So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
When I was younger, I saw
My daddy cry and curse at the wind
He broke his own heart and I watched
As he tried to reassemble it
And my mama swore that she would
Never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love if it does not exist
But, darling, you are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
Well, maybe I know somewhere
Deep in my soul that love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways
To make it alone or keep a straight face
And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable distance
And up until now, I had sworn
To myself that I'm content with loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk
Well, you are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
I've got a tight grip on reality, but I can't
Let go of what's in front of me here
I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream, oh
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
And I'm on my way to believing
Oh, and I'm on my way to believing
My daddy cry and curse at the wind
He broke his own heart and I watched
As he tried to reassemble it
And my mama swore that she would
Never let herself forget
And that was the day that I promised
I'd never sing of love if it does not exist
But, darling, you are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
Well, maybe I know somewhere
Deep in my soul that love never lasts
And we've got to find other ways
To make it alone or keep a straight face
And I've always lived like this
Keeping a comfortable distance
And up until now, I had sworn
To myself that I'm content with loneliness
Because none of it was ever worth the risk
Well, you are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
I've got a tight grip on reality, but I can't
Let go of what's in front of me here
I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up
Leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream, oh
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
And I'm on my way to believing
Oh, and I'm on my way to believing
Lyrics submitted by aristuma21
The Only Exception Lyrics as written by Hayley Nichole Williams Joshua Neil Farro
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
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This song actually has a very personal meaning for me. To me it's about a person who has only seen the bad side of love, whoose mother broke their fathers heart, but still the blame could not be fully placed on either parent and it was a tragic situation all round. The person does not believe in tue 'love' becuase of this and always tries to keep a 'comfortable distance' even if they do date people/ are pyschically inimate they never feel a true connection with somebody, until they meet a person who they grow to share that bond with- their 'only exception'.
Before meeting their 'only exception' he/she felt lonley as although they had people on the surface hteir inner emotions were not touched/ left uncared for. Nobody sparked enough passion in them emotionally and 'werent worth the risk' of the persona giving their true heart to. 'love never lasts', 'keep a straight face' relates to the personal aspect of the song. A guy I once knew had many flings or " F buddies" with girls who where a bit slutty and jsut up for that kind of thing. And he always pretended he wasnt bothered by it and the game of seduction and breaking the rules of his very strict Catholic father imposed. But in relaity he was looking for somone, but not jsut anyone, he wouldnt have wanted just anyone, because there was only one true person for him- his only exception. It was all becuase his mother had divorced his father at a young age and it was a very bitter divorce.
"relaity" to the persona is that niggling thought in the back of thier mind that love really 'never lasts', but evenso they still hope to prove temselves wrong and that they really ahve changed their thought patterns "on the way to believing', thats why it seems alsmost dream like that their heart has doen a full 360. Now they have it, they dont want to loose it, and they want that person to keep proving to them that love truly exists, not to eventually let them down. like in the VIdeo they want to run but "cant let go" of that one person.
The fact that they are "on the way to believing" relates back to how damaged they are in the first place and the fac that they have come this far is a miracle in it's self. And that person they love- the 'only exception' is a livivng miracle.
Hayley's voice sounds so natural and simple here. It's beautiful!
And I know a lot of people don't like Chad, but if he can make Hayley feel this way, then good for him.
i think this song is about when you are younger you see your parents get a divorce or something along the lines of that, and you don't believe in love anymore, but then you find that one person that makes you believe in love again. However, you still have that thought in the back of your head love doesn't exist.
I think it is actually about domestic violence and the demise of her family and that putting her off of love.<br />
That's true. Hayley's parents got divorced and argued when she was around so she would see it all happen.
