She'd do anything to sparkle in his eye
She would suffer, she would fight, and compromise
She's been wishin' on the stars that shine so bright
For answers to the questions that will haunt her tonight

She must rinse this all away
She can't hold him this way
She must rinse this all away
She can't love him this way

How she'd be soothed, how she'd be saved if he could see
She needs to be held in his arms to be free
But everything happens for reasons that she will never understand
'til she knows the heart of a woman will never be found in the arms of a man

[Chorus]

And if she runs away she fears she won't be followed
What could be the worse than leaving something behind
And as the depth of oceans slowly become shallow
It's loneliness she finds
If only he was mine

She'd do anything to sparkle in his eye
She would suffer, she would fight, and compromise
She's been wishin' on the stars that shine so bright
For answers to the questions that will haunt her tonight

She must rinse him
She must rinse him
She can't rinse him
She can't rinse him
She can't, she won't, she must rinse him
She can't, she won't, she must rinse him
She must rinse this all away
She can't hold him this way
She must rinse this all away
She can't love him this way



Lyrics submitted by carboncentric

Track duration: 04:31

"Rinse" as written by Vanessa Carlton

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Rinse song meanings
Add your thoughts

49 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    My Interpretation:When she says "she can't hold anybody this way" instead of just "hold him this way", i think the girl the song's about feels like nobody would ever want her so she has to forget about the feelings she has.
    Another way i heard the song was, the girl is in a "friends with benefits" kind of thing,and shes in love with him but she knows he'll never feel the same way so she has to stop her feelings.
    Flagged zebrafishyon April 30, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:When she says "she can't hold anybody this way" instead of just "hold him this way", i think the girl the song's about feels like nobody would ever want her so she has to forget about the feelings she has.
    Another way i heard the song was, the girl is in a "friends with benefits" kind of thing,and shes in love with him but she knows he'll never feel the same way so she has to stop her feelings.
    Flag zebrafishyon April 30, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:In my opinion, this is asong about realizing that a boy will never truly fufill a womans heart, and that she needs to have God as a part of her life too. Reguardless of what religion, I think it's safe to say having religion in one's life, and making it part of one's relationship can make it more fufilling. Also, if you give it all up, and give your all to guy, forgetting about God, and then you lose the boy, what do you have to fall back on? If that makes any sense. Thats at least my personal meaning for this.
    Flag nataliejoneson July 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is my opinion of what this song means.

    She’d do anything to be with him, and she wishes that he’d come back to her. She already has the answers to, that he's not coming back and when she sleeps tonight, her dreams will haunt her.

    She must get rid of this obsession, because she can’t hold him anymore. She must get rid of her memory’s, because she can’t love him anymore.

    She’s thinking that if he was here, she’d want him to hold her and comfort her. but she knows that he’s not coming back but she doesn’t know why he’s gone.

    This next bit is a little confusing because it could have 2 meanings. Either that she needs to understand her own heart before she can be held by him.

    OR that a woman’s heart can’t be held,, because a woman’s heart is cautious and doesn’t believe in such fruitless things as love. Therefore a woman’s heart will never be found in the arms of a man. Which means she's afraid of growing up.

    She doesn’t want to forget him and yet she knows it’s hurting her. she must rinse him away. But she is too in love with him.

    She's having second thoughts about forgetting him. What about if she does leave, she knows he won’t follow her. she knows he won’t and it hurts her, because she'd rather be friends then lovers but even that hurts her. these fears die down and then she realises if only he loved her back just as she loved him it would be ok.

    She’s thinking about him, and how she’d do ANYTHING to make him love her. She’s suffering and wanting him so bad, that she’d willing to give him anything he wants. She wishes she knew what to do. Because she’s so lost in her mind.

    She struggles to let him go, her mind is telling her to get rid of him but she can’t; her hearts tells her “She can’t, she won’t” and her head tells her that "she must rinse him" "She must rinse this all away". Finally she gives up because it hurts to much to keep going, she gives him up and lets her love for him rinse away
    Flag PhoenixHunteron February 20, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:I love vanessa she has very good messages for girls everywhere.i love the line "'Til she knows that the heart of a woman will never be found in the arms of a man." because its so true and ALL girls need to realize that.Everyone deserves so much more than someone tearing them apart.its better to have loved and lost then to stay with someone less than you deserve.No girl should believe she NEEDS a man.whats meant to happen will happen just be content with life.
    Flag music71894on August 04, 2009   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:To me, this song is about lesbians. It just seems like that because, uh, well -
    "'Til she knows that the heart of a woman will never be found in the arms of a man."
    Arms of a MAN
    MAN PEOPLE
    MANNNNNNNNNNN
    Flag chibiangelaon June 21, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I think the tale of this song is obvious, but that may be because when I hear it, only one moment in my life comes to mind. I think she is singing about a guy who cheated on her. She loved him, she gave him everything, and now she has to let him go and forget about him because he cheated on her. He basically threw everything away, and logically she knows he's not worth it and probably doesn't love her at all, but she still loves him and wants to spend the rest of her life with him despite what he did. But he keeps doing it, so she has to stop going back. But no matter how hard you try, you can never, never fully get over a guy who does something that terrible to you. She has to be over him, but she can't be. She can't move on because she still loves him, but she has to move on anyway.

    Another interpretation may involve rape instead of cheating, but it's the same basic concept. You can't forget and move on from a thing like that, even if it's what's best. It's just impossible.
    Flag krysloon June 03, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Oops, I meant "she must rinse *this* all away" in my previous post. Thought I'd correct that...

    It's a great song.
    Flag starsparkleron August 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is about a girl who's desperate for love. She clings to someone because she doesn't love herself enough. She has to learn that "the heart of a woman will never be found in the arms of a man." She has to let go of the relationship ("she must rinse him all away") and learn to love herself.

    This song reminds me of myself not too long ago...
    Flag starsparkleron August 23, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Well... sorry guys, but Vanessa wrote this song about me and my freakish tendency to obsess over this guy - five years before I even met him! She's good like that.

    But seriously, fairyinblacknwhite has got the song down. It's about obsession and coming to terms with the fact that a guy is not going to make you who you are, or happy with yourself. It's an unhealthy thing and getting over it is a cleansing process - rinse.

    My favorite part is that "if she runs away, she fears she won't be followed," because for me that's the worst part of getting over this. There's a void that's gotta be filled there.
    Flag cloudy eyeon April 29, 2008   Link

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!

Back to top
explain