my voice
And I'll believe in grace and choice
And I know perhaps my heart is fast
But I'll be born without a mask
Lyrics submitted by mike, edited by falden, JayLovex, blainesledge, hallways, MyOwnTruth, mrswinnie, Molnek, OneNamedMatt, iammrmehul, omega10, aaron13902, BritishMeme
Babel Lyrics as written by Edward James Milton Dwane Marcus Oliver Johnstone Mumford
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The Night We Met
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No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example:
"'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Plastic Bag
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
This song is a beautiful examination of the bourgeois mindset. They comment on the pelagian nature of society, they are building their own 'tower of babel' because they see the society collapsing behind their progressive thought, "I write home laughing, 'look at me now,' / the walls of my home come crumbling down." He simply "goes along" with this mindset; all his life his "greed and pride" has been nursed by society and he accepts this mentality for its face value. He is promised success, that they will "slip into the cloud." His conscious, however, seems to contradict this notion of being able to reach the heavens without grace from the beginning "I believe in grace and choice." But he has seen the depths of human falleness, "So come down from your mountain and stand where we've been / You know our breath is weak and our body is dead." What he wishes is to be "born without a mask" to be born into truth, which wears no mask and is what is. He examines this mentality (as it is attractive, who wouldn't want to get to the heavens on their own--it is an accomplishment of all time!).
He finds his answer, however, as he begins his attempt: "Press my nose up to the glass around your heart / I should have known I was weaker from the start" Here he gets as far as he can, but cannot reach the heart of the divine without help, his nose hits the glass, and he cannot go any farther without grace. He therefore says he will do everything he can to bring this bourgeois mindset to an end: "You built your wall so now we'll play in my bloody part to tear, to tear it down / Well I'm gonna tear, tear them down"
Are you reading the Communist Manifesto?<br /> I believe this song is about no such thing, and can see no evidence whatsoever in what you have written.<br /> <br /> It's about being in love and breaking down the walls of resistance in oneself and the object of affection. The Tower of Babel is a nice allegory for for breaking down the walls The following line is central to the theme.<br /> <br /> Press my nose up to the glass around your heart<br /> I should have known I was weaker from the start<br /> You’ll build your walls and I will play my bloody part<br /> To tear, tear them down<br /> <br /> and earlier....<br /> <br /> And my ears hear the call of my unborn sons<br /> And I know that choices color all I’ve done<br /> But I’ll explain it all to the watchman’s son<br /> I never lived a year better spent in love<br /> <br /> ITs about trying to attain the divinity of love and he is finally borne without a mask - honest in his feelings.
Do you have any knowledge of the Communist Manifesto or the tower of Babel?<br /> <br /> Furthermore, was simply pulling an apparent connection between the communist manifesto and my post suppose to defeat my argument? OR was your rebuttal simply saying " I believe this song is about no such thing, and can see no evidence whatsoever in what you have written"? If so, wonderful rebuttal! I'm sure everyone who likes to reduce their intellect to the level of the passions thinks your so clever!<br /> <br /> I did, in fact, provide an argument that was intimately connected to the song's lyrics. If you wish to provide a real rebuttal to my argument, I would love to hear it! I'm in pursuit of truth! Until then, please don't make such stupid remarks.<br /> <br /> As for your interpretation: <br /> <br /> I feel it lacks depth, but contains within it certain truths that are actually compatible with my own. If, like I said, this song is expressing the transformation of the poet out of the mediocrity of the bourgeois culture into a place where he wishes to rely totally upon grace. Then your interpretation of "breaking down the walls of resistance in oneself" fits perfectly! This is the process which is necessary to undergo this transformation. <br /> <br /> And to your final comment, "ITs about trying to attain the divinity of love," I would agree. But it certainly doesn't paint this process as direct result of him being born without a mask. If you've read the tower of Babel, Its not just God getting mad at humans and knocking down a tower; rather, its concerning humans who wish to reach the heavens without God. God smites them to help them realize their dependance. So, if the poet is going to 'play [his] bloody part to tear' down this tower then he doesn't want people to try "to attain the divinity of love" but rather to turn to grace and dependency.
