Billy

I think that "Billy" is the one song by James Blunt that is easy to interpret Most of his lyrics are metaphrical and have hidden meanings, he really is such a clever writter, but i think this song is meant to be taken literally. Billy's had an affair (Once he was a lover sleeping with another), got caught out (Now he's just known as a cheat) and now regrets it (Old doors are closed but he's always open, to relive time in his mind). Simple as! xx

"Once he was a lover sleeping with another. Now he's just known as a cheat." "The damage is done...Old doors are closed but he's always open, to relive time in his mind." In my opinion, this song is about a man that cheated on his lover. And now he is regretting it and is forced to relive his mistake over and over in his guilty mind. No one but the writer of the song knows who is really being personified in it.

This song reminds me of Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five." The main character, Billy Pilgrim, could travel through time.

'Billy's leaving today (don't know where he's going).' -He couldn't control where his time travel would take him.

'Old doors are closed but he's always open, To relive time in his mind. Oh Billy.' -Billy couldn't change the past, but he could always revisit it.

The song has a general theme of pain and sorrow, which Billy experiences by reliving the sad parts of his life. Dunno, just my thoughts.

i dont really know the meaning to this song, but i'll take a shot in the dark :]

Billy's leaving today (don't know where he's going). Holds his head in disgrace (he can't escape the truth). He knows the price that he's paid. He admits that it's too late to admit that he's afraid.

i think this means he did something terrible, that ruined his happiness, and he knows its wrong and its eating at him just thinking about it.

Tomorrow comes. Sorrow becomes his soul mate. The damage is done. The prodigal son is too late. Old doors are closed but he's always open, To relive time in his mind. Oh Billy.

i think this means that whats done is done, and he's knows it's too late to fix anything. and everything he once knew is out the window, but he's still open for a new opertunity to find happiness.

Billy's leaving today (don't know where he's going). He's got lines on his face (they tell the story of his pain). He accepts it's his fate. He admits it took too long to admit that he was wrong.

i think this means he's just trying to get away from everything and start new. and he accepts that what he did was wrong and life changing, and he knows he is too late to fix his mistake, and maybe admitting it was not a good idea. i think that by admitting it, he may have gotten himself into a bigger mess.

Tomorrow comes. Sorrow becomes his soul mate. The damage is done. The prodigal son is too late. Old doors are closed but he's always open, To relive time in his mind. Oh Billy.

same thing as before.

Once he was a lover sleeping with another. Now he's just known as a cheat. And he wish he'd had a mirror; looked a little clearer. Seen into the eyes of the weak.

i think here, james is saying how billy was a lover to somone, but he was in love with somone else, then everyone ignored the fact his was over-taken by love and called him a cheater. and i think the mirror part is talking about, how billy wishes he knew who he was, cause he forgot who he really was.

Tomorrow comes. Sorrow becomes his soul mate. The damage is done. The prodigal son is too late. Old doors are closed but he's always open, To relive time in his mind. Oh Billy.

same as before/

Im sorry but I really think that this song is about drugs. James has clearly written about drugs in some of his songs and billly is a well known term for speed. If you read the lyrics and think of billy as a drug it makes a lot of sense.

Love this song but not quite sure what it means, my theory is he maybe realizes that he is in love with a man and has an affair but i could be right off the mark there. However the songs meaning is just how you percieve it.

billy is a friend of James's. you are way off mark. he apparently wrote a song about him cause he owes J some money. its about Billy playing away from home then regretting it

owwwww, an affair.....? so no way. grenade has got it right

i can totally see it as an affair gone awry. i see it as billy regretting how he treated a past lover and tyring to move on from it.

I love this song, and all of James Blunt's songs, but I have to say I'm really upset that he's going mainstream America. I saw him last summer in London, and I thought, "he's really good. He'll probably make it over in America eventually, but I don't think he'll follow the paths of the horrible musicians." HOwever, he went on VH1, and he's ruined for me, and given to little teenyboppers without brains or a sense of rhythm.