To me, this song is about clinging onto an illusion of the perfect person, the 'person that you used to know'. After discovering that you had in fact put them on a pedastal, and that they never were that perfect person, you are still unable to let them go because your illusions clash with reality and it is a never ending struggle between accepting who they are- and who you thought they were.
"You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know..."
It is about that tiny little fibre in your body that cannot erase the memory of them, and that tiny little fibre is what causes most of the conflict: your voice speaks and says that you would never be hung up over this person, and yet, the entire song is dedicated to the memory of that person and the damage they have caused you. so you ARE, after all, hung up on them...and that is the contrast between your voice (voice of reason) and your heart (with which your true feelings lie)....I think that might be why there is such a huge play on body parts in the video clip...and how each body part is colored differently...it represents all the different thoughts in your mind that are contradicting each other.
I think that you have made a great point...he is caught up on his illusion of the perfect person. He wanted so badly for this girl to be his everything, although she wasn't and the relationship wasn't meant to be. Who gets caught up with someone whom he feels "so lonely" in her company and is glad when it is over? He starts to paint himself and her in the same colors, trying so desperately for this to work and for her to be what he wants her to be.
I think that you have made a great point...he is caught up on his illusion of the perfect person. He wanted so badly for this girl to be his everything, although she wasn't and the relationship wasn't meant to be. Who gets caught up with someone whom he feels "so lonely" in her company and is glad when it is over? He starts to paint himself and her in the same colors, trying so desperately for this to work and for her to be what he wants her to be.
It seems like during the relationship, she was tired of being put on that pedestal and tired of being expected to be his perfect someone. She "found that we could not make sense" and didn't want to deal with the pain and sadness of trying to be perfect for him any longer. I think the colors coming off of her at the end of the song is here breaking out of his perfect girl mold...becoming herself once again.
I really don't know how you managed to get that impression. There was nothing in the song that mentioned anyone being on a pedestal or would imply that they were idealized into some perfect form. Nor, was there any mention about any kind of clash between illusion and reality.
I really don't know how you managed to get that impression. There was nothing in the song that mentioned anyone being on a pedestal or would imply that they were idealized into some perfect form. Nor, was there any mention about any kind of clash between illusion and reality.
Actually there is an illusion with the music video. They are being painted to give the illusion they blend in to an abstract background. So I agree with missxt. I think you completely nailed the story behind the song.
Actually there is an illusion with the music video. They are being painted to give the illusion they blend in to an abstract background. So I agree with missxt. I think you completely nailed the story behind the song.
I really can't argue with your interpretation so I'll just add to it. The first verse is just his 20/20 hindsight on the relationship well before the breakup and how he deluded himself. The line "told myself you were right for me" is the prime example of his delusion along with his association of love as an aching feeling instead of that feeling just being a bad vibe for him.
I really can't argue with your interpretation so I'll just add to it. The first verse is just his 20/20 hindsight on the relationship well before the breakup and how he deluded himself. The line "told myself you were right for me" is the prime example of his delusion along with his association of love as an aching feeling instead of that feeling just being a bad vibe for him.
The second verse sounds like his feelings towards the end of the relationship just before the breakup occurred. The addiction to sadness shows how negative feelings have become so common place in this relationship that it is hard to separate it from the two people involved. The last three lines of this verse is just his break from delusion and him finally finding some relief in the end of the relationship til . . .
The chorus of course is his post breakup feelings and how things were handled. This is where the song can go for a great twist by having the person singing this part doing it as a solemn sort of begging or as a quiet pain in that they are hurt by the fact that they are hardly even a foot note in the other person's life.
The third verse is great in showing how the pain and sacrifice in the relationship didn't just belong to the first person (assuming that this is being done as a duet). It demonstrates the same signs of delusion, compromise, and sacrifice that the first two verses illustrate and the eventual realization how it isn't meant to work out.
This third verse can also explain the current coupling as a result from a previous one. How he made her believe that she had done something wrong and how he was still clinging to the idea of another person from his past that he sees her as.
The chorus of course is the same but it can be done in a slightly different way. Instead of singing it in a quiet and saddened way, the person can sing it as a mad, painful rant as if he's trying to defend himself in an intense argument.
Are you guys seriously this in love with this comment? This song isn't about the 'perfect person.'
Are you guys seriously this in love with this comment? This song isn't about the 'perfect person.'
"Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company"
"Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company"
He knew all along she wasn't the perfect person. He's bemoaning the fact that even though they both spoke about how they would remain friends after the break up she's an entirely different person, somebody that he used to know...
