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 can't let you be, cause your beauty won't allow me
Wrapped in white sheets,
Like an angel from a bedtime story
And shut out what they say,
'Cause your friends are fucked up anyway
And when they come around,
Somehow they feel up and you feel down.
When we were kids, we hated things our parents did
We listened low to Casey Kasem's radio show
That's when friends were nice,
To think of them just makes you feel nice
The smell of grass in spring
And October leaves cover everything.
[Repeat: x2]
Have you forgotten how to love yourself?
I can't believe all the good things that you do for me
Sat back in a chair like a princess from a faraway place
Nobody's nice, when you're older your heart turns to ice
And shut out what they say;
They're too dumb to mean it anyway
When we were kids, we hated things our sisters did
Backyard summer pools and Christmases were beautiful
And the sentiment of coloured mirrored ornaments
And the open drapes
Look out on frozen farmhouse landscapes
[Repeat: x6]
Have you forgotten how to love yourself?
Wrapped in white sheets,
Like an angel from a bedtime story
And shut out what they say,
'Cause your friends are fucked up anyway
And when they come around,
Somehow they feel up and you feel down.
When we were kids, we hated things our parents did
We listened low to Casey Kasem's radio show
That's when friends were nice,
To think of them just makes you feel nice
The smell of grass in spring
And October leaves cover everything.
[Repeat: x2]
Have you forgotten how to love yourself?
I can't believe all the good things that you do for me
Sat back in a chair like a princess from a faraway place
Nobody's nice, when you're older your heart turns to ice
And shut out what they say;
They're too dumb to mean it anyway
When we were kids, we hated things our sisters did
Backyard summer pools and Christmases were beautiful
And the sentiment of coloured mirrored ornaments
And the open drapes
Look out on frozen farmhouse landscapes
[Repeat: x6]
Have you forgotten how to love yourself?
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
ive never felt more introspective or vulnerable from a song before. i heard it for the first time yesterday, driving through the mountains of pennsylvania.my tears came streaming. "have you forgotten?" was all i could focus on the first time i heard this song, and it evoked this feeling of the loss of a relationship i had once loved with all my heart. The pain came through me, and i was reminded that even though i suffered greatly, the loss of that love was more painful than the actual loss of the person. Upon listening to it again, I was reminded of my mother and how she haphazardly injures and destroys the relationships she has with my brothers and i "when we were kids we hated the things are parents did". Lastly, "have you forgotten how to love yourself?", this line shook me to my soul because i questioned the authenticity of loss of love for anyone else or from anyone else as compared to myself. I have to love myself before anyone can love me, or even forget about me. Haunting and true, this song is wildly powerful.
@rahanley I think it's a song about growing up and looking back (not) in anger.
It's easy to twist the facts and become nostalgic as you grow old, but there's an undeniable simplicity that's inherent to youth. Probably because we're so uncomplicated then, and also because we're much easier on ourselves, which I think is part of the point the song is driving home. The lovely memories of childhood juxtapose perfectly with the idea of remembering how to not be too harsh on yourself. I guess we all can identify with growing up to become adults who take everything much too seriously, until all we're able to do is reach out for the time when things seemed fun and exciting. That's the reason this song resonates with so many people.
The beautiful delicate music makes the lyrics even more meaningful to me. I love the way Mark sings this lovely melody over a plain guitar for most of the song - almost like the type of ballad you learn to play with your friends when you're a teenager - only to be joined by a breathtaking steel guitar near the end. The song successfully awakens a nostalgic feeling, becoming nostalgic itself.
This is no ordinary song. This is the kind of music that enriches our existence, drawing from us moods we then become aware and grateful of. Few can evoke these sensations through their arts, and Mark Kozelek is definitely one of them.
i agree with gleebs there. this is a fucking amazing song, absolutely stunning
i particularly question the line "hated things our parents did" i think it can be interpreted as they hated the same things as their parents. like influecned. rather than the parents actions. like listening casey kasem for instance.
Yes, I love the ambiguity in this line. Whether intentionally or not, Kozelek has written a line that can simultaneously be interpreted two ways that mean completely the opposite of each other. As we grow from teenagers into adults, isn't it true that we move from hating our parents' actions to hating the same things they hate?
I'm not crying, I just have something in my eye.
I am the girl that he sings about, in my own world
Beautiful. Makes me think of innocence, of childhood.
oh, God, this is so tender and touching
one of the most beautiful songs in the world. it's just gorgeous. i don't even know what else to say about it.
this song is definately in my all time top 10, it just reminds me of life and how one person can chang everything