This has been my favorite song for a long time. It's funny, I'm adopted and I really didn't think that this song was about being orphaned but maybe that's why I like it so much on another subconscious level :). I suppose it's possible, but what I love about this song is everyone seems to have a different interpretation of it. It means anything to everyone.
The most resonating line in this song to me is "you grew up way too fast and now there's nothing to believe and reruns all become our history." It's almost as if he's saying people who grow up too fast by force or choice get to a point in their lives where they constantly play reruns of the events that brought them there. The same thoughts are analyzed repeatedly without conclusion: "a tired song keeps playing on a tired radio...."
The "name" theme throughout the song is the best and most ambiguous aspect. It could be about a biological mother as some have suggested, or about a person from the past that the narrator in one way or another feels influenced them greatly. No matter what it means, its a secret that only the narrator knows and it's a secret worth keeping just to have some more time with this person in thought or in actuality..."come back down and I won't tell them your name"
As for being "grown up orphans who never knew their names"---it applies to us all. We all enter adulthood with a sense of ambiguity about who we really are. We are on our own, starting an independent life and the decisions we make effect us even more than they did in our youth. Often all we have to cling to or all that is holding us back are the scars we carry as souvenirs from the past. It's easy to dwell on these scars as they are never far away, usually only a memory away.
Overall, I just think it's about the events in ones life leading them to the point they are at now and reflecting on that past and perhaps longing to find some closure with a person or event. "And even though the moment passed me by, I still can't turn away" And let's be honest, there will always be that person from our past--who will remain nameless--that creeps into our thoughts. I've got someone like that who this song reminds me of.
This has been my favorite song for a long time. It's funny, I'm adopted and I really didn't think that this song was about being orphaned but maybe that's why I like it so much on another subconscious level :). I suppose it's possible, but what I love about this song is everyone seems to have a different interpretation of it. It means anything to everyone.
The most resonating line in this song to me is "you grew up way too fast and now there's nothing to believe and reruns all become our history." It's almost as if he's saying people who grow up too fast by force or choice get to a point in their lives where they constantly play reruns of the events that brought them there. The same thoughts are analyzed repeatedly without conclusion: "a tired song keeps playing on a tired radio...."
The "name" theme throughout the song is the best and most ambiguous aspect. It could be about a biological mother as some have suggested, or about a person from the past that the narrator in one way or another feels influenced them greatly. No matter what it means, its a secret that only the narrator knows and it's a secret worth keeping just to have some more time with this person in thought or in actuality..."come back down and I won't tell them your name"
As for being "grown up orphans who never knew their names"---it applies to us all. We all enter adulthood with a sense of ambiguity about who we really are. We are on our own, starting an independent life and the decisions we make effect us even more than they did in our youth. Often all we have to cling to or all that is holding us back are the scars we carry as souvenirs from the past. It's easy to dwell on these scars as they are never far away, usually only a memory away.
Overall, I just think it's about the events in ones life leading them to the point they are at now and reflecting on that past and perhaps longing to find some closure with a person or event. "And even though the moment passed me by, I still can't turn away" And let's be honest, there will always be that person from our past--who will remain nameless--that creeps into our thoughts. I've got someone like that who this song reminds me of.