He knew all along she wasn't the perfect person. He's bemoaning the fact that even though they both spoke about how they would remain friends after the break up she's an entirely different person, somebody that he used to know...
I agree with the replies who disagree with you. There is no lyrical evidence whatsoever that the girl was put on a pedestal.
I agree with the replies who disagree with you. There is no lyrical evidence whatsoever that the girl was put on a pedestal.
The only part that you quote to defend your interpretation is 'person that you used to know' -- this saying does not have to imply that one thought that their loved one was 'more perfect before than now.'
The only part that you quote to defend your interpretation is 'person that you used to know' -- this saying does not have to imply that one thought that their loved one was 'more perfect before than now.'
'Somebody that I used to know' is a common idiom, saying or phrase with a specific meaning. It is clear that it is merely referring to the fact that one person really meant a lot to the other person, but after breaking up they aren't nearly as significant, they are just 'somebody that __ used to know.'
In regard to the rest of your interpretation:
>
'It is about that tiny little fibre...hung up on them.' I agree that the song is trying to show how it is difficult to forget a loved one.
'I think that might be why there is such a huge play on body parts...contradicting each other.' I disagree here with you here. First, they didn't really color the heart and the 'voice' (which body part does this refer to??) specifically. They just colored it randomly to fit in with the mosaic.
I'm pretty sure this 'mosaic' was meant to symbolize something much more deep than mere contradictions that one has in their mind. Why do the actors in the video have to blend into the background? Couldn't they just have had a blank background then? Your interpretation would still work if they merely had a blank background, but the video creators decided to blend the actors in the background, for metaphorical reason I'm sure.
i>
This comment should not have received the amount of +1's that it has, sorry.
Wow you got right on it, that's exceptionally perception, from one whom has been through that and was able to concur that somebody. I Love this song, it speaks of my current relationship. to the letter. i love your comments on that. thanks for sharing.
Wow you got right on it, that's exceptionally perception, from one whom has been through that and was able to concur that somebody. I Love this song, it speaks of my current relationship. to the letter. i love your comments on that. thanks for sharing.
To me, this song is about clinging onto an illusion of the perfect person, the 'person that you used to know'. After discovering that you had in fact put them on a pedastal, and that they never were that perfect person, you are still unable to let them go because your illusions clash with reality and it is a never ending struggle between accepting who they are- and who you thought they were.
"You said that you could let it go And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know..."
It is about that tiny little fibre in your body that cannot erase the memory of them, and that tiny little fibre is what causes most of the conflict: your voice speaks and says that you would never be hung up over this person, and yet, the entire song is dedicated to the memory of that person and the damage they have caused you. so you ARE, after all, hung up on them...and that is the contrast between your voice (voice of reason) and your heart (with which your true feelings lie)....I think that might be why there is such a huge play on body parts in the video clip...and how each body part is colored differently...it represents all the different thoughts in your mind that are contradicting each other.
I think that you have made a great point...he is caught up on his illusion of the perfect person. He wanted so badly for this girl to be his everything, although she wasn't and the relationship wasn't meant to be. Who gets caught up with someone whom he feels "so lonely" in her company and is glad when it is over? He starts to paint himself and her in the same colors, trying so desperately for this to work and for her to be what he wants her to be.
I think that you have made a great point...he is caught up on his illusion of the perfect person. He wanted so badly for this girl to be his everything, although she wasn't and the relationship wasn't meant to be. Who gets caught up with someone whom he feels "so lonely" in her company and is glad when it is over? He starts to paint himself and her in the same colors, trying so desperately for this to work and for her to be what he wants her to be.
It seems like during the relationship, she was tired of being put on that pedestal and tired of being expected to be his perfect someone. She "found that we could not make sense" and didn't want to deal with the pain and sadness of trying to be perfect for him any longer. I think the colors coming off of her at the end of the song is here breaking out of his perfect girl mold...becoming herself once again.
I personally think you nailed it.
I personally think you nailed it.
I really don't know how you managed to get that impression. There was nothing in the song that mentioned anyone being on a pedestal or would imply that they were idealized into some perfect form. Nor, was there any mention about any kind of clash between illusion and reality.
I really don't know how you managed to get that impression. There was nothing in the song that mentioned anyone being on a pedestal or would imply that they were idealized into some perfect form. Nor, was there any mention about any kind of clash between illusion and reality.
Actually there is an illusion with the music video. They are being painted to give the illusion they blend in to an abstract background. So I agree with missxt. I think you completely nailed the story behind the song.
