He always gets so mad things you laugh at
"Don't get so worked up," you'd say
But on the back deck you admit
That you haven't felt much like laughing lately anyway
And so I say, "That could change"

I noticed how you waste no time
Making your way across the room
You leave a wake of tongues still waving after you
And it isn't no coincidence
Where you finally choose to stand
I guess soon you will be leaving your man

It's a sweet smile and then a denial
Hey, you are just trying to be nice
But there is a meaning to every fleeting action
You unconsciously decide
The clocks, they chime
Now it's time

I know you try and play it cool
But there are some thoughts you just can't hide
Only in your closest friends do you confide
The way you say you'll be seeing me
Oh, like it's so offhand
I guess soon you will be leaving your man

You stare at me so boldly now
You have no lack of confidence
It's just those lessons on subtlety you missed
I know you dream of saving me
Like I'm some plane that you could land
But when you fly you'll be leaving your man



Lyrics submitted by bright eyes burn me

Track duration: 05:12


Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Man song meanings
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30 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:I took this to be about a divorce. My parents threaten to get a divorce every few years, my grandmother has been divorced twice, and almost every set of my great-grandparents got divorced. Divorce is in my blood, and I guess that's why I saw it in this song.
    Flag IsoldeGSon May 14, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:seems like some people have misunderstood this song slightly. i think its about a girl who obviously really likes conor/ narrator of the song, though she has a boyfriend already. she has an idealised notion of what it would be like to be with a tortured soul like conor, and has built up this idea in her mind that if she could be with him she would be able to save him/ change him and make him happy, as many women do with guys like that. conor can see this, but knows that in the end she couldnt change him, or be enough for him, whatever. he knows his own faults, and doesnt seem to care all that much for this girl (he doesnt suggest his own feelings towards her but the tone infers she is just a friend who he doesnt have particularly strong feelings for). he senses her attraction to him and knows she is about to throw her current relationship away for him, and nothing will stop her doing what she wants to do. when he talks about her landing this plane, the whole 'when you fly you will be leaving your man' it seems obvious that hes saying she wants to be his salvation, but if she tries and does get into a relationship with him, she'll have to leave her man. honestly, in this situation, i feel bad for the girls boyfriend.
    Flag thisalphabettownon July 01, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation:Wow I have a completely different take on this song. Mainly because I relate to it so well. Every line, I just understand the emotion behind it. It'll be hard to explain, but I'ma try.

    I've noticed most of you have been taking the meaning from the title and not really from the words.
    It's not about the girl leaving her man, it's about the guy hoping she does. They're best friends and he's in love with her and she knows it.
    Like in the first verse, "he always gets so mad at things you'd laugh at, don't get so worked up you'd say" He sees how different her and her man are and knows that they won't work out because of it.
    "you haven't felt much like laughing lately anyway, and so I say that could change", he knows he can make her happier. He puts more meaning into her small, innocent gestures than what's really there, "I notice how you waste no time making your way across the room" "It isn't no coincidence where you finally choose to stand", the girl and her man are having problems, and he thinks that just because she wants to spend time with him, that she's gonna leave her man for him.
    The second verse explains this better.
    "it's a sweet smile, then a denial. Hey you're just trying to be nice"
    Everytime he thinks that it's finally gonna happen, it's snatched away from him. He still thinks she wants to be with him, because she smiles and laughs and spends time with him, but deep down he knows that she's just being nice to him, so as to spare his feelings.
    But then once again, he keeps looking into what she does, "but there's a meaning to every fleeting action you unconsciously decide" "I know you try to play it cool, but there's some thoughts you just can't hide"
    He wants so badly to believe that she's gonna leave her man for him, that he deludes himself into thinking she wants him
    "The way you say you'll be seeing me, like it's so offhand"
    He thinks she's saying I'll be seeing you as in I'm gonna be with you soon
    The very last part, is about her finally telling him it's not gonna happen.
    "you stare at me so boldly now" "It's just those lessons of subtlety you missed" "I know you dream of saving me, like I'm some plane that you could land"
    She's telling him she wants him to be happy, she just wants what's best for him, and that it won't be with her. "but when you fly, you will be leaving your man"
    He's not giving up, her man drags her down, and he thinks that when she leaves him, she'll finally be able to fly, and then they'll be together and it'll be worth it
    He does start to lose hope a little bit throughout the course of the song tho. The first time he says soon you'll be leaving your man, he says I KNOW. He is without a doubt, 100% convinced that she will. The second time says it, he says I GUESS. And he says 'soon' twice. To me it sounds more desperate. "I guess soon, SOON you'll be leaving your man". Kinda like he's still clinging to the the idea, even tho it hasn't happened yet, but it's all he has. Soon you will be leaving your man, is what he tells himself everyday, everytime he looks at her. He loves her so much, yet it'll probly never happen

    I know everyone interprets a song differently, but to me, that's what this song says
    Flag marquptonon May 17, 2011   Link
  • +1
    My Opinion:This song makes me so sad because I know she won't.
    Flag thingstessellateon January 19, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I wish more people would cover Conor -this would be wonderful with a full orchestra and a technically better vocalist. The guy should start shoppin' em around, I mean, Snow Patrol sure aint gonna cut it.
    Flag ImanCon September 30, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:how can a song fit into someones life so perfectly? this is exactly how i feel. down to the last letter. if only she'll come and land the plane soon :[
    Flag justmyholdmyhandon August 29, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:How can he make three little words feel so powerful?
    "That could change"
    I can't stop listening to this song, and that line is somehow one of the sweetest things I've ever heard, and I don't even understand why. - I don't mean just the words, but everything he does with them: the simplicity with which it responds to the complicated lines that precede it, the optimism, the way he phrases it, his voice, the amazing music. God, it's so beautiful.

    The whole song makes me feel hypnotized and hyper-aware at the same time, and just in awe of its beauty.

    I love reading people's interpretations here, because I'm curious and I've never been good at it myself. But at the same time, I can also feel totally swept away by his songs before having any clue what it means. I get caught up in his images and phrasing and all the incredible layers of music. I can love his writing and feel deeply affected by it, without understanding it - why is that??

    Even his saddest songs leave me feeling lifted. It's all kind of mysterious to me, not being a musician, and I think I like it that way.
    Flag mcmiggyon June 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:wow...expected a lot more commentary for this song
    its really a classic by bright eyes and i thought more people would have something to say

    the meaning is pretty straight-foreward...but the picture connor paints of this song is really deep and moving...thats what makes it so good

    great song
    Flag treewheeledawayon June 06, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song has a lot of meaning to me. I once liked this girl and she was in a fight with her boyfriend and I thought they were so close to breaking up. I was at a party with her and I sat on a porch and played some stuff to her on a guitar, while her boyfriend was somewhere else just fuming mad.
    Flag losing_coveron December 17, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:allyefst, I thought the flying comment meant that when she undertakes the act of saving him "landing the plane" she will fall for him. Like if she tries to help him, she will fall for him
    Flag thevetoson October 29, 2007   Link

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