The light is dead in your eye
So I'll keep living my life
I only wanted to try
To find my way back inside
My imitation of life
My litigation of life
It's something easy to find
Inside the shade of your eye

[Chorus]
Out of the ground I rise to grace
Nobody knows it's just a phase
Help me I'm out of breath again
Nobody knows somewhere to make it go away

Phase
Phase
Phase
Phase
I find it hard to decide
The way to make up your mind
Your lips are better than mine
So you can kiss this goodbye
My imitation of life
My litigation of life
It's something easy to find
Inside the shade of your eye

[Chorus]

It's just a phase
And I can't wait
Phase
Phase
Phase
I know
I know
I know
It's just a fucking phase

It's just a fucking phase
I'm drained time to fake and delay
Watch the penny drop
Let it go up and in drop
Then watch it roll
Let's all mourn till
I survive inside you


Lyrics submitted by jc6md

Phase Lyrics as written by Jeremy Hummel Benjamin Burnley

Lyrics © Walt Disney Music Company

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Phase song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

25 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment

    I love yelling along to "It's just a fucking phase!" I have gone through so many phases. If I can't relate to this song, I don't know who can!

    CRYN_OUTon May 25, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song could mean many different things this is why i love this group. Besides Ben Burnley's voice is truly one of a kind. A phase can mean anything and can have so many different meanings. Could be love,hate,drugs alcohol basically anything. Its your imitation of life which means version. Nobody knows somewhere to make it go away. To me in my personal life there isn't anywhere i can hide from myself i have to look at all the bullshit i have done. I have hid from it with drugs and alcohol and it may go away for a night,but it will always be back. You can't make it go away whatever it may be. Just enjoy this amazing band and if you get a chance to see them in concert go. Ben truly is one of a kind.

    masterlegacyon December 25, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Phase is about the singer being head over heels for a girl who either doesn’t know how he feels, probably because he cant tell her The light is dead in your eye So I'll keep living my life I only wanted to try To find my way back inside My imitation of life My litigation of life It's something easy to find Inside the shade of your eye The light in he refers to represents his hope of being with her and he doesn’t have much of it anymore, therefore he can’t see it in her eyes, so he’ll keep on living and try to survive for the time being. He wanted to try to something to get some hope back but he has no idea what to do. He says that she has become his reason for living (litigation) and maybe even become the main component of his life (imitation) and that these things are very clear to him every time he looks into her eyes. Out of the ground I rise to grace Nobody knows it's just a phase Help me I'm out of breath again Nobody knows somewhere to make it go away The chorus is him talking about how feeling this way about her brought him up so high (to grace) and made him so happy, he then mocks people who are telling him it’s just a phase. For some reason , maybe something bad happened or perhaps her presence it’s the cause of it but he is out of breath and doesn’t know how to make that feeling go away Phase [x4] I find it hard to decide The way to make up your mind Your lips are better than mine So you can kiss this goodbye My imitation of life My litigation of life It's something easy to find Inside the shade of your eye He says the word “phase” to himself because he’s wondering if everyone’s right to tell him that its just a phase and that he’ll get over it. He starts this bridge by talking about how he has no idea how to win her over or “make up her mind”. Him saying that her lips are better than his are him saying that she is the stronger of the two and the one with more power so it will have to be her to end the situation (kiss this goodbye) because he wont give up easily. Then, he again talks about what he realizes every time he looks into her eyes. Then the chorus comes again
    It's just a phase And I can't wait Phase [x3] I know [x3] It's just a fucking phase Now he’s trying to convince himself that it is just a phase and that he cant wait till its over… he soon realizes that its not the case so he grows frustrated repeating their words to himself and say telling them that he knows, so that they’ll leave him alone. He eventually explodes saying that he knows it just a fucking phase, this is a sarcastic comment meant to mock whoever is talking to him, he’s like “fuck, shut up, I fucking know”. It's just a fucking phase I'm drained Time to fake and delay Watch the penny drop Let it go up and in drop Then watch it roll Let's all mourn till I survive inside you He again angrily shouts that he knows. He then says that he’s drained but he has to find a way to hide the weakness he feels and delay his fall from sanity. The penny itself represents his sanity; he’s telling her to watch it drop completely and roll away. He’ll mourn until he can finally be with her and “surive inside of her”

    nabokov.fanon July 25, 2007   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    this song is about how death is just a phase in the process of existence. it's also from the perspective of a person who is already dead, albeit only recently. i know ben does some random things with his music and lyrics but this isn't one of them. he gives several clues. i mean, when he says out of the ground i rise to grace. obvious reference to death right there. at the very end he says I'M DRAINED. TIME TO FAKE AND DELAY. WATCH THE PENNY DROP. LET IT GO UP AND IN DROP, THEN EATCH IT ROLL. LET'S ALL MOURN TIL I SURVIVE INSIDE YOU. there are several references to dying in that part. first, when he says i'm drained. then he talks about the pennies. many cultures have put pennies over the eyes of their dead to pay the boat man to ferry them across the river styx into the underworld. then, the most obvious reference to the fact that the person is dead "lets all mourn til I survive inside you."

    jmacleeon April 14, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is proberly the best song on the whole album

    wiseaimeeon March 06, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song reminds me of tool, with the kind of intro and then when it gets going.

    chickenpotpieon May 26, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think this could be my favorite B.B. song ever. So far all of the B.B. songs kick ass and ive heard all of em except for Ladybug (anybody know where i can get that without buyin the Japan CD) ITS JUST A PHASE!

    chaoticlokion December 20, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    love it love it! who can't relate?

    sodeepx3on July 22, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is exactly why Breaking Benjamin is my favorite band...they rock hard and this was the song that got me hooked to "Saturate", which ultimately led me to listening to the CD like 5 times a day for months. I thought Saturate was phoenomenal, this song highlights it.

    BEAR1217on July 26, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love the chord transition here

    "My imitation of life My litigation of life It's something easy to find Inside the shade of your eye"

    Great song...very underrated

    phoenix6475on March 02, 2006   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!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Step
Ministry
Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
Blue
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.