Actually there is an illusion with the music video. They are being painted to give the illusion they blend in to an abstract background. So I agree with missxt. I think you completely nailed the story behind the song.
agree on the mix up between illusion and reality. oh my.
agree on the mix up between illusion and reality. oh my.
you couldnt have explained it any better!! since hearing it the first time that's what it meant to me
you couldnt have explained it any better!! since hearing it the first time that's what it meant to me
I really can't argue with your interpretation so I'll just add to it. The first verse is just his 20/20 hindsight on the relationship well before the breakup and how he deluded himself. The line "told myself you were right for me" is the prime example of his delusion along with his association of love as an aching feeling instead of that feeling just being a bad vibe for him.
I really can't argue with your interpretation so I'll just add to it. The first verse is just his 20/20 hindsight on the relationship well before the breakup and how he deluded himself. The line "told myself you were right for me" is the prime example of his delusion along with his association of love as an aching feeling instead of that feeling just being a bad vibe for him.
The second verse sounds like his feelings towards the end of the relationship just before the breakup occurred. The addiction to sadness shows how negative feelings have become so common place in this relationship that it is hard to separate it from the two people involved. The last three lines of this verse is just his break from delusion and him finally finding some relief in the end of the relationship til . . .
The chorus of course is his post breakup feelings and how things were handled. This is where the song can go for a great twist by having the person singing this part doing it as a solemn sort of begging or as a quiet pain in that they are hurt by the fact that they are hardly even a foot note in the other person's life.
The third verse is great in showing how the pain and sacrifice in the relationship didn't just belong to the first person (assuming that this is being done as a duet). It demonstrates the same signs of delusion, compromise, and sacrifice that the first two verses illustrate and the eventual realization how it isn't meant to work out.
This third verse can also explain the current coupling as a result from a previous one. How he made her believe that she had done something wrong and how he was still clinging to the idea of another person from his past that he sees her as.
The chorus of course is the same but it can be done in a slightly different way. Instead of singing it in a quiet and saddened way, the person can sing it as a mad, painful rant as if he's trying to defend himself in an intense argument.
Are you guys seriously this in love with this comment? This song isn't about the 'perfect person.'
Are you guys seriously this in love with this comment? This song isn't about the 'perfect person.'
"Told myself that you were right for me But felt so lonely in your company"
"Told myself that you were right for me But felt so lonely in your company"
He knew all along she wasn't the perfect person. He's bemoaning the fact that even though they both spoke about how they would remain friends after the break up she's an entirely different person, somebody that he used to know...
He knew all along she wasn't the perfect person. He's bemoaning the fact that even though they both spoke about how they would remain friends after the break up she's an entirely different person, somebody that he used to know...
I agree with the replies who disagree with you. There is no lyrical evidence whatsoever that the girl was put on a pedestal.
I agree with the replies who disagree with you. There is no lyrical evidence whatsoever that the girl was put on a pedestal.
The only part that you quote to defend your interpretation is 'person that you used to know' -- this saying does not have to imply that one thought that their loved one was 'more perfect before than now.'
The only part that you quote to defend your interpretation is 'person that you used to know' -- this saying does not have to imply that one thought that their loved one was 'more perfect before than now.'
'Somebody that I used to know' is a common idiom, saying or phrase with a specific meaning. It is clear that it is merely referring to the fact that one person really meant a lot to the other person, but after breaking up they aren't nearly as significant, they are just 'somebody that __ used to know.'
In regard to the rest of your interpretation:
>
'I think that might be why there is such a huge play on body parts...contradicting each other.' I disagree here with you here. First, they didn't really color the heart and the 'voice' (which body part does this refer to??) specifically. They just colored it randomly to fit in with the mosaic.
I'm pretty sure this 'mosaic' was meant to symbolize something much more deep than mere contradictions that one has in their mind. Why do the actors in the video have to blend into the background? Couldn't they just have had a blank background then? Your interpretation would still work if they merely had a blank background, but the video creators decided to blend the actors in the background, for metaphorical reason I'm sure.
i>
This comment should not have received the amount of +1's that it has, sorry.
Wow you got right on it, that's exceptionally perception, from one whom has been through that and was able to concur that somebody. I Love this song, it speaks of my current relationship. to the letter. i love your comments on that. thanks for sharing.
Wow you got right on it, that's exceptionally perception, from one whom has been through that and was able to concur that somebody. I Love this song, it speaks of my current relationship. to the letter. i love your comments on that. thanks for sharing.
@missxt This interpretation is far fetched.
@missxt This interpretation is far fetched.