My friend and me
Looking through her red box of memories
Faded I'm sure
But love seems to stick in her veins you know

Yes, there's love if you want it
Don't sound like no sonnet, my lord
Yes, there's love if you want it
Don't sound like no sonnet, my lord
My lord

Why can't you see
That nature has its way of warning me
Eyes open wide
Looking at the heavens with a tear in my eye

Yes, there's love if you want it
Don't sound like no sonnet, my lord
Yes, there's love if you want it
Don't sound like no sonnet, my lord
My lord

Sinking faster than a boat without a hull
My lord
Dreaming about the day when I can see you there
My side
By my side

Here we go again and my head is gone, my lord
I stop to say hello
'Cause I think you should know, by now
By now
By now
By now
By now
By now
Oh, by now
Oh, by now
Oh, by now
Oh, by now



Lyrics submitted by kevin

Track duration: 04:21

"Sonnet" as written by Richard Ashcroft

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Sonnet song meanings
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36 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about a friend of his. Somone who has an addiction to drugs and finds love by injection into her veins. I think he sits with his friend and they look through old photos at a time when life was better and his friend was happy. His seems to be saying to her "Theres love here with me if you want it", and hoping that one day he will see his friend standing by his side drug free and happy again. At the moment though he feels as though either he or his friend "is sinking faster that a boat without a hull". Life is slipping away.
    Flag simon71590on June 15, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Both
    Flag simon71590on June 15, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:To me this is a love song... a guy been having a crush on a girl for so long and he just wants to tell her how much he loves her. If she wants his love she will take him for who he is.

    My friend and me
    Looking through her red box of memories
    Faded I'm sure
    But love seems to stick in her veins you know

    // Here it sounds like he found things that reminded him of her and those memories been fading over time but his love for her still strong.


    Why can't you see
    That nature has its way of warning me
    Eyes open wide
    Looking at the heavens with a tear in my eye

    // Here he may realize that this kind of love is some kinda of "Romeo & Juliet" and almost impossible and he beings to cry about the who situation. Love being part of nature can be something very painful when the other person does not feel the same.


    Sinking faster than a boat without a hull
    My lord
    Dreaming about the day when I can see you there
    My side
    By my side

    /// Here the feeling becomes so overwhelming that it feels like he is hitting the bottom of the sea where everything is dark and little life left...and he just dreams he could be with her but it's just an illusion and all in his head and he realizes that's the case and that's why the feeling is overwhelming.


    Here we go again and my head is gone, my lord
    I stop to say hello
    'Cause I think you should know, by now
    By now


    /// Here he is just acknowledging that he can't stop thinking about her and just wants to see his crush and tell her how he feels because the feeling been killing him and she should know by now.

    Yes, there's love if you want it
    Don't sound like no sonnet, my lord

    // This is his way of asking her out... if she wants love she can just say yes to him.
    Flag slakwareon June 01, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:unfortunately i think this was a song coupled with the drugs don't work is about richard ashcroft's father's death. and is about talking to a family member about it or his wife, whom he was struggling with at the time in this part of the song

    'My friend and me
    Looking through her red box of memories
    Faded I'm sure
    But love seems to stick in her veins you know'

    Then later on when he says lines such as 'looking at the heavens with a tear in my eye' and
    'Sinking faster than a boat without a hull
    My lord
    Dreaming about the day when I can see you there
    My side
    By my side'

    Showing how he was feeling at the time, like only god could save him as things were caving in around him with his struggles with his wife and his father's death.

    Then the ending seems like he's praying or gone to visit his father's grave 'i stop to say hello' and his 'head is gone' because it's all out of control and he's breaking under the pressure of everything.

    I've always felt extremely sympathetic toward richard ashcroft as the man is a lyrical genius who expertly expresses the pain that clearly runs so deep in him. Especially true in the drugs don't work, where his heart seems to break with every bar he sings in both the polished and demo versions.

    Poor bloke :'(
    Flag sezy26on March 29, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think the line "red box of memerioes" refers to the womans heart, which links into the line "faded I'm sure but love seems to stick in her veins you know"

    I agree that this song is about lovers, I think they both are in love with each other, but it's "faded", and not as passionate as they were. Hence they are remembering the memories of when they were.

    The sonnet is a Shakesperean form of poetry. Generally speaking, they tend to be rather platonic traditional love poems of 14 lines, the last two of which are usually used to point out something particually poignant/ironic/funny/whatever. When he says he does want her to start sounding like a sonnet, I think he means he doesn't want to fall into convention and begin the whole overly (false?) romanticism thing for the sake of salvaging the relationship.


    But they both realise their relationship of dwindling, which makes the song so beautiful and sad. One of my favourite songs in the world :)


    Any thoughts? Just my interpretation :) x
    Flag BabyTheStarsShineBrighton June 10, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:may it be like this:
    he's comparing his love to a woman and God.
    "don't sound like no sonnet" is about the love to God
    Flag darkinlighton April 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've always taken this song to be about a lover who has some terminal illness and the difficulty of the singer to accept she will pass away soon. Base on the line

    "Why can't you see
    That nature has its way of warning me"
    Flag iggyauon April 20, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:his voice is so friggin' smooth. when he says, "here we go again and my head is gone, my lord", that is some serious great singing.
    Flag summerteeth99on December 03, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This one of my all-time favourite songs.

    As to the meaning, I agree with tumblebiscuit.

    Ever since I first heard it, I took the song to be about the imperfection of love. Love is a part of all our lives, and although it's fulfilling etc, love hurts is in some way or another. This wears on us over time, but we still remain optimistic and naive toward love, even though we should know better. It's a bit of a sad song actually.
    Flag Rain000on April 28, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song just completely mellows me out whenever i listen to it.
    Flag Jcm-93on October 20, 2008   Link

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