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"
Ég Læt Mig Líða Áfram
Í Gegnum Hausinn
Hugsa Hálfa Leið
Afturábak
Sé Sjálfan Mig Syngja Fagnaðarerindið
Sem Við Sömdum Saman
Við Áttum Okkur Draum
Áttum Allt
Við Riðum Heimsendi
Við Riðum Leitandi
Klifruðum Skýjakljúfa
Sem Síðar Sprungu Upp
Friðurinn Úti
Ég Lek Jafnvægi
Dett Niður
Alger Þögn
Ekkert Svar
En Það Besta Sem Guð Hefur Skapað
Er Nýr Dagur
Í Gegnum Hausinn
Hugsa Hálfa Leið
Afturábak
Sé Sjálfan Mig Syngja Fagnaðarerindið
Sem Við Sömdum Saman
Við Áttum Okkur Draum
Áttum Allt
Við Riðum Heimsendi
Við Riðum Leitandi
Klifruðum Skýjakljúfa
Sem Síðar Sprungu Upp
Friðurinn Úti
Ég Lek Jafnvægi
Dett Niður
Alger Þögn
Ekkert Svar
En Það Besta Sem Guð Hefur Skapað
Er Nýr Dagur
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Ever see the video for this? It might just be my favourite video of all time.
Pitchforkmedia.com described this album as "soul-crushingly beautiful." I think this song is the perfect example of that. Without a doubt my favorite track off Agaetis Byrjun. It gives me shivers every single time I hear it.
At first I was shaken by the ending, but clearly that's intentional. It's as if you've been lifted up and completely disoriented. As you grasp at the air, trying to find the beat again (for the drums have receeded into the background), you're dropped. The song is over.
Music this stunning is so rare! I just can't say enough good things about this band.
i totally love the ending........been trying to find a way to reproduce that kind of discord in my music but it just ends up like a mess. i don't think the lyrics matter all that much, the beaty and sould of the music transcends language barriers
That song quite simply amazed me. The music takes over you, transports you. The best combination of piano and strings I can remember in any song, and Jonsi's voice adds a sense of harmony. But then, you find yourself trapped in a cold storm that just seems to get bigger and bigger, and there it ends, in a huge cataclysm. Almost made me crazy... and I felt disturbed and almost cried. Very overwhelming. The video clip was good too, although it created a big controversy about homosexuality and media ethics when it was first released. I found the video to be excellent.
Mode000, pull your homophobic head out of your homophobic and ignorant ass. this music is poetry beyond what this earth seems possible, the music video brings me to tears everytime I see it. The song it great enough without the visual aide, I go back and fourth.
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Good Weather For Airstrikes
I Slide Myself Forward Through My Head I Think Half Way Backwards See Myself Sing The Anthem That We Wrote Together We Had A Dream We Had Everything We Rode To The End Of The World We Rode Searching Climbed Skyscrapers That Later Exploded The Peace Was Out I Leak Balance Fall Down Total Silence No Answer But The Best Thing God Has Created Is A New Day
I figured a context-based translation from Icelandic to English would be best for maximum clarification of this song.<br /> <br /> Viorar Vel Til Loftarasa (A context-based English translation)<br /> <br /> I let myself flow onwards.<br /> I swim through my mind back and forth.<br /> My soul still sings the song we once wrote together.<br /> We once had a dream.<br /> We had everything.<br /> We rode to the end of the world.<br /> We rode on searching.<br /> We climbed skyscrapers but they were all destroyed.<br /> The peace is gone now.<br /> I lack balance.<br /> I fall down.<br /> Still I let myself flow onwards.<br /> I swim through my mind but I always come back to the same place.<br /> There is nothing left to say.<br /> This is for the best.<br /> God will provide a day for us<br /> tomorrow.
the context based translation kind of reminds me of Cob in the movie Inception. his character is still stuck on Mal, his wife who died. they once had a dream together. and when they were stuck in limbo they built a world together, building skyscrapers that were then destroyed. after her death he lacks balance but still has to move on. in his dreams he always "comes back to the same place" aka Mal. and in the end he has to do something about it to either get over her or be in limbo with her forever. just a thought...
I never thought about that, but now that you point it out, I'd have to agree. Huh, pretty cool....
I find it impossible to decide which track on Ågaetis Byrjun is the best, but this is certainly a highlight. Excellent video, too.
the video is amazing and so is the song.
Perfection. The music video is so cataclysmic, it's amazing. One of those songs where the music fits with the video. Like a movie giving justice to the book.
The video is absolutely incredible. I was so shaken up by the end of it, that I was nearly in tears.
My favorite song on the album too.