Adia I do believe I failed you
Adia I know I've let you down
Don't you know I tried so hard
To love you in my way
It's easy let it go

Adia I'm empty since you left me
Trying to find a way to carry on
I search myself and everyone
To see where we went wrong

'Cause there's no one left to finger
There's no one here to blame
There's no one left to talk to, honey
And there ain't no one to buy our innocence

'Cause we are born innocent
Believe me Adia, we are still innocent
It's easy, we all falter
Does it matter?

Adia I thought that we could make it
But I know I can't change the way you feel
I leave you with your misery
A friend who won't betray
I pull you from your tower
I take away your pain
And show you all the beauty you possess
If you'd only let yourself believe that

We are born innocent
Believe me Adia, we are still innocent
It's easy, we all falter, does it matter?
Believe me Adia, we are still innocent
'Cause we are born innocent
Adia we are still innocent
It's easy, we all falter, but does it matter?

'Cause we are born innocent
Believe me Adia, we are still innocent
It's easy, we all falter
Does it matter?

Believe me Adia, we are still innocent
'Cause we are born innocent
Believe me Adia, we are still innocent
It's easy, we all falter
does it matter?



Lyrics submitted by kevin

Track duration: 04:05

"Adia" as written by Pierre Marchand, Sarah Ann Mclachlan

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Adia song meanings
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80 Comments

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  • +2
    Song Meaning:I haven't seen the correct answer in any of these comments! Adia is the name of her grandmother who passed away, and this song was for her. I'm guessing there was some sort of fallout or relationship issue there. I heard this on the radio years ago. It's NOT about what you are all thinking about. Plus, come on, take context into consideration. It's talking about not having anyone left to blame. Immature!
    Flag slothaoon May 22, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"And show you all the beauty you possess
    if you'd only let yourself believe
    That we are born innocent
    Believe me Adia, we are still innocent.
    Its easy, we all falter
    But does it matter?"

    Love this... Talk about angels.

    Good stuff.
    Flag Johann4uon April 17, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:This song was written when Sarah married her best friend's ex (who is one of her musicians and who she's divorcing after 11 years which explains the song "You want me to") thus reason she apologized in this song, its basically about her feelings of guilt and because she's a very private person generally she wouldn't come out and explain in detail the reason for this song. And clearly it has nothing to do with a gay relationship.
    Flag Zigzon March 27, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:I can believe it's about her stealing a friend's boyfriend, if only for the lines, "Leave you with your misery, a friend who won't betray." Personally, if I were Adia, I wouldn't be too thrilled that Sarah had to apologize in a nationally released song that dragged my heartbreak into public view. She should've had the guts to apologize face to face and then shut up about it. I think she's lucky Adia didn't kick her ass off her bones.
    Flag law4on February 04, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Sarah has a lovely voice and expresses the emotions in this song.
    This is a beautiful song about someone not meeting expectations-I dunno,I guess. I prefer to just listen to it. lol :)
    Flag Thia007on November 24, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think i figured it out. the song is about, Adia, who feels guilty for something she feels she did to hurt someone, that she thinks she has to blame herself for. Adia is probably Sarah, because she said the song is about feeling responsible for everything, which is something, she remarked, she inherited from her father. The person singing the song is trying to convince her that it doesn't matter and that she is not to blame, to let it go because we all make mistakes but we are all really still innocent:
    It's easy, let it go...
    We all falter, but does it matter?...
    I think the song is pretty much about unconditional love. The person singing the song is trying to convince Adia, or Sarah, that she deserves to be loved, despite how hard she is on herself, despite how she holds herself responsible for hurting people and what a horrible person she believes that makes her. They sing:
    I'd pull you from your tower,
    I'd take away your pain,
    and show you all the beauty you possess
    if only you'd believe that
    we are born innocent
    The singer is saying I would love you for all that you are, if only you'd let me. Ultimately, Adia is too convinced that she is unlovable, for all these things she blames herself for, and won't let the person in. The person feels they have failed her in some way. They tried to love her and show her that she deserved it, but Adia didn't believe them, tragically leaving her alone:
    Adia, I do believe I failed you
    Adia, I know I let you down...
    I leave you with your misery
    A friend who won't betray.
    It could be Sarah's message to herself, but I feel like it has more to do with a relationship, because she says:
    I thought we could make it,
    but I know I can't change the way you feel.
    I think the song is sung to Sarah, as Adia, but perhaps sung from the perspective of a past lover(s) that tried to get her to open up, but failed. I think she left them, and remained alone because of it. Maybe this song was sort of like a realization and a turning point for her and she finally was able to let someone in.
    Flag eelaughtonon May 07, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:Okay, what is wrong with lesbians!? How is it childish to interpret a song in the way you feel it best relates to you? Huh? You are being immature by not being able to handle something so common in this century. Grow up, you know who you are. As for interpretation, who really cares what is right or wrong? Songs aren't written to have one specific meaning. Artists want you to be able to relate to the songs, so why would they be like this is what it means and only this? Expression through song is meant to be taken in the way to listener takes it. No one way is right or wrong. On the other hand, judging someone for being homosexual IS wrong, and is as much of a sin as being homosexual. As sins are equal, judging people is a sin. Annd, sermon over, thank you for your time. lol :)
    Flagged NatNatLeeon April 02, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Like all the greatest songwrites, Sarah McLachlan has managed to take a specific, personal occurence and created a song that custs to the heart of the emotion underlying it.