This song is somewhat based on story of the Tower of Babel from the Bible. The story delivers a simplistic moral: don’t overstep your bounds, don’t try to get too close to the divine. It’s a story of confusion, and how the inability to communicate a direct message can impair any endeavor. Whether or not this song is trying to say this I don't know.
I think it's a commentary on false fronts in relationships. You can meet someone and pretty quickly understand how to modify your behavior to meet their expectations. Your "Tower of Babel" consists of the false tongues you speak to convince them that you are everything they ever wanted.
However, if you are true to yourself, if you know your weakness and know your voice and allow your walls to come crumbling down, you may appear weak and thin but you can go forward without a mask, with grace and choice. The trick will be to tear down other people's walls as you run into them -- to get inside to the real them.
"I've never lived a year better spent in love", meaning though he hasn't found his true love, he would rather live without a mask and keep searching for a real love than simply fall in love for the sake of the thing, one worthless Tower of Babel to another. Towers of Babel never last.
@NorthernPaladn Love this interpretation.
Correction:
Press my nose up to the glass around your heart I should have known I was weaker from the start You’ll build your walls and I will play my bloody part To tear, tear them down Well I'm gonna tear, tear them down
Correction:<br /> <br /> Press my nose up to the glass around your heart<br /> I should’ve known I was weaker from the start<br /> You’ll build your walls and I will play my bloody part<br /> To tear, tear them down <br /> Well I’m gonna tear, tear them down
I see it as someone who's gained great insight into what they've tried har not to be, but realising that by doing so they've put themselves above the people they care about and are skirting the edge of being worse becaue of that.
I agree with Blackburn. It's somewhat referencing the tower of Babel and the confusion of tongues.
"know my weakness know my voice And I'll believe in grace and choice"
summary of the song
The lyrics goes ... And I'll believe in grace and choice And I know perhaps my heart is "farce" (not fast) ...
They left out the whoooo thats one of favorite parts sad face panda
This is from a religious viewpoint
I know the time has numbered my days,
(sin was brought into the world by man, which caused death and decay)
And I'll go along with everything you say But I'll ride home laughing, look at me now, For the walls of my tower they come crumbling down And my ears hear the call of my unborn sons, And I know the choices color all I've done But I'll explain it all to the watchman's son, I ain't ever lived a year better spent in love
(He will follow God's rules, cause he knows the reward is great. he knows his choices has consequences and he will have to be judged one day. But he's never been as happy as he is now that he is saved.)
'Cause I know my weakness, know my voice And I'll believe in grace and choice And I know perhaps my heart is farce But I'll be born without a mask
(He repents his sins and knows he will be born again in truth)
Like the city that nurtured my greed and my pride, I stretched my arms into the sky
(Like the sinful Babel wanted to stretch up to heaven-to reach it without God, he now stretches his arms up to God in worship)
I cry Babel, Babel, look at me now For the walls of my tower they come crumbling down
(God has forgiven his sin)
You ask where will we stand in the winds that will howl as we see all slipping through the cloud?
(But Babel(the unrepentant people) are still lost without God's protection)
So come down from your mountain and stand where we've been You know our breath is weak and our body thin
(He ask God to intervene in helping people understand His power)
Press my nose up to the glass around your heart I should've known I was weaker from the start
(He knows you can only get to Heaven through your faith in Jesus Christ)
You'll build your walls, and I will play my bloody part
(We build our towers of Babel, trying to get there ourselves, while Jesus had to play his 'bloody' part, and was crucified for our sins)
To tear, tear them down Well I'm gonna tear, tear them down
(God will tear down our efforts when we cling to our will instead of His.)
'Cause I know my weakness, know my voice And I'll believe in grace and choice And I know perhaps my heart is farce But I'll be born without a mask