I've these dreams of
Walking home
Home where it used to be
And everything is
As it was
Frozen in front of me

Here I stand
6 feet small
Romanticizing years ago
But it's a bitter sweet feeling hearing
"Wrapped Around Your Finger" on the radio

And these days
I wish I was 6 again
Oh make me a red cape
I wanna be Superman

Oh, if only my life was more like 1983
All these things would be more like they
Were at the start of me
Had it made in 83

Thinking bout my brother Ben
I miss him every day
He looks just like his brother John
But on an 18 month delay

Here I stand
6 feet small
And smiling cause I'm scared as hell
Kind of like my life is like a sequel to a movie
Where the actor's names have changed
Oh well

Well these days
I wish I was 6 again
Oh make me a red cape
I wanna be Superman

Oh, if only my life was more like 1983
All these things would be more like they
Were at the start of me
If my life was more like 1983
Plot a course to the source of the
Purest little part of me

And most my memories
Have escaped me
Or confused themselves within dreams
If heaven's all we want it to be
Send your prayers to me
Care of 1983

You can paint that house a rainbow of colors
Rip out the floorboards
Replace the shutters but
That's my plastic in the dirt

Whatever happened to my
Whatever happened to my
Whatever happened to my lunchbox
When came the day that it got
Thrown away and don't you think I should have had some say
In that decision

If only my life (repeated till fade)



Lyrics submitted by Ice

Track duration: 04:51

"83" as written by John Mayer

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, REACH MUSIC PUBLISHING

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


83 song meanings
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40 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:great song!!!!!''i wish i was six again!''
    Flag 8anos1925on November 14, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I can admit, the first time I heard this song I just thought that it was one of those "easy to listen to" songs. It certainly is, but it's also a lot more than that. This song is one of my favorites from the Room for Squares album. The first time I heard it I thought "Wow, it doesn't get much better than that". "Plot a course to the source of the purest little part of me"...brillant. I love when he mentions his younger brother Ben, it really paints a picture of John Mayer as a little 6 year old kid. This song makes me feel like I'm six again..if only for a moment. I love John Mayer.
    Flag morglynseyon May 20, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:lifeguardx, you are apparently not the only person who had that question. On Any Given Thursday's live track, the line goes like this:

    thinking about my brother Ben
    I miss him everyday
    he looks just like his brother John
    but on an eighteen month delay (he's a-ok, by the way)
    Flag Jalathason June 28, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I wish I was six again, oh make me a red cape, I want to be superman. Lines like that are what all artist should aspire to create, and this guy seems to be those just perfect moment ecapsulating lyrics in every song.

    The meaning of this song is not hard to figue out, but it is just so perfectly crafted. Life was so much easier when we were kids and in the line

    " I have these dreams I'm walking home
    home where it used to be
    everything is as it was
    frozen in front of me"

    He wishes he could go back to that but he cant, he has grown up, but then in the line

    "you can paint that house a rainbow of colors
    rip out the floorboards
    and replace the the shutters
    but that's my plastic in the dirt"

    It means although other people live in that house, they can not change what it meant to him and how it has inspired the person he has become.
    Flag ak231510on May 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:thinking about my brother Ben
    I miss him everyday
    he looks just like his brother John
    but on an eighteen month delay



    Did something happen to his brother Ben? I can't figure out if he's just sad he doesn't get to see Ben everyday like he used to when they were young or if he's implying that perhaps something (god forbid) happened to him. :-\
    Flag lifeguardxon June 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I miss being carefree but I guess some of the greater things (such as knowledge and true love) come later on in life...
    but you can still be attatched to the way it was...
    Flag Rocklovinggirlon October 22, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is SO AMAZING! I have trouble even beginning w/my fav. lines, but i do love "here i stand 6 ft. small" cuz even when though people might think of you as "grown up," it feels like you're still so small and not ready to be an adult.
    Flag albinomooseon May 10, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is also in the OST of Serendipity.
    Flag anupamsron March 20, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I love the way he has taken such simple stuff and made it into an amazing song. "thats my plastic in the dirt." you know what? Whatever happend to my lunchbox. A question that does not get asked enough...
    Flag Monkey_magicon August 09, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:"you can paint that house a rainbow of colors
    rip out the floorboards
    and replace the the shutters
    but that's my plastic in the dirt"

    This strong strikes me for a number of reasons: I was 5 in 1983 so the references hit home...I remember watching the Wrapped Around Your Finger video on MTV (when they still played music). The last bit gets me because yes, someday my boyhood home will be sold but no matter how it changes, my GI Joes are still buried in various places around it. I think on a deeper level, it says that no matter what changes in our lives, there are some things about us, call them memories or what have you that will never change.
    Flag CroneCircuson July 01, 2005   Link

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