For someone to say this song is bland and/or boring shows that they aren't appreciating what's infront of them. Just because it isn't one of their uptempo rock tunes doesn't mean to say that it doesn't have any depth to it. It is simple, bare and full of lyrical genius. The live acoustic to this is unbelievable! A lot of ideas are put through in this song, we react to what we saw our parents go through and are affected by it. She witnessed her parents having a pretty hard time and thought love wasn't worth the hassle, the risk. For her to abandon what she was brought up to believe was right and choose to love someone despite her fears is a very courageous thing to do, you cannot take that kind of sincerity away from this song! If you haven't felt vulnerable in the face of love then you couldn't possibly relate.
does anyone else think that this sounds a lot like yellow by coldplay?
yeah that was my first thought as soon as i heard it, amazing though!
I thought it sounded like Fix You.
I was just gonna say that it sounded very coldplayish.
Have you heard So Long Goodbye from Sum 41?? Kinda the same.
I actually thought it resembles "Sparks" by Coldplay more, like the paramore upbeat version of "The Only Exception" hehe, but too each their own =)<br /> <br /> At least were all kinda on the same page.<br /> <br /> Great minds think alike, Greater minds think the same (hehe i just made that up then :P)
@SUPGIRLSUP Right, I can't agree more
You're right, it DOES sound like Yellow. Especially the beginnig before the lyrics start. Awesome song.
@SUPGIRLSUP It starts on the same Chord (:
I think this song is about a girl (probably Hayley) who had to see her parents go through a divorce and stopped believing in love, until she met "The One" =]
The lyrics to this song are so freakin' sweet, I just love it <3
Hayley's voice is absolutely beautiful in this song. And it's an absolute beautiful song itself.
My interpretation-
Believing that love doesn't exist because at a young age you witnessed the heartbreak your parent's caused each other. You don't believe in love until one day it smacks you in the face, but in the back of your mind you're afraid that love will end in heartbreak for you as well!
I follow your interpretation, and yes Hayley's voice is ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL-caps makes it pop more. :^)<br /> <br /> Anyhow, I don't believe in a such thing called "love" because of my parents' divorce. I actually detest love because I truly don't think it's real. Although, I'm terrified of love because the same thing my father did to my mom was cheat. I would be devastated if that happened to me. <br /> <br /> So...yes there is a possiblilty your interpretation is correct. Although, I have no idea if that's that the actual meaning, and if it is did Hayley go through this experience? Or did she watch someone experience?
I like your interpretation indeed. Sometimes growing up and time help to put some distance between what happened in the past and your present life.
Everyone has interpreted this song a billion times and a billion different ways, but I think who she sings about in the end isn't who she ends up with. I think she met someone who made her believe in love, but for some reason it didn't work out. Like when she sings, "I've got a tight grip on reality, but I can't let go of what's in front of me here. I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up; leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream." I think that signifies the end of that particular relationship. But she goes on to say that she's on her way to believing. So therefore, she has learned that love is very real, and that she will be able to believe in it someday with the right person.
This was so unexpected, but so freaking brilliant. I love it. They've really grown, really. And yeah, it does kind of sound like Yellow at the beginning.
And I think the meaning's kind of self-explanatory.
oh and i think this song is about a girl whos parents divorced or like fought a lot so she thought that's how all relationships end until she meets the one, but even then she still thinks he's gonna leave her hence the,
"I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up Leave me of some kind of proof it's not a dream, oh"
But in the end when she still has him, even though she may think it's not worth risking getting her heart broken,
"And up until now, I had sworn to myself That I'm content with loneliness Because none of it was ever worth the risk"
She's slowly starting to believe that not all relationships end in heartbreak and that he's the one for her,
"And I'm on my way to believing Oh, and I'm on my way to believing"
I can most definitely relate to this song because, even though my parents didn't divorce or anything, I've seen it happen everywhere so that's what i think too, but i suppose that maybe, possibly, it's conceivable...that IF i meet "The One" it MIGHT- i repeat- MIGHT change my mind...which is why I'm 15 and don't have a boyfriend :)
Oh yeah sorry 'bout the extremely long comment :) my bad