Sunday morning
Brings the dawn in
It's just a restless feeling
By my side

Early dawning
Sunday morning
It's just the wasted years
So close behind

Watch out, the world's behind you
There's always someone around you
Who will call
It's nothing at all

Sunday morning
And I'm falling
I've got a feeling
I don't want to know

Early dawning
Sunday morning
It's all the streets you've crossed
Not so long ago

Watch out, the world's behind you
There's always someone around you
Who will call
It's nothing at all

Watch out, the world's behind you
There's always someone around you
Who will call
It's nothing at all

Sunday morning
Sunday morning
Sunday morning
Sunday morning


Lyrics submitted by capitol76, edited by Mellow_Harsher, edfinkel

Sunday Morning Lyrics as written by Lou Reed John Cale

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave, Exploration Group LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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Sunday Morning song meanings
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45 Comments

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  • +12
    General Comment

    "Watch out, the world's behind you", man that is such an amazing lyric. Sometimes you're just sitting there and you feel the weight of everything, from all the years that have flown by too fast too make sense of anything, like life is just too incomprehensible. It's as if "the world" is sneaking up on you, like you can't escape time and you will never get a chance to figure it out, what any of it means or who you really are. I think thats how Lou was feeling when he wrote this, like this great big world was gonna get the better of him.

    zepkid5678on July 29, 2007   Link
  • +6
    General Comment

    it kind of reminds me of depression. when you feel like youre just slipping from the world and you feel no one is there for you. then you have all the people who are there for you.

    oh_somedayon April 05, 2007   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    I dont think the lyrics reflects anything that has happened before the "Sunday Morning" - Sunday to me is a day of nothing-that-has-to-be-done. You go up whenever you want, you dont have do do anything, just sit in your robe and drink coffee by your self.

    There is something very rare about such moments, when you're in a mood when nothing really bothers you and it feels like time has stopped and you have absolutely nothing to do because you dont want to have anything to do. At least that is what I think this song so perfectly describes.

    jabe05on August 26, 2007   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    I think this song represents a tranquile feeling or state of mind, with a disturbing reminiscent undertone. This song is about a peaceful day with lots of time to think. In using this time to comtemplate one's life, the artist has discovered a sense of regret for their past. This brings on a sense of paranioa which describes the lyrics "watch out the world's behind you". The lyrics "praise the dawning" can also symbolize regrets that belong to the night before. The end lyrics can symbolize a traumatized state of mind because it seems they can't tell if someone is calling their name, or if they just imagined it. Their are conflicting elements in this song, which make it so interesting because the mood and melody of the song is one of tranquility, but there are hidden feelings of the opposite.

    $$$on February 18, 2008   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    I'm pretty convinced that this is the greatest song of all time

    jimmyupton May 12, 2007   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    The lyrics are great and the meaning is clear.

    I think one of the crowning achievements of the original recording is the way the bells were recorded. Its almost as if after waking up before noon on one of the rare weekends of peace, one walks by the windows to see the sun shining brightly through the glass. A warm, nostalgic feeling characterized perfectly in the gentle clipping of the bells on the tape.

    Allesmachineon December 08, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    ...i've lived this song so many times after those saturday nights out getting warped out of your mind...the buzz slowly wears off and you're getting this splitting headache from too many drinks...watching your parents go to church while you slowly sneak your way to the room to pass out...lou reed described it as feeling like dracula...but schizophrenia is another piece to the puzzle...wdc

    venusinfurson August 17, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    this song is so nostalgic that i almost cry everytime I listen to this song. I think that author is not in the state described in the lyrics, but he just remembers all yesterday parties which were wild but which are gone now and currently he's stuck in much worse situation and he tells himself about this restlesness he felt then. i have the same feelings very often and this song reminds me of all "the wasted years so close behind"

    this-is-a-lowon September 23, 2006   Link
  • +2
    Memory

    I first heard this song last summer, driving back from Portland Head (UK) as the sun was going down. It came on the radio and instantly captivated me. I was in love.

    Later that summer, driving to Cornwall this time, I played over and over again on the 6 hour journey, managing to zone out from the inane radio babble everyone else was listening to. I can remember coming over the hill and seeing St Michaels Mount in the fading light, as the lines 'It's just the wasted years so close behind' played in my ears. Somehow, it was the most perfect moment I have ever experienced.

    I have never tried drugs (I'm 15 for goodness sake) but this song still means more to me than any other song has ever managed to. I think the 788 plays on iTunes (in under a year) expresses that better than I can.

    Peace guys...

    ddraigonon March 07, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    This is one of the best songs ever written about waking up after a night of hard partying and feeling the damage. The restlessness, the paranoia, the way not only the night before, but your entire life is scrutinized.... It relates the self-doubt, the guilt, and the people who try to reassure you "It's nothing at all." Lou Reed was a lyrical genius, and the way he was able to capture those subtle feelings that people have but aren't necessarily proud of is one of his greatest accomplishments.

    synthetichumanon February 09, 2015   Link

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