Only Ones Who Know Lyrics
That it was a heart that he was stealing
Oh, he was ready to impress and the fierce excitement
The eyes are bright; he couldn't wait to get away
I bet the Juliet was just the icing on the cake
Make no mistake, no
And I bet she told a million people that she'd stay in touch
Well, all the little promises - they don't mean much
When there's memories to be made
And I hope you're holding hands by New Years Eve
They made it far too easy to believe
That true romance can't be achieved these days
Well, I'm sure you could have made it that bit better on your own
You are the only ones who know
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mizuki_chan, i know that was an interpretation but i would have to disagree that it is about someone getting their gf/bf taken away. i think the "heart he was stealing" just means that her heart no longer belongs to herself; now that she's in love with him, it belongs to him. this is a song about two people wound-up in love, a type of love that is hard to find these days. it gives alex that sort of hope, and he wants to believe that it will last.
in the bit where he goes, "i bet you would have made it that bit better on your own" he means that it doesnt matter where he tells them to go, it will be great no matter what because they are in love.
all in all, one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs i've ever heard. makes me cry.
correct! lol
correct! lol
@oh_someday I think so too!
@oh_someday I think so too!
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Ok, well first off, this is my favorite Arctic Monkeys song. Everything - the lyrics, Alex's voice, the instrumentals - is so incredibly beautiful,
Anyway, my interpretation: In summary: A woman goes away from home because she's restless/discontent with her boyfriend/fiance/husband etc.. She meets our main character, the young man who also went on vacation just to get away from stuff at home. The 2 have an affair which at first is just a bonus for the guy but he quickly falls in love with her. However, he sees that she's not in love with him but actually really loves the guy back at home but she doesn't realize it/want to accept it, and that she's probably been having flings with a bunch of guys (& not calling them back) and that he's just one of these guys. He loves her a lot though so hopes she figures out that she loves this guy back at home by New Year's Eve b/c once she does she'll be happy. And the whole "only one's who know" thing refers to how the young man realizes that the whole ordeal b/w the woman & this guy back at home really has nothing to do with the young man and that he's kind of just a blip in the middle of them figuring out their relationship.
Breakdown:
"In a foreign place the saving grace was the feeling That it was a heart that he was stealing" This young man has gone away to a foreign country, but he had not been enjoying himself until he met a woman also away from home (who has a boyfriend, fiance, husband, or someone back at home).
"Oh, he was ready to impress and the fierce excitement" He's getting a thrill out of wooing her that probably has a lot to do with the fact that he's the one she's cheating with.
"The eyes are bright; he couldn't wait to get away I bet the Juliet was just the icing on the cake Make no mistake, no" This just explains how the young man had just really wanted to get away from home in the first place, he hadn't planned to have this affair. The name Juliet is used to emphasize that their fling is forbidden as Romeo and Juliet's was.
"And even if somehow you could have shown you the place you wanted" The woman originally went away from home, looking for something. Judging by the rest of the song, she probably is unsure of her relationship with her boyfriend/husband whoever back at home and she's trying to reevaluate who she is and see whether there's someone else out there for her. But she's found that she's not falling in love with the guy she's with on vacation now, even though he wishes she was because he's fallen in love with her.
"Well, I'm sure you could have made it that bit better on your own" She would've been better off without having met/had an affair with him
"And I bet she told a million people that she'd stay in touch Well, all the little promises - they don't mean much" The girl probably has been with many guys on this vacation (because she's restless at home) but each time realized she's still unhappy so made empty promises to each guy that she'd call them but of course she never would.
"When there's memories to be made And I hope you're holding hands by New Years Eve" Despite the young man being in love with the woman, he realizes that she really is in love with the guy back at home (even if she herself doesn't realize it) and hopes that she can figure it out by New Year's Eve.
"They made it far too easy to believe That true romance can't be achieved these days" These lines are so sad because they refer to both: The young man hoping that she goes back to this guy at home because it's what will make her happy in the end and they can ultimately have this "true romance" that's supposedly impossible But it also takes a stab at how he's now in love with this woman who he's destined never to achieve a "true romance" with.
"And even if somehow you could have shown you the place you wanted Well, I sure you could have made it that bit better on your own" He's thinking: "If I could've somehow made her fall in love with me..." then realizes no, they were never meant to be together.
"You are the only ones who know " I think this has to do with the woman and the guy she has back at home and how something is going on b/w them that the young man isn't a part of. He realizes he's just some guy she met one randomly on vacation that is just a blip in the woman figuring out her relationship with this other man.
thanks a lot for this comment. needed it a lot today :/ listening this song for two hours now
thanks a lot for this comment. needed it a lot today :/ listening this song for two hours now
@lainereg @lainereg Ding ding ding!!!!! I liked the other theories too but yeah.. you are dead on. His lyrics are poetic yet blunt and to the point and this is exactly what is happening. Thanks for laying it out for us to read. I definitely cry hearing this song that's exactly why. The music creates a perfect setting for the story and i can even hear in his voice, the respect he has for the reality and logic in the tragic ending to the dream fling. He knows he's just playing a seat filler and reveals his underlying acceptance through...
@lainereg @lainereg Ding ding ding!!!!! I liked the other theories too but yeah.. you are dead on. His lyrics are poetic yet blunt and to the point and this is exactly what is happening. Thanks for laying it out for us to read. I definitely cry hearing this song that's exactly why. The music creates a perfect setting for the story and i can even hear in his voice, the respect he has for the reality and logic in the tragic ending to the dream fling. He knows he's just playing a seat filler and reveals his underlying acceptance through his observant attention to the situation in entirety.
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i heard this song was about alex turner being out on the town and a a girl and boy holding hands came up to him and asked "where's good to go tonight?" and he wrote this song around them because he thought they looked really good together and proper in love..
And I hope you're holding hands by New Year's Eve They made it far too easy to believe That true romance can't be achieved these days
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I love this song. It's so beautiful and it's probably my favorite on the album.
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That is, I'm jealous of the fact that Alex is so young and yet seems to know so much about people and can convey it beautifully.
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I don't think it's a sad song. I think Alex isn't even part of the story here. It's about a couple who fell in love just recently, maybe on holidays("In a foreign place the saving grace was the feeling") and they believe that they will be together forever(that's why they are the only ones who know). The narrator keeps his fingers crossed for them and hopes that they'll stay together("And I hope you're holding hands by New Years Eve"), even though other people are more realistic and think that it's only a temporary fling("They made it far too easy to believe, that true romance can't be achieved these days"). As most of the young couples, they're living in their own world, just two of them, they don't need any other people("And I bet she told a million people that she'd stay in touch. Well, all the little promises - they don't mean much, when there's memories to be made"). Also their every memory and every place they visit seems better, when they're there together("And even if somehow we could have shown you the place you wanted, well, I'm sure you could have made it that bit better on your own").
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--> Considering that in the chorus the lyrics are "even if somehow WE could have (...)", I'm pretty sure that the ones who are singing are the parents of a boy who was cheated by his girlfriend, and who are trying to tell this to the poor unadvised boy.
--> Firstly, they describe the feelings of the other guy the girl cheated on: "the saving grace was the feeling that it was a heart that he was stealing". It's not unusual that someone feels good by stepping into someone else's solid relationship and destroying it.
--> So, although it wasn't a good thing to do, that feeling made it worth it.
--> "The fierce excitement, the eyes are bright" - the voluptuous feelings of leading someone to cheating.
--> "he couldn't wait to get away" - he's anxious to tell someone what he just did
--> "I bet the juliet is just the icing on the cake, make no mistake no" - It's like their parents are saying "Don't be a fool to think he really liked your girlfriend, son. She doesn't really matter. He's just thrilled that he made her cheat on you"
--> Now his parents are just whining. "Even if somehow we could have shown you the place you wanted, I'm sure you could have made it that bit better on your own" (we wish we could tell you another story, so you could still be fine with your girl, you were doing fine, but that's the truth) BUT, if you still want to forgive her, that's up to both of you stay together. "You're the only ones who know (what's better for you)"
--> "I bet she told a million people that she'd stay in touch, but all (..)" The boy's parents continue to show the boy that people lie.
--> but in the end, they finally try to give him some 'false' hope "I hope you're holding hands by New Years Eve", but at this stage, nothing else would deceive the boy. After everything his parents said, he knew the bitter truth and there wasn't hope anymore. "they made it far too easy to believe that true romance can't be achieved these days"
@pserotini I'm sorry, but I just don't see how you came to such conclusions and you're not the only one. I've seen so many people think this beautiful song is about people sneaking behind their significant other's back and cheating. Or that some poor guy is being told about his crappy girlfriend's scandalous ways. I just.....The lines of the song don't tell that story, the lines don't correlate.
@pserotini I'm sorry, but I just don't see how you came to such conclusions and you're not the only one. I've seen so many people think this beautiful song is about people sneaking behind their significant other's back and cheating. Or that some poor guy is being told about his crappy girlfriend's scandalous ways. I just.....The lines of the song don't tell that story, the lines don't correlate.
The song is canonly about two people who are madly and all consuming in love with each other. And Alex was in a foreign city when he met the couple he...
The song is canonly about two people who are madly and all consuming in love with each other. And Alex was in a foreign city when he met the couple he sings of when they had asked him where was a descent place for them to enjoy themselves that night: "And even if somebody could have shown you the place you wanted. But I bet you could have made it that bit better on your own.."
^That's him saying that even if he, or anyone in the world could have told them where to go to have fun, anywhere they chose themselves would have been perfect anyways because they're so deeply in love with one another. They never needed anyone to tell them where to go in the first place.
The start if the song shows the setting, it happened in a foreign place, not in England where he's from. And then he sees this couple and begins to imagine how it all went down for them, what lead them to be so utterly in love with one another.
Alex hopes this couple is still holding hands by New Year's Eve. "They made it far too easy to believe that true romance can't be achieved these days." They're so into each other, that they make true and honest love, something that's so hard to find nowadays, seem like it's something everyone can have. And because of that, I think it gives Alex hope for his future and whomever he dates.
"You are the only ones who know." Alex is sure the oh so in love couple are the only ones who know the secret to true and honest, all consuming love. It makes the couple seem like they have a secret no one else knows the answer/s to.
Hope that helped! For you and for anyone else who was stumped or had another thought of the lyrics.
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such a beautiful song. almost dream like, akin to good night by the beatles or motion picture soundtrack by radiohead. the lyrics seem to signal a relationship ending due to the girl wanting to get away and see the world on her own, knowing that it is a tough decision, but it is ultimately, the right one.
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such a beautiful song. almost dream like, akin to good night by the beatles or motion picture soundtrack by radiohead. the lyrics seem to signal a relationship ending due to the girl wanting to get away and see the world on her own, knowing that it is a tough decision, but it is ultimately, the right one.
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My take on this brilliant song after reading this interview: http://www.liverpool.com/editor-s-pick/interview:-arctic-monkeys.html
A guy and girl (Juliet), fresh out of high school and into university (a foreign place) who've been "lumped together" for fresher's week. They're both wide-eyed and excited, and even though they've just met he's already got the feeling that there could be something there.
They ask a stranger if he knows a good place to go tonight. He doesn't, but even if he did it wouldn't be as good as them discovering a place all on their own...
I'm tempted to write more, but i can't be arsed. I'm sure someone else will soon enough.