Black Keys

Black Keys is one very brilliantly written song, in part because of the use of the metaphor, the 'black keys'. The song is about a girl that the writer (Nick) had dated, been friends with, etc. that he only saw one side of. The side he saw was this 'perfect rainbow' he speaks of. The 'black keys' metaphor comes in when she leaves, and he begins to learn these things about her. He learns the sharps and flats about her, (i.e. the sun proves that the world doesn't revolve around someone, and the sky lets her keep her pride). If you play piano, or even if you don't, (I did until I turned 3), you'd probably know that the black keys are the sharps and flats. So it basically means that what he saw were the white keys, the beautiful rainbow about the girl, but he never saw the black keys. And now he's saying that he thinks the black keys are probably the most beautiful thing about her. Now, this last part is a stretch, but I believe that it may be the meaning. The first part, 'the colors fade to gray' once she's gone, means that she was kind of like the color in his life. Now that she's gone, however, thats when Nick starts noticing the black keys. That ties in with the last part, 'sometimes a fight is better black and white'. He realizes that it was better if he hadn't seen her as a perfect rainbow. If he'd seen those black keys, maybe the fights would've been easier, and maybe she wouldn't have left.

Even if you don't get the metaphor, its still a great song :)

<3

Jezzica

It's obvious that the "black keys" he's referring to are the ones on a piano. And like musicspinstheworld said, those are the sharp and flat notes on a piano. So basically, it seem like the girl is slowly starting to realize that "the world doesn't revolve around her soul." And that sorta ticks her off, so "she hits the gas, hoping it would pass" because she just wants to get out of there and not deal with that. But whoever the singer is (in this case, Nick) is trying to convince her that even her "black keys" (her flaws) are actually making her even more beautiful to him. And her normal "perfect rainbow" act just isn't all it was cracked up to be anymore. "And the black keys are showing me a world I never knew," because he never saw that side of herself before, but it's now coming out for everyone to see. Then he tells her "the walls are closing, don't let 'em get inside of your head," because all the people that are not totally okay with her "black keys" per say, and he just wants her to not let them get to her because they're not seeing the true beauty of it. Then at the end, he decides "sometimes you find it's better black and white," because through and through, the girl is beautiful with any and all drawbacks about her. And he loves it all.

That's what I got. I could be totally wrong, I'm not sure.

P.S: I kinda have a feeling this song might be about Miley Cyrus, thanks to some of the things I've been hearing...just a hunch.

OK. Everyone knows that people always see the color like the happiness and the black and white like a boring dull thing. This is what I think about this beautiful song:

There is a girl who is lets say a "colorful person", and she suddenly leaves leaving you all sad, she took all the colors (happiness) of your life with her so now everything for you is black and white (boring, sad). Now you are depressed, you feel like your life is a waste, it's all over, you have nothing to do but cry and be miserable because there's nothing good in your life right at the moment. But then, BECAUSE OF the missing color in your life, you start to see and notice that, that "meaningless black and white", has some beautiful things that you couldn't see due to the noise of the colors, and some of the things you can see now in black and white are even more beautiful than something that has lots and lots and lots of colors.

Then the song says that she hates the sun 'cause it proves that she's not the only person in the world and that the world doesn't go round her, and that she loves the sky because is so empty and big that validates her pride and never lets her know when she is wrong. This whole part shows that this girl is not a very good one, is selfish and has an alter-ego.

So now that you have seen the black and white part of everything, you notice that is more beautiful than the colors, and that why "a perfect rainbow never seemed so dull".

At the moment she leaves and you start to see everything from black and white you realize that she wasn't that great, and that all that color wasn't such a good thing.

Then he says that the walls are closing in which refers to all the people that doesn't really like her black and white side, because they don't want the best of her, so he says " don't let them get inside of your head", saying that they are not right and you have to forget about them and move on.

And finally, "sometimes a fight is better black and white" means that it would be all better if it could act with the peace of the black and white and with our black and white personality, and he says that after he realizes the beauty of Black and White.

Uff. Took me long to explain this. And I don't know if you got it but I did my best. :) ...-When words fail, music speaks... ~` Music Lover. <3

This has to be one of the most beautiful songs by the Jonas Brothers. Out of all of their songs, this is my favourite. When I first heard this song, I had no idea what it was about. But the comments above do a great job of explaining it.

Nick is known to perform half of this song along with A Little Bit Longer. Both of these songs make him very emotional. He made a speech saying that in the past year, he learned to see things plain and simple, or black and white. He didnt want to get caught up in complicated details (colour). I think this song was inspired by a fight with the girl he loves. "Sometimes a fight is better black and white"

Although I am not really a fan of hers, I think it might be written about Miley Cyrus. The two have history. She is looked at as a "colourful" and loud girl. She probably does think that the World revolves around her soul. The media points out her black and white flaws. Thus, him comforting her saying, "Don't let em get inside of your head."

I dont know, it was just an idea. Great song though........

i think this song is about a girl that believes the world revolves around her, and that she's always right and can't handle it when someone tells her the truth. she has way too much pride and he knows this, but the fact that she is beautiful keeps him around.

in the book that comes in the CD, Nick wrote " the inspiration for this song came by way of sitting one day at the piano and writing my first song through use of only the black keys. It was then that i realized the simplicity of black and white versus the noise that is brought on by color." this is basically saying that you dont need so much noise/color/extras to appreciate the good things in life. sometimes simple is best.

Love this song, its adorable ♥

musicpinstheworld and awesomeperson, i think you both have the right idea of the song. but i don't think it's necessarily about miley cyrus. it could be about anyone, or it could be a totally general metaphor. on the cd packet thingy, nick wrote, "the inspiration for this song came by way of sitting one day at the piano and writing my first song through use of only the black keys. it was then that i realized the simplicity of black and white versus the noise that is brought on by color." so there you have it.

it makes me cry, hearing it every time. this album has so many amazing songs, it made me fall in love with them again <3

after reading selena gomez's article for seventeen i think this song is about her. but who knows.

it would make sense, it's personal to nick and such on. but like people said above the black keys are basically flaws in a person. and your telling them you love their flaws, and it brought you such a different view on the world and shined light on an entire different world with 'showed me a world i never knew'. " a perfect rainbow never seemed so dull " well in seventeen selena talked about trying to be a perfect girlfriend for nick, and i think it's his way of telling her. he didn't like the perfect her, and she didn't have to be perfect. she was perfect for him even with all of her flaws. but he felt a little bitter about the breakup at first. "She walks away .Colors fade to gray. Every precious moment's now a waste" like he felt lied to that she tried to be perfect. but it's like at the end, after reflecting on everything about her he wants that girl back and tells her "don't let them get inside of your head" basically telling the girl to forget all of the press, and all the rumors, and everyone trying to bring them down. and just think about him, and love him and come back to him.