    Her inspiration, from her own words, was how she felt towards her best friend having married her ex-boyfriend, but the sentimes she expresses are those of sorrow at losing someone who can't accept the love they feel. This fits her own situation, but just as easily in a hostile world fits a girl (or a guy, to be fair) bemoaning losing a friend for having had a same-sex relationshiops, cross-cultural couples who lose the closeness of friends or family.

    It's about the loss that comes from having to choose between love and friendship, regardless of what the love is.
    Flag Outrider74on September 10, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Yeah Sarah herself said it was about her bf, and even before she said that I always got the impression that it was about a friendship falling apart.
    Flag SparkleNShineon March 23, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:Here's my interpretation....

    Adia is about a man and a woman (Adia) who were long childhood friends, and as they entered their adult lives, they became separated and lost touch. After many years, they encountered one another, and even though they had developed separate lives, they were able to learn things about one another that they couldn't see when they were younger. Once they made those discoveries, they realized that they meant so much to each other, yet they weren't able to find a meaningful way to convey that cherished state into their current situations, so there was a falling out, in lieu of a disruption to their current lives. There were hurt feelings and even though it was the purest form of love, it wasn't seen the same way by both, and Adia pulled away, feeling that the situation wasn't morally right. However, Adia's friend saw it differently, but he couldn't find a way to have it fit Adia's purpose in life, and she abandoned him.

    Adia and her friend opened up to one another after many years about their feelings, and even though they were both trying to respect each other’s feelings and convictions, Adia felt compromised. No matter how Adia’s friend tried to help her reconcile this, he eventually was scorned, and she dismissed his desire to seek a way for them to be involved in some manner, even though their conversations had crossed some lines on occasion. Those instances left her feeling that there was no way to make it right on earth, so she abandoned him, and left him in a state of grief and sadness, because he felt tremendous value in finding a way to righteously thrive in any kind of means that they could, if they could only accept together that what was past, was past, and to look to a present and future that could allow the simplest warmth in their hearts.

    Surfacing is a serious album. I listen to it when I'm in a reflective state, and while it's not a particularly comforting collection, I find it to be a tremendous collection of meaningful music. I also firmly believe that Sarah likes to write with enough ambiguity to allow anyone to find meaning in her work. This could be one of her greatest assets, besides having an incredible voice and musical gift.
    Flag PleinlyStatedon February 23, 2010   